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FBI recommends using an ad blocker (2022)

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Re: FBI recommends using an ad blocker (2022)

#231
post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you talking about the browser or the YouTube app? Most iOS users watching YouTube use the YouTube app, not the Safari App, so they’re obviously asking how to block ads because the app isn’t a browser, not because Safari doesn’t allow ad blockers.

I'm talking about the browser. On Android, you can install Firefox + uBO and watch YouTube without ads. You can also install another handy extension so you can turn off the screen and the video won't pause, so you can listen to music on YouTube that way. You can't do this stuff in the official YT app.

> You can’t do this stuff in the official YT app.

So? That’s true on Android too. If you want to use a browser with an ad-blocker, you can on iOS, just like on Android. What’s your claim again?

Re: FBI recommends using an ad blocker (2022)

#232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just missed the edit window! I'm here to deliver. Two kinds, either will be accepted in the "My Filters" section of the plugin. Edit as desired, the domain is just a recent example. Eradication/filtering: ##a[href*="eng-leadership.com"] Shown, but blocked on-access: ||eng-leadership.com^$document To keep the hacker spirit alive, I leave the reader with an exercise. Consider other approaches or HTML tags. Anchors aren…

Thank you for sharing, I'm sure people will find this useful. An extension is not very helpful for my needs though. I often use public computers at a local makerspace, and it is much easier for me to scan a QR code to sign in and then close the incognito browser when I'm done than it is for me to carry around my uBlock configuration. Solving my problem the "hacker way" would essentially be reimplementing Kagi, or hos…

Totally reasonable, thank you for explaining!

Again, my ultimate goal really is autonomy. There is still hacker spirit in your approach, fighting the status quo. It has my general support, even if I'm not a customer

I just wanted to remind people to look more nearby/within, too. This isn't a battle won once

Re: FBI recommends using an ad blocker (2022)

#233
post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It does? I see constant complaints online from iPhone users asking how to, for instance, block ads on YouTube, only to be told "buy an Android and install Firefox" because ad-blockers on iOS don't seem to do this.

Are you talking about the browser or the YouTube app? Most iOS users watching YouTube use the YouTube app, not the Safari App, so they’re obviously asking how to block ads because the app isn’t a browser, not because Safari doesn’t allow ad blockers.

1Blocker will block ads on YouTube on safari and has a local proxy that might work on ads in the app (not sure don’t use the app)

Re: FBI recommends using an ad blocker (2022)

#234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Safari does allow ad blockers.

It does? I see constant complaints online from iPhone users asking how to, for instance, block ads on YouTube, only to be told "buy an Android and install Firefox" because ad-blockers on iOS don't seem to do this.

Yes. It does.

Android partisans will answer questions the way Android partisans answer questions I.e. buy Android.

Re: FBI recommends using an ad blocker (2022)

#235
post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm talking about the browser. On Android, you can install Firefox + uBO and watch YouTube without ads. You can also install another handy extension so you can turn off the screen and the video won't pause, so you can listen to music on YouTube that way. You can't do this stuff in the official YT app.

> You can’t do this stuff in the official YT app. So? That’s true on Android too. If you want to use a browser with an ad-blocker, you can on iOS, just like on Android. What’s your claim again?

This poster saw someone answer a question about iOS with “buy Android” so that must be the only possible solution.

Re: FBI recommends using an ad blocker (2022)

#236

And in China, using ad blockers is illegal. Go figure.

That's nonsense. Searching for "广告拦截" on Baidu returns hundreds of thousands of webpages and tutorials telling users how to install and turn on ad blockers, and Chinese smartphone brands often boast that their products perform better than competitors in blocking ads. What you are saying seems like a misunderstood version of the fact that some "ads" are whitelisted by default and you can't block them painlessly, mostl…

See https://www.reddit.com/r/uBlockOrigin/comments/tie7un/ublock...

Re: FBI recommends using an ad blocker (2022)

#237
post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If their own browser that they force on everyone doesn't support ad-blockers, and they don't add ad-blocking to that browser themselves, then I don't see the difference: they're preventing users from blocking ads, and in effect forcing ads on their users. Their justifications are irrelevant. Even Google (the biggest ad-tech company) isn't that bad: they obviously don't make an ad-blocker themselves, and they've worke…

As already mentioned in this thread, Safari does allow ad blockers, your premise is false. And even if they didn’t, there’s an absolutely massive difference between not being able to block ads and being the company both selling the ads and the browser that is engineering away your privacy. Safari does take active steps to prevent tracking that Chrome does not. Apple has not actively worked against ad blockers the way…

>As already mentioned in this thread, Safari does allow ad blockers

Does it? Then why do all the iOS users complain about having to watch YouTube ads? Sounds like it doesn't allow good ad-blockers.

>And even if they didn’t, there’s an absolutely massive difference between not being able to block ads and being the company both selling the ads and the browser that is engineering away your privacy.

This is completely wrong. If (for the sake of argument) iOS definitely didn't allow ad-blocking, then that makes them worse than Google, and it does mean they are "actively working against ad-blockers". If they weren't working against them (in this scenario), they wouldn't disallow them.

>And Apple also allows you to install a different browser on iOS

No, it doesn't. It only allows re-skins of Safari.

>Google doesn’t get any gold stars for not preventing third party browsers on Android.

Yes it does. Let me know when I can side-load an open-source ad-blocking YouTube viewer app on iOS, or even just installing the browser of my choice (not a re-skin).

>Google has a conflict of interest between your privacy and their primary source of revenue.

Sure, but they also allow you freedom with Android devices, and that's something you'll never get with Apple.

> the claim you were implicitly defending was that Apple was collecting and selling private data themselves.

I never defended that particular claim. I only made my own tangential claims.

Re: FBI recommends using an ad blocker (2022)

#238
post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As already mentioned in this thread, Safari does allow ad blockers, your premise is false. And even if they didn’t, there’s an absolutely massive difference between not being able to block ads and being the company both selling the ads and the browser that is engineering away your privacy. Safari does take active steps to prevent tracking that Chrome does not. Apple has not actively worked against ad blockers the way…

>As already mentioned in this thread, Safari does allow ad blockers Does it? Then why do all the iOS users complain about having to watch YouTube ads? Sounds like it doesn't allow good ad-blockers. >And even if they didn’t, there’s an absolutely massive difference between not being able to block ads and being the company both selling the ads and the browser that is engineering away your privacy. This is completely wr…

> It only allows re-skins of Safari

This is irrelevant, you’re confusing the engine and the browser. Chrome on WebKit is not a re-skin of Safari, it’s a Google browser, and it’s Google’s choice to not support ublock Origin on iOS, but nice try. Plus you missed the news that non-WebKit engines are now allowed in the EU and it’s only a matter of time before it spreads.

Google has announced their intention to stop serving YouTube content to anyone using an ad Blocker. Maybe soon you’ll see first hand how misguided and silly your argument against Apple is.

> Does it? Then why do all the iOS users complain…

Weird, it seems like we just had this conversation. That question was asked and answered. Did the fact that Apple does allow ad blockers, and the difference between the YouTube app and the browser not make sense the first time we talked about it?

BTW, the first Google autocomplete response I get for “how to block youtube ads on” is “Android”. That is evidence that more Android users complain about YouTube ads than iOS users.

P.S. who puts the ads on YouTube that you’re complaining about and makes them hard to skip or block? Oh, right, Google.

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