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Explanation of the state of uBlock Origin (and other blockers) for Safari #158
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What differentiates an "ad-blocker" from a "content-blocker" that makes it impossible for this change? Isn't an "ad-blocker" just a "content-blocker" that only blocks a very specific type of content? |
thanks for u summation. it's so sad:( i have used it for three years and it's time to say goodbye... |
I must admit the the terminology isn't very clear. A Safari "content-blocker" app sends a list to Safari, and Safari blocks it. A regular blocker (like uBO) blocks content itself. Safari content blockers aren't all bad, they are more secure in that they can't possibly collect your browsing history (not that uBO does), but lack the level of customisation and power that a regular blocker like uBO can provide. |
Thanks! You should pin this issue. |
Just FIY I would not recommend buying 1Blocker. I paid both for the initial version and the "1Blocker X" one on IOS but I had the constant feeling the filter lists weren't being updated and I wasn't sure of their origin (I'm assuming they use EasyList for the ads, but which one do they use for privacy & annoyances?). AdGuard for Safari is free, open-source and is compatible with uBlock-style filter lists (it has code that does its best to convert them to Safari content blocking lists). You can choose to use EasyList, EasyPrivacy, Fanboy's lists or any of the regional lists so I would recommend it over 1Blocker. |
You can take a look - https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdGuardForSafari |
Thank you for responding. Ive updated the post and corrected my errors. Based on point 2, for filters to update, the electron part needs to be running. Does leaving this running for filters to update have any serious power or performance issues? |
thats odd, when I wrote this post, everything I could find had it as the best or one of the best. This guy tested them quite thoroughly from 2015 to 2018, and found 1Blocker to stand out. Looking at it again now, it seems that 1Blocker requires an app update to update their lists (entirely based on the changelog), which would explain the slow rate of updates. Tommorow I will investigate further and update my list once again. |
AdGuard is SLOOOOOOOOW. Horrible piece of software. Typical of garbage created with Electron.
… On Sep 20, 2019, at 7:48 AM, Andre Borie ***@***.***> wrote:
Just FIY I would not recommend buying 1Blocker. I paid both for the initial version and the "1Blocker X" one on IOS but I had the constant feeling the filter lists weren't being updated and I wasn't sure of their origin (I'm assuming they use EasyList for the ads, but which one do they use for privacy & annoyances?).
AdGuard for Safari is free, open-source and is compatible with uBlock-style filter lists (it has code that does its best to convert them to Safari content blocking lists). You can choose to use EasyList, EasyPrivacy, Fanboy's lists or any of the regional lists so I would recommend it over 1Blocker.
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For anyone claiming AdGuard is “fine”…
When you first click on the AdGuard toolbar button you get this:
Click on the Run button and you have to wait 8 seconds for this monstrosity to load:
Close that eyesore and go back to Safari. Clock on the AdGuard button again and it always takes a full 2 seconds for the following pop-up to appear:
And of course then you have to go through a multi-step process for selecting a screen element on the page, experimenting with the slider, previewing, and then saving your change. Nothing responds to keyboard commands like hitting the Escape button because of course it doesn’t.
… On Sep 20, 2019, at 9:37 AM, Walter A ***@***.***> wrote:
AdGuard is SLOOOOOOOOW. Horrible piece of software. Typical of garbage created with Electron.
> On Sep 20, 2019, at 7:48 AM, Andre Borie ***@***.*** ***@***.***>> wrote:
>
> Just FIY I would not recommend buying 1Blocker. I paid both for the initial version and the "1Blocker X" one on IOS but I had the constant feeling the filter lists weren't being updated and I wasn't sure of their origin (I'm assuming they use EasyList for the ads, but which one do they use for privacy & annoyances?).
>
> AdGuard for Safari is free, open-source and is compatible with uBlock-style filter lists (it has code that does its best to convert them to Safari content blocking lists). You can choose to use EasyList, EasyPrivacy, Fanboy's lists or any of the regional lists so I would recommend it over 1Blocker.
>
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What about building uBlockOrigin as either a proxy with a root certificate or using applescript and making it a Mac app? |
Further options are being discussed in #145. |
@p4t44, you may want to link to the HackerNews discussion of the whys and pros and cons of Apple's change to Safari: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21025252 |
Just FYI for anyone reading this thread: AdGuard for Mac requires installing a kernel extension which as far as I know none of the other options do. I didn't feel comfortable with that so I went with one of the other options. |
I would also suggest Little Snitch or some free equivalent, using block lists. Since it's a firewall, it won't be impacted by any changes in Safari. |
I was using a manually installed build of uBlock Origin on Safari, but Safari crashed twice, and uBlock was dissabled. |
@p4t44 @freediverx Do you need nifty macos app or just good ad blocker ? |
@El-Fitz but functionality of this ad blocker will be limited to blocking hosts when real ad blockers much more powerful and it will diffidently slow down your browser. Better use dnscrypt-proxy with blocklist in this case if you could satisfied by host blockers. |
@p4t44
Why? It seems settled that the UI is slow as it's Electron-based, and I don't argue with that. It just has nothing to do with ad blocking performance, and there's no one on this thread complaining about that. Also, "slow" does not mean that it consumes additional energy or whatever. It simply takes more time to render when you decide to use it. |
Just wanted to leave this here: https://thehackernews.com/2019/09/browser-chrome-extension-adblock.html |
It used to be that it was slower even without the UI open before a recent update. It is also reccomended that you leave the app open constantly for filters to update (which or may not slow it down). I can link you to a dozen reports of AdGuard going slow, so I think it is unreasonable not to mention it in the list. Slow means that 1) it takes longer to use, 2) uses excessive CPU and memory to make the rest of your computer go slower and 3) use more battery. I'm really not sure wether it is significantly slower then alternatives, and I don't have the time or will to figure it out. I've linked to this thread so anybody unsure can read the comments of the AdGuard developer and decide for himself. I think that if you are considering AdGuard, download it. Check activity monitor, if it takes up a lot of CPU or battery, uninstall and get something else. If it doesn't, then don't and use it. |
I would just like to mention a couple of advantages that Wipr has over Ka-Block:
Note that with the new Content Block API you don't need to have a white-list option built into the extension, because you can exclude content blocking on specific websites directly from Safari going to Preferences -> Websites -> Content Blockers |
No app in background needed, no resource used :) |
@superlex That's not a bad strategy, for sure. But computers are supposed to take care of boring/annoying background tasks for us. Opening AG once or twice a day to update lists is exactly what we should not have to do. But maybe in a week, that's what I'll be doing too. Haha. At least Safari 14 took a step in the right direction with standard (mostly) WebExtensions. I still have hope. |
@possiblerobot |
From what I can tell, only Safari supports using AirPlay with embedded videos. Is there a way to stream videos via AirPlay within Chrome or Firefox? |
So what's the recommended one for M1 macs? |
Honestly I gave up trying to mess with safari and I switched to firefox and ubo. Been happy ever since. |
Agreed, the ability to customize, low resource usage and overall security/privacy settings made Firefox a no-brainer for me. |
Unfortunately Safari is still king when it comes to battery usage |
If
then I do lose more battery, than by using FF+μBO. |
Well, it works just fine, and if you wanna show "install a different browser" to 50% mobile internet, god bless you do not. For me the only features missing there is multi-profile like in Chrome for differing personal and work accounts and support for ordinary extensions like uBlock, but for that I have Chrome installed. |
Just as a heads up, Orion (macOS browser, WebKit fork) has native support for uBlock Origin and many other web extensions. We are currently in private beta and accepting new testers. |
I put it on HN for you: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26631598 |
@vprelovac will you be accepting some applications soonish? |
Current waitlist time for Orion is about 2-3 weeks. |
The Safari support for WebExtensions was released in 2021 and is available from Safari 14 (shipped with macOS Big Sur). WebExtensions for Safari are published in the App Store. See documentation here. Any hope for uBlock back in Safari? |
Curious if on macOS NetworkExtensions can be used to make a DoT / DoH app (I made one for iOS a while back) which then has lists from ublock (or rather any list) that is added to blacklist for the app such that any DNS request is then blocked. With M1 Macs I feel that searching through anything around 50,000 blacklists won't be much of a problem. Not sure if this approach was discussed anywhere else. Note : In case anyone is wondering using System DNS in Network Extensions for macOS 11 and iOS 14 will override any DNS from apps. This is because apps can decide to use their own encrypted DNS in iOS 14 / macOS 11 in which case your local DNS blockers will not work. |
@chinmaythosar there're two options (both worked for me):
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well, I don't agree it's garbage, it's pretty decent in terms of it does the thing well, but it's painfully slow. And Electron is garbage, of course |
Has anyone tried using alternative open source router firmware, such as Tomato and its forks such as FreshTomato, that supports blocking at the router? From what I can tell, this is achieved via a router-based DNS that "blocks all ads and trash websites via the DNS cache poisoning method". I don't know if other open source router firmware offers other methods. For Tomato and its forks:
In addition, FreshTomato has a built-in ad blocker that I guess is easier to manage than custom scripts:
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Yes with OpenWRT. It's not as convenient as blocking at the browser though as exceptions take longer to input and can't be temporarily added with a single click. Best for devices that don't support system-wide blocking, e.g. iOS. |
Would the Chromium MV3 style work with the new Safari extension model? |
Is there are some plans to make a port of new experimental uBOLite MV3 API-based content blocker to Safari? |
Just a heads up that full (or nearly full) uBO experience is possible in a WebKit-based browser. Orion browser, a WebKit-based Mac browser (still in beta) supports Chrome/Firefox extensions natively. |
I have been using Orion and it's been great so far. |
My god orion did it |
Very quick tl;dr: uBO will no longer work with Safari, use Firefox or a new "content blocker" app (see below for good replacements).
In the past few months, and especially in the past week, there have been a lot of posts and comments questioning the status of uBlock Origin for Safari. This should answer all questions on the status of uBO for safari.
uBlock Origin was ported for Safari in 2016, and was updated regulary (mostly changes from the main project) until 2018 when development completley stopped. Since then Apple has begun phasing out Safari extensions as extensions, and has instead been implenting a new extensions framework which is extremley limited in adblocking functions, only allowing "content blockers", which are just links bundled as an app which Safari enforces. From Safari 12 / macOS Mojave, old legacy Safari extensions were still allowed, but came with warnings saying that they will slow down your browsing (they infact won't, or at least not noticably). Safari also recently shut their Extension Gallery, instead redirecting it to the mac app store. Though it is still curently possible to install uBlock Origin by downloading the extension from Github (edit: must follow these instructions, it will not be starting from Safari 13 / macOS Catalina, when the legacy entension API will be fully deprecated.
It will not possible for uBlock Origin to work with the upcoming Safari 13 / macOS Catalina release
If you are a current user of uBlock Origin for Safari here are the options to continue blocking ads:
Top picks
- 1Blocker, by far the most powerful, with custom rules and an element picker. This is the best option if you don't mind paying. Costs $10.1Blocker has switched to a subscription model, even for people who already paid for it. Avoid.Update: do not buy. 1Blocker has teased 1BlockerX for Mac, which will be a paid upgrade. I cannot reccomend buying an app now which will soon be obsolete..Update 2: 1Blocker has said that it will be a free upgrade to 1BlockerX from the current version, so there isn't any reason to wait if you want it.Other Good Options
Don't see any advantage in this over Ka-block (see above) for an extra $1.99.Apparently Ka-Block doesn't work for youtube (wipr does), and Wipr uses 3 extensions to get around the limit in rules.Do Not Reccomend
Update: Here is a statement from gorhill (uBO developer) on the state of Safari
Edit: a lot people are asking about uBlock Origin not working in the future on Chrome. If you'd like more information on this, here is an article from ghacks from january, and a statement from gorhill, developer of uBlock.**
There has been discussion of this on Reddit Github and Hacker News.
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