Ask HN: When will we have mobile browser extensions and ad-blocking?
Trying to browse the web on mobile is just a hostile experience. I have to close 2-4 popups before I can see any webpage. It feels like the early 2000s all over again and I don't know of any initiatives to move us forward.
How long are we stuck with this world?
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23 comments
| 20 points
| on HN
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Safari does have a “content blocking API,” but it’s far more limited than desktop extensions.
People like to glorify Apple for being “privacy friendly,” but with Android you have the power and the tools to improve your privacy significantly over iOS.
If you really need adblocking, I recommend AdGuard for iOS (which uses the content blocking API) and Pi-hole (for whole network DNS filtering). Good luck.
To block ads in other apps, use AdAway (for a rooted device) or Pi-hole.
- uBlock Origin: For the ads
- Video Background Play Fix: Allows me to listen to Youtube without having the screen on.
I also use Firefox with unlock sometimes.
On iOS, you could use a different DNS server to block ad domains.
https://adguard.com/en/adguard-dns/overview.html
What are these "pop-ups" and "ads" you speak of?
Yandex Browser is also Chromium based, so loads faster than Firefox and has an absolute killer text-reflow feature [something Firefox used to have but, in a fit of insanity, got rid of several years ago]. It also supports pretty much any extension from the Chrome Webstore you want to install [and the ones that don't one-click install you can usually sideload in 'Developer Mode'].
Give it a go. Sometimes you've got to look further than the end of your nose for solutions to your problems!
I really don't see what difference it makes whether my browsing habits end up in a data silo in Russia [or even China], rather than the USA.
In fact, given the choice, and even if I was up to no good, I'd PREFER the Russians or Chinese to be slurping my data, rather than any of the 'five eyes' nations. I think most three letter agency types are more interested in what their own citizens are up to, rather than worrying about what some nobody in a foreign country is doing.
I use Refine, fwiw.
https://blokada.org/index.html
1. Install Firefox Focus, which has a built-in content blocking capability. FF Focus only allows one tab at a time, which is mostly suitable for quick, throwaway tasks. It's not a browser if you want to have multiple tabs open or save bookmarks. To block Bad Things in Safari, go to Settings > Safari > Content Blockers (under General) > Allow Firefox Focus. In FF Focus, go to Settings > Enable Safari Integration.
2. Pi-hole (or NextDNS) to block spyware/malware on the DNS level.
It's not a 100% replacement for uBlockOrigin (especially if you like maxing it out), but it is good enough.
https://brave.com
These can be spun up for a few dollars a month on a cloud provider, or perhaps even at home if you have a static IP allocation.
Depending on your device (e.g. a recent iOS device) you can then set up your device to only tunnel DNS requests back to the Pi hole at either your home or server provider.
Admittedly this is rather involved, but works for all apps and webpages which rely on good ol' DNS to phone home and fetch ads.
No complaints and for the reasons you mention, I can't imagine browsing on mobile without it.
Wipr is one of the many content blockers available for Safari, be it iOS or macOS.