Manifest V3 changes are now available to test in Microsoft Edge

Re:Manifest V3 changes are now available to test in Microsof... by dessant on Wednesday October 14, 2020 @04:30PM (#24781228)

It's unfortunate that Microsoft has joined the webRequest API deprecation club, though it's not too surprising, after all they are also in the advertising business, and it makes no sense to maintain a Chromium patch that could actually be detrimental to their revenue.

Innovation around ad blockers will now be largely constrained by browser vendors evolving the declarativeNetRequest API.

Mediocre ad blockers like Adblock Plus will happily adapt to the new limited API to fill in any void created by uBlock Origin, and most users will not immediately notice the damage that has been done.

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Re:Manifest V3 changes are now available to test in Microsof... by TimTheTinker on Wednesday October 14, 2020 @05:02PM (#24781563)

So much for the browser being a user agent.

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Re:Manifest V3 changes are now available to test in Microsof... by ry454 on Wednesday October 14, 2020 @05:11PM (#24781657)

We'll have to run our own fork of Chromium, just to run uBO. And that makes sense: it's strange to call a browser supplied by an ad company a "user agent".

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Re:Manifest V3 changes are now available to test in Microsof... by TimTheTinker on Wednesday October 14, 2020 @07:09PM (#24782787)

Except that that's what a browser is supposed to be, according to all the web specs and security models -- an agent who acts for the user and on the user's authority.

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Re:Manifest V3 changes are now available to test in Microsof... by ry454 on Wednesday October 14, 2020 @08:58PM (#24783591)

Troy citizens also believed that if something is called a horse and looks like a horse, then it's obviously a horse and can't be anything else, especially when it's given for free.

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Re:Manifest V3 changes are now available to test in Microsof... by TimTheTinker on Wednesday October 14, 2020 @09:35PM (#24783835)

I think we’re arguing the same thing... my point though is that when a browser ceases to act on users’ behalf then users should withdraw trust from it.

Forking Chromium is likely an unsustainable proposition unless backed by a large corp (or VC/philanthropy money) and a value proposition non-tech people can understand.

What about Brave? Any idea what their stance is on this?

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Re:Manifest V3 changes are now available to test in Microsof... by ry454 on Wednesday October 14, 2020 @11:21PM (#24784559)

Brave's business model is also about ads.

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Re:Manifest V3 changes are now available to test in Microsof... by xnx on Wednesday October 14, 2020 @09:56PM (#24783964)

I'd be happy if Firefox were a modified version of Chromium for developers/power-users/hackers that prioritized every feature in the user's interest (at their own risk).

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Re:Manifest V3 changes are now available to test in Microsof... by danShumway on Wednesday October 14, 2020 @04:36PM (#24781296)

Has Firefox's position on this changed? Do they still plan to keep the blocking webRequest API supported, at least for now?

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Re:Manifest V3 changes are now available to test in Microsof... by dessant on Wednesday October 14, 2020 @04:38PM (#24781318)

Mozilla has not yet taken a clear and supportive position on the issue of blocking with the webRequest API, though they are planning to implement Manifest V3 in some form.

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Re:Manifest V3 changes are now available to test in Microsof... by dblohm7 on Thursday October 15, 2020 @01:59AM (#24785334)

https://blog.mozilla.org/addons/2019/09/03/mozillas-manifest...

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Re:Manifest V3 changes are now available to test in Microsof... by dessant on Thursday October 15, 2020 @02:33AM (#24785512)

I'm aware of the blog post, but "no immediate plans" is not as reassuring as it needs to be for users to switch browsers, and for extension developers to invest in the platform.

> We have no immediate plans to remove blocking webRequest and are working with add-on developers to gain a better understanding of how they use the APIs in question to help determine how to best support them.

I think stronger language is needed to reassure people that continuing to offer powerful extension APIs is truly important for Mozilla.

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Re:Manifest V3 changes are now available to test in Microsof... by ry454 on Wednesday October 14, 2020 @05:12PM (#24781674)

Mozilla is almost entirely funded by Google.

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Re:Manifest V3 changes are now available to test in Microsof... by vbezhenar on Wednesday October 14, 2020 @07:22PM (#24782912)

Are there good uBlock replacements using new API?

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Re:Manifest V3 changes are now available to test in Microsof... by anoncareer0212 on Thursday October 15, 2020 @12:25AM (#24784921)

It's disheartening to see this misinformation expressed so strongly - Chromium's privacy mandate led them to implement Safari's version of ad blocking - the status quo of allowing extensions to see _all your web traffic_ was a _massive_ platform risk for privacy.

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Re:Manifest V3 changes are now available to test in Microsof... by dessant on Thursday October 15, 2020 @02:23AM (#24785464)

Only the blocking capabilities of the webRequest API are deprecated, observing traffic remains intact in Manifest V3.

Extensions will continue to enjoy access to your data, while ad blockers will have a harder time to react to the countermeasures introduced by ad networks.

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Re:Manifest V3 changes are now available to test in Microsof... by inshadows on Thursday October 15, 2020 @05:24PM (#24794201)

Right, because it's only about conflict between browser vendors and 3rd party extension vendors. Somehow the user, a dumb machine browsing web, is only meant to be protected my browser vendor. There's no way for relantionship between user and extension vendor anymore.

You make me sick.

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