Manifest V3, webRequest, and ad blockers

Ayespy

@Granite1 said in Manifest V3, webRequest, and ad blockers:

June 2025: wow, that's 9 months into the future.

That's the date Manifest V2 becomes invalid in Chromium et al.

greybeard

@julien_picalausa
As one of the Team you have a job there and priorities within that job function, I can see Sync being a priority. With a team as small as yours it must be difficult to balance differing demands from the userbase.
Keeping Sync working, in my opinion, is the best way to keep Vivaldi stable from version to version.
When time and resources are available work on the ad blocker (Personally I am mare concerned about Trackers...) but for now trustworthy third party apps must do.
Keep up the good work.

barbudo2005

@greybeard

I wonder:

Are they working on improving the adblocker and giving it the importance it deserves?

The addition of the Dashboard toy would be telling me otherwise.

greybeard

@barbudo2005
I would assume so, but clearly not being part of the development team, I could be making an ass of myself by saying that.
Vivaldi has always kept development strategies close to their chest, so to speak, so we really can't be sure what takes priority at a given time.
That is their prerogative and having followed the development of V since the Alpha stage I would agree with that.

Ayespy

@barbudo2005 At any given time, it's likely that fewer than half the team is working on any given feature. All of the other developers are likely to be doing something else. In other words, Vivaldi can walk and chew gum at the same time. Pointing out that they are walking does not imply that they are not chewing gum. As nearly as I can tell, four developers and one designer are working on different aspects of Dashboard - and none of these are a developer who is qualified to work on privacy features.

DoctorG

On some Installations Google turns off some extensions now https://x.com/cpojer/status/1845774326324432935

Catweazle

@DoctorG, also on existing installations, if Google delete the extensions from the Chrome Store they also disappear in the Browser.
As said, I don't trust not longer the extensions from the Store because of this, at least not in the vital ones for security and privacy, because they can disappear from one moment to another when Google want it so.

barbudo2005

@Ayespy

Thank you for the clarification.

And may we know how many are working on "privacy features"?

Ayespy

@barbudo2005 I'm only aware of two developers who are qualified. I don't know who is doing what.

barbudo2005

@Ayespy

Thank you again.

There's nothing like having a ‘spy’ to tell you little tidbits.

barbudo2005

From Adguard blog:

"Most people will choose ad blocker over paying websites for ad-free experience"

"In a world where ads seem to pop up everywhere online, users are increasingly asking themselves what they can do to make them go away. One of the options is to pay a website for an ad-free experience (for instance, YouTube or Netflix offer such options), the other option is to endure ads, and yet another one is to arm yourself with an ad blocker, either an extension or an app. The latter will not only block ads in one browser, but on all the websites where the ad blocker’s filtering rules apply."

https://adguard.com/en/blog/ad-blocker-paying-free-access.html

barbudo2005

This is a list of uBO features we would like to keep.

Does Adguard have them?

Element Picker: Yes

Looger: Yes

In the logger: Make a rule to Block or Unblock an entry with a click: Yes

Report an issue on the website from the extension: Yes

Report an issue on a page of Github (Reddit in uBO): Yes

Continuous (weekly) updates of the extension and lists: Yes

Disable or enable the User list in the setting: Yes

Disable cosmetic filter on the site in context menu: I already requested it on Github and they are evaluating it.

A good list of filters list efficient and constantly maintained: Yes. So good that uBO uses them.

No ads on YT: Yes

Import Custom filter lists: Yes

User list rules : Yes and you can import your list that you built over the years in uBO.

Extended CSS for more difficult filters : Yes

Hide placeholders of blocked elements: Yes

Update filter list between extension update dates: Yes

Import and export settings : Yes

Trusted sites list (Allowlist) : Yes and you can import it from uBO that you built over the years

My Rules : No, but you can import your list from uBO that you built over the years and convert them with Notepad++ in five minutes:

This:

* 254a.com * block

To this:

 ||254a.com

PS:

About the 200MB more RAM:

The Forum page of Vivaldi is 254MB

Stardust

@barbudo2005 said in Manifest V3, webRequest, and ad blockers:

This is a list of uBO features we would like to keep.

Block domains per site or global in advanced uBO mode?

barbudo2005

@Stardust

Said:

Block domains per site or global in advanced uBO mode?

Do you know this curve that explains asymptotic behaviour?

The entry of new rules in your ‘My Rules’ list is an asymptotic behaviour, i.e. over the years it tends to zero.

In Vivaldi I have 2116 rules that I have entered over say 5 years.

And in Firefox : 1821.

When I put them together to consolidate them and import them into Adguard, half of the total were repeated.

As the sites that appear on the sites we visit and want to block are not infinite but are repeated, then as time goes by and after 5 or more years the new ones you enter are very few.

But using Logger it can be done very quickly:

One click on the entry:

One click on "Block" and one click on the most general:

One click on "Add the rule".

It is equivalent to this:

And if you want this:

You click on this :

But I assure you that there will be very few times you will need to enter new rules after importing your list of 5 or more years.

And even less if you combine those of Vivaldi and Firefox.

Stardust

@barbudo2005

so I see it has similar feature but not handy UI like in uBO where you can see everything and block/unblock on the fly.

barbudo2005

@Stardust

How many rules do you have in "My rules" in Vivaldi and Firefox.

Stardust

@barbudo2005 I think you already asked me, >1000 rules

barbudo2005

End of support for uBO on Chrome / Chromium browsers by uBO team:

"Current Chrome/Chromium versions (starting 129.0.6668.101 for some and increasingly on 131+) started disabling access to uBO through the Chrome Web Store.

The CWS access can be restored by enabling an enterprise policy. You can also try sideloading uBO instead.

This will give you access to uBO until June/July 2025 when subsequent browser updates will remove the manifest v2 framework entirely and all extensions requiring it to function will simply disappear from your Chrome/Chromium.

You might be tempted to stop updating your browser then - please DON'T DO THAT - up-to-date browsers are your strongest security protection on the web. There is no point in keeping uBO on while leaving known holes in your browser open to attacks.

Does this mean the end of the uBO project as a whole?

Of course NOT! Firefox has stated they have no current plans for removing the mv2 framework and uBO will continue to receive the full support on that browser.
In fact, uBO works best on Firefox, so moving to it should improve your overall uBO experience.

If you really do want to stay on a chromium-engine browser, Brave plans to keep the mv2 framework for as long as feasible for just a handful of extensions - including uBO. A separate setting already exists, but for now still installs from the chrome webstore. Be careful though - disabling the setting currently offers no warning and will remove uBO (and your config).

From other officially supported chromium-engine browsers by the uBO project Edge has not updated their removal timeline yet, so it's possible it might last a little bit longer... Or not - the next 7 or so months might be enough time for them to make up their mind. Also, Opera has recently stated they plan on letting you use uBO.

I'm not able to change browsers because my device is managed by my school/company (or I simply don't want to change browsers). What can I do?

Unfortunately, you'll have to say farewell to the full uBO project (or similar extensions). Your only choice will be installing the less powerful mv3 iteration of your favorite content blocker, e.g. uBOL (uBlock Origin Lite), which should still be enough for most users.

Officially uBO supported browsers

Firefox - uBO is most powerful in it. It will continue to work.

Chrome/Chromium - started removing uBO from the webstore, add a policy (or install manually) to extend support till June 2025.

Edge - removal timeline unspecified yet.

Brave - policy currently enabled by default. Will let you install uBO + a few other extensions through a special setting afterwards.

The setting is still in development so tread carefully - disabling it removes uBO entirely.

Opera - plans to let you keep uBO."

https://www.reddit.com/r/uBlockOrigin/comments/1h41myj/end_of_support_for_ubo_on_chrome_chromium/

Hadden89

@barbudo2005 said in Manifest V3, webRequest, and ad blockers:

Edge - removal timeline unspecified yet.

Edge will likely follow chrome (even if they are pretty much vague on that).

Stardust

@barbudo2005 said in Manifest V3, webRequest, and ad blockers:

"Current Chrome/Chromium versions (starting 129.0.6668.101 for some and increasingly on 131+) started disabling access to uBO through the Chrome Web Store.

That was a whole point of MV3 from the beginning - stop users to use uBO