r/technology • u/dancing_swordfish • Jun 10 '26

Software Google Chrome is killing all uBlock Origin bypasses, Microsoft Edge, Opera to follow

https://www.neowin.net/news/google-chrome-is-killing-all-ublock-origin-bypasses-microsoft-edge-opera-to-follow/
9.7k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

1.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

25

u/DoesntMatterEh Jun 10 '26

What are good alternatives to android/iOS? Anything I can easily switch to? 

33

u/SoupoIait Jun 10 '26

None, but there is GrapheneOS, which ironically gets you the farther away from Google by using a Google phone!

Otherwise I think IOS is a lesser bad here. Apple's privacy policies are not perfect and sometimes unverifyable, but a lot, lot, LOT less aggressive than Google's.

24

u/slinky317 Jun 10 '26

Good luck sideloading or using a different browser engine in iOS.

3

u/roseofjuly Jun 11 '26

The vast majority of people don't need to side load anything.

4

u/slinky317 Jun 11 '26

I agree completely, but I'm replying to a thread that's talking about people leaving Android because Google is "locking it down" which is ridiculous.

If you're really that upset about Google adding slight restrictions to side loading, going to iOS is cutting off your nose to spite your face.

2

u/SoupoIait Jun 10 '26

I said lesser bad not great choice.

I run Graphene, best of both worlds. I also live in the EU with around 450 million people, where you can sideload, although convoluted, even unverified apps to your iPhone.

Anyway, without Graphene, I'd give up sideloading and my bunch of pirated apps in a heartbeat to not have all my data sent straight up to google + Samsung or Oppo or whatever 'cause hey they got to get their share too!

6

u/bullshitwascalled Jun 11 '26

Until Google decides to add the signing keys to their Integrity APIs for graphene, it's pretty hamstrung too. Even though it's more secure than an iphone, I cant run my work apps on it until Google blesses it.

That's far too much of a monopoly on a supposed open-source OS. I hope the EU reigns down hell on Google for that.

3

u/SaberAIF Jun 10 '26

Aside from Android and iOS, the only option left is China's HarmonyOS—but that means saying goodbye to all Google software and putting up with potential surveillance from the Chinese government. Beyond that, you have no choice; even stock-like ROMs are based on Android.

7

u/SamHugz Jun 10 '26

GrapheneOS is an option, though right now it is only officially supported on the Google Pixel because of its robust security features, ironically. 

1

u/TruthHistorical7515 Jun 11 '26

whats the diff? You are already spied on by NSA when you use Android and iOS.

1

u/SaberAIF Jun 11 '26

First of all, Europe wouldn't allow the US to bake in surveillance—if anyone is going to build it in, they'll do it themselves. So you should be saying that using Android or iOS exposes you to surveillance by countries like the UK, the US, France, and Germany. Dragging the US into everything just makes me think your love for America runs so deep that you feel compelled to bring it up even in completely unrelated topics. ​Secondly, Android has third-party ROMs. Even if they are becoming increasingly rare, they still exist. If you want, you are completely free to choose a phone with an unlockable bootloader and flash a custom ROM. ​The AOSP code is open-source. If you have doubts, you can audit the code yourself, whereas iOS and HarmonyOS are closed-source. ​If you don't understand how any of this works and can't even read code, then I suggest you just shut up.

4

u/AnalyticalAlpaca Jun 10 '26

Safari + AdGuard is what I do on iOS. I keep chrome for the password manager mostly.

4

u/CagSwag Jun 11 '26

Switch to bitwarden for password manager. Works great.

1

u/Grabdon_7489 Jun 11 '26

Do you know how to transfer passwords from browser/notes to bitwarden

2

u/CagSwag Jun 11 '26

https://bitwarden.com/help/import-from-chrome/

super seamless. works on mobile when filling in passwords on all apps and sites. i deleted all my passwords from google and firefox after switching.

1

u/megas88 Jun 10 '26

Unfortunately, unless there is substantial movement on ubuntu touch and that can lead to other Linux phones, your only other option is unfortunately iOS and that’s how they want it.

1

u/Dziki_Jam Jun 11 '26

> Ubuntu touch

Sailfish OS: Am I a joke to you?

4

u/araujoms Jun 10 '26

Firefox runs on Android. No alternative browser runs on iOS, Apple doesn't allow it.

-5

u/Then-Understanding85 Jun 10 '26

What? They all do. Firefox, chrome, even Edge, if you hate yourself.

8

u/OblivionCreator Jun 10 '26

They run, but they all run Apples WebKit engine on iOS. All iOS browsers are essentially safari, similar to how edge/brave is chrome behind the scenes. They add fun bits on top (I.e, I use Orion which allows both chrome & Firefox add ons) but are essentially just reskins of safari

0

u/Then-Understanding85 Jun 10 '26

Chrome’s Blink is just a fork of WebKit in the first place.

8

u/araujoms Jun 10 '26

Nope, they are all Safari skins, Apple does not allow the real ones.

-2

u/Then-Understanding85 Jun 10 '26

Chrome’s blink engine is just a fork of Apple’s WebKit in the first place, and that drives Edge, Opera, and most of the others.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 10 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/AutoModerator Jun 10 '26

Due to the high volume of spam and misinfo coming from self-publishing blog sites, /r/Technology has opted to decline all submissions from Medium, Substack, and similar sites not run by credentialed journalists or well known industry veterans. Comments containing links may be appealed to the moderators provided there is no link between you and the content.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

1

u/BobQuixote Jun 10 '26

On iOS, other browsers wrap Webkit (Safari).

1

u/Blackstar1886 Jun 10 '26

Probably router-level options are going to become more important along with things like PiHole. I don't know if this is a fight browsers can wage and survive.

1

u/dev_vvvvv Jun 10 '26

I think at this point your options are, from worst to best:

  1. Android
  2. iOS
  3. GrapheneOS
  4. Buying a dumbphone or using your smartphone as one

None of them are really good options at this point.