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"Begin disabling installed extensions still using Manifest V2 in Chrome stable"

developer.chrome.com

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Re: "Begin disabling installed extensions still using Manifest V2 in Chrome stable"

#211

Post by Sophira »

EasyMark wrote: post #139
freedomben wrote: post #17

Notably, Firefox is not removing v2 support (at least for now as of March 2024) > Firefox, however, has no plans to deprecate MV2 and will continue to support MV2 extensions for the foreseeable future. And even if we re-evaluate this decision at some point down the road, we anticipate providing a notice of at least 12 months for developers to adjust accordingly and not feel rushed. [1] [1]: https://blog.mozilla.org/a…

To my knowledge the “big” chrome engine alternatives aren’t either. I know that Vivaldi and Brave plan on keeping around v2 as long as it is economically feasible

Are you certain? The last I heard about it from Vivaldi[0], they were only going to keep the MV2 code around so long as it's in the upstream codebase:

> We will keep Manifest v2 for as long as it’s still available in Chromium. We expect to drop support in June 2025, but we may maintain it longer or be forced to drop support for it sooner, depending on the precise nature of the changes to the code.

Note that June 2025 is the same date Google plans to drop support completely[1].

[0] https://vivaldi.com/blog/manifest-v3-update-vivaldi-is-futur...

[1] https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/develop/migrate...

Re: "Begin disabling installed extensions still using Manifest V2 in Chrome stable"

#212

Post by tredre3 »

Spunkie wrote: post #116
crazygringo wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> everyone knows this is solely about making adblock less effective I thought I knew that. Then I switched from uBlock Origin to uBlock Origin Lite in Chrome, which is compatible with Manifest v3. I was prepared for the horrible onslaught of ads, expecting at least a quarter would start getting through, ready to switch to Firefox... ...and didn't notice a single change. Not a single ad gets through. And at the same t…

This is just because Google was especially insidious about how they crippled ad blockers in v3. Adblockers do multiple things: 1. Visibly block ads from the user 2. Block the user tracking that's attached to those ads 3. Protect the user from malware 4. Save bandwidth and cpu cycles by not loading all that junk 5. Allow control to users over how a webpage is displayed to them Arguably uBlock Origin Lite can only acco…

uBlock lite can accomplish 2, 3, 4 completely. It's only #1 and #5 that are truly affected by v3. But those two were already pretty limited in chrominum browsers compared to firefox.

Re: "Begin disabling installed extensions still using Manifest V2 in Chrome stable"

#213

Post by bad_user »

Kbelicius wrote: post #189
btown wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's worth noting that the maintenance of the "lite" version is at some nonzero risk of burnout for its developers, ironically in part due to Mozilla being unnecessarily hostile: https://github.com/uBlockOrigin/uBOL-home/issues/197#issueco... discussed at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41707418 - and while there's no plan yet to discontinue the Chrome MV3 compatible version, there are a million ways that this c…

> It's worth noting that the maintenance of the "lite" version is at some nonzero risk of burnout for its developers, ironically in part due to Mozilla being unnecessarily hostile: Why would you even use the lite version on firefox when the original works?

Security and possibly performance, which is the selling point of MV3.

Re: "Begin disabling installed extensions still using Manifest V2 in Chrome stable"

#214

Post by OptionOfT »

throwaway48476 wrote: post #192
OptionOfT wrote: post #156

I am tied to Microsoft Edge for sync between desktop and phone, and Microsoft Edge on iOS has AdBlock built in. But looking at this it seems inevitable that Edge will retain V2. As to switching to Firefox? I'd love to, but Firefox on iOS refuses to put in an AdBlocker. Yea, you can use Firefox Focus but that one doesn't sync. I don't understand Mozilla's stance on this.

Firefox doesn't exist on iOS, it's just reskinned safari. It's not Mozillas fault that Apple won't let you install a different web engine.

Edge on iOS, which is also reskinned Safari, has AdBlock Plus integrated.

So it IS possible.

Re: "Begin disabling installed extensions still using Manifest V2 in Chrome stable"

#216

Post by sunshowers »

kuhsaft wrote: post #205
sunshowers wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't onBeforeRequest still exist in Manifest v3? The thing that's been removed is the ability to block on it, not the ability to register handlers for requests.

It still exists, but now “ad blockers” can’t use the blocking API to record and forward metrics on hits. Ad blockers don’t even need the webRequest and webRequestBlocking permissions anymore. Now, if an ad blocker has webRequest permissions it’s a red flag. For example https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/develop/concept... uses webRequest to send telemetry back to some remote server.

Thanks, I see how that can help.

With Manifest v3, let's say I'm an ad blocker and I want to get access to metrics not to violate privacy, but just to report them to the user (X domains blocked, Y out of Z requests blocked, etc). How would I get access to those metrics?

Re: "Begin disabling installed extensions still using Manifest V2 in Chrome stable"

#217

Post by tredre3 »

pentagrama wrote: post #104

> Users will be directed to the Chrome Web Store, where they will be recommended Manifest V3 alternatives for their disabled extension. I'm curious about which extensions will be recommended to replace uBlock Origin after it's disabled. I'm sure those alternatives will see a surge in installs. Also, why doesn't the creator of uBlock Origin update the V2 version to the V3 version? I know V3 version isn't as good as V2…

Everything you said has already been done: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/ublock-origin-lite/...

Re: "Begin disabling installed extensions still using Manifest V2 in Chrome stable"

#218

Post by unethical_ban »

zamalek wrote: post #182
EasyMark wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To my knowledge the “big” chrome engine alternatives aren’t either. I know that Vivaldi and Brave plan on keeping around v2 as long as it is economically feasible

Though it is less of an issue for those two, given that they have built-in adblocking. Still a laudable effort.

At this point, I wonder why Firefox doesn't have a vivaldi-like tracker and ad block interface.

Perhaps it has to do with being a Google-funded browser.

I wonder how hard that would be to implement for someone who knew how to do it? Or if the code for that in vivaldi is open source?

Re: "Begin disabling installed extensions still using Manifest V2 in Chrome stable"

#219

Post by pavon »

OptionOfT wrote: post #156

I am tied to Microsoft Edge for sync between desktop and phone, and Microsoft Edge on iOS has AdBlock built in. But looking at this it seems inevitable that Edge will retain V2. As to switching to Firefox? I'd love to, but Firefox on iOS refuses to put in an AdBlocker. Yea, you can use Firefox Focus but that one doesn't sync. I don't understand Mozilla's stance on this.

AFAIK, Microsoft is disabling manifest V2 extensions in Edge following the same timeline as Chrome[1]. Brave is continuing to run V2 extensions, but has no plan to stand up their own extension store[2], so it isn't clear how users will get the extensions, beyond a few handpicked ones that Brave is supporting[3].

[1] https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/extensions-...

[2] https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/issues/15187

[3] https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/issues/28367

Re: "Begin disabling installed extensions still using Manifest V2 in Chrome stable"

#220

Post by spankalee »

sho wrote: post #25

Hopefully this is the inflection point for Chrome. Despite all their made-up "security" reasons, everyone knows this is solely about making adblock less effective. For many users, adblock is what makes chrome bearable - and if they make it unbearable, then those users will leave. Slowly but surely. Google seems much too sure of itself making this change. I hope their arrogance pays off just the same as Microsoft's di…

What makes you say the security reasons are made up?
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