Explanation of the state of uBlock Origin and other blockers for Safari

Re:Explanation of the state of uBlock Origin and other block... by DCKing on Friday September 20, 2019 @08:35AM (#21025971)

I like using Safari and uBlock Origin. I notice that I am not a power user of browsers - give tabs, a forward and backward button and any adblocker and I used to be happy. This mean that I could easily use Safari and Firefox - I prefer not to use Chrome derivatives to do my part in preventing developers from forgetting about other browsers.

However, I have recently become a power user of uBlock Origin specifically to curtail the general attention hacking on the web. uBlock Origin is already a very great ad blocker in its default installation, but I've recently got into using its powerful cosmetic filters to block out "attention hacking features", such as (all of) YouTube's recommendations, comments on various sites, and stuff like the "Hot Network Questions" on StackOverflow. Things I've discovered that are too good at distracting my mind. With a few uBlock Origin cosmetic filter rules, those website elements remain hidden when I visit them.

I wonder if it's possible to continue using Safari with my own distraction filters. It's a shame if I have to stop using it.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Explanation of the state of uBlock Origin and other block... by dasKrokodil on Friday September 20, 2019 @09:35AM (#21026491)

Good point about SO's "Hot Network Questions". Those reduce my productivity almost as much as Hacker News :)

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Explanation of the state of uBlock Origin and other block... by saagarjha on Friday September 20, 2019 @10:45AM (#21027252)

> I wonder if it's possible to continue using Safari with my own distraction filters.

You can, and I’m working on making this. (No timeline, since I’m notoriously bad at getting things out the door.)

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Explanation of the state of uBlock Origin and other block... by twostoned on Friday September 20, 2019 @08:47AM (#21026069)

I need to block attention hacking features also, have been thinking about this recently. Stupid youtube.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Explanation of the state of uBlock Origin and other block... by DCKing on Friday September 20, 2019 @08:55AM (#21026136)

In uBlock Origin settings > My filters, paste the following rules to turn YouTube in just a search bar + video player:

  youtube.com##ytd-browse[page-subtype='home']
  youtube.com##ytd-watch-next-secondary-results-renderer
  youtube.com##app-drawer
  youtube.com##ytd-item-section-renderer.ytd-comments
  youtube.com##ytd-guide-renderer
  youtube.com##ytd-mini-guide-renderer
  youtube.com##ytd-topbar-menu-button-renderer
  youtube.com###buttons.ytd-masthead
  youtube.com##yt-icon-button
  youtube.com##.ytp-endscreen-content

Note this is only accurate at the time of writing, only works partially on mobile, and may break some edge cases I don't use :)

[1]: https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Static-filter-syntax

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Explanation of the state of uBlock Origin and other block... by rurp on Friday September 20, 2019 @01:45PM (#21029328)

I really like the idea of using uBlock Origin to block distractions. I've used it quite a bit to block minor annoying website features like sticky menus or marketing popups. I might start using it more extensively to block actual content.

[ Parent | on HN ]