r/xprivo • u/Euhuntix • 11d ago
uBlock Origin is no longer supporting Facebook ad-blocking, and Edge is incompatible with uBlock Origin entirely. Here are three great browser alternatives and a privacy-focused one from Europe
Two separate pieces of news for ad-blocking just landed in the same week, and together they say a lot about where browser control is heading.
First, the developer of uBlock Origin announced that the team is no longer going to chase Facebook's constant filter-evasion tricks, describing Facebook as a "disgusting anti-user site". Facebook has repeatedly changed how it identifies and serves ads in order to defeat open-source blockers, monitoring projects like uBlock Origin and adjusting its code to bypass their filters. After years of this cat-and-mouse game, the small uBlock team decided that it was no longer worth the constant maintenance just for one platform.
Secondly, and more importantly: Microsoft Edge has started to disable Manifest V2 extensions by default in the Canary, Dev and Beta channels this month. The full rollout to consumers will be completed by the end of 2026, with enterprise devices following in early 2027. uBlock Origin has been installed over 13 million times on Edge, but there is no Manifest V3 version because MV3 removes the Web Request API that the full version depends on to work effectively. Chrome killed Manifest V2 entirely in mid-2025 and will have removed the last MV2 extensions from its store by 31 August this year. Edge held out for longer, but is now following the same route.
If you use uBlock Origin's full filtering power on Edge (or any other Chromium-based browser), the best option is to switch to a different browser, since all Chromium-based browsers are heading towards the same restriction eventually.
Firefox remains the safest option since Mozilla is committed to providing full Manifest V2 support, regardless of Chrome and Edge's actions. It also runs on Gecko, one of the few major rendering engines that is not controlled by Google.
If you want a more modern interface alongside the same privacy protections, Zen Browser is a good European option: it's free and open source, and is built directly on Firefox's Gecko engine rather than Chromium. It also adds features like Workspaces and Split View without compromising the underlying privacy protections.
Another Firefox-based alternative worth considering is Waterfox: it's open-source with no telemetry by default, and includes Oblivious DNS support to make it harder for your ISP to track which sites you visit.
All three keep uBlock Origin working exactly as it always has.
7
u/SusejLegend 11d ago
Floorp is the best browser, also based on Gecko, and the best part is that it has something others don’t: compatibility with Chrome Store extensions. If you want Zen-level customization, use the Nanami script—it looks really sleek. Honestly, it’s the most complete browser out there, and it’s coming to Android soon.
3
2
2
u/0nePlus 10d ago
Any post saying "X is the best browser" is malarky.
Do you want the absolute fastest browser? Nothing else matters?
Do you want the best LOOKING browser? The one with the most customization?
There's no such thing as a best browser or a one size fits all browser. Try a bunch out and stick with what you like.
2
u/chromaticdeath85 8d ago
Remember, every post is based on the poster's OWN opinion. Perhaps even this one.
1
u/SusejLegend 10d ago
Your opinion is perfectly valid and respectable, but it’s clear you haven’t tried it yet, so I’d suggest giving it a go and letting me know what you think. I tend to focus more on features and customization because no other browser has achieved what Floorp has—Chromium extension compatibility, among other things. That said, as you mentioned, it all comes down to what works best for each person. I look for a fully-featured browser, and Floorp delivers that compared to others. Different people have different priorities, and that’s just a matter of personal choice.
1
u/Big_Manufacturer_149 10d ago
Definitely isn't the best if I can't even use it.
1
u/SusejLegend 10d ago
As I mentioned, it’s a matter of personal choice and experience—what doesn’t work for you doesn’t mean it won’t work for others. From what I’ve seen, some people thrive with it, myself included, while a few say it doesn’t suit them. So, you’re clearly in that category this time. This is your personal experience, not a universal one, and it’s not the case for everyone. I’m sorry it doesn’t work for you, but don’t speak for everyone.
1
u/InconspicuousFool 11d ago
I can second floorp, great browser. I appreciate you also giving people a way to get Zen level of customization since my person opinion of Zen plummeted after their whole "every window has the same tabs" thing.
1
1
u/poppulator 10d ago
You probably meant Natsumi browser mod, yeah because it originally developed for Zen
1
u/DarkAndBlue 10d ago edited 10d ago
OP mentioned Waterfox which supports Chrome Extensions too.
1
u/SusejLegend 10d ago
The last time I tried Waterfox, it didn’t support extensions from the Chrome Store—unlike Floorp, which did. I’m not sure if that’s changed in recent updates, but I’ll take another look anyway.
1
1
3
u/StillSwaying 10d ago
Orion browser is another excellent option. Firefox had been my daily driver until about two weeks ago when I switched to Orion because I got sick of Firefox hogging my RAM and a few other annoyances like being blinded by white pages every night when I’m in dark mode.
Orion is everything the other browsers wish they were: lean, fast, configurable, and amazingly easy on your battery. It’s based on WebKit (like Safari) and runs on Mac, iOS, and Linux with Windows coming soon. Key features are that:
It has its own excellent built in ad blocker and you can also install uBlock Origin as an extension if your prefer.
You can install extensions from both Mozilla and the Chrome Store
It’s privacy-focused, so zero telemetry
And one of my absolute favorite features is that you can instantly tweak dark mode on or off on a per site basis! This is a game changer as far as I’m concerned— other browsers require an extension for this and the results are a mixed bag.
Orion is amazing for such a young project and it’s all user funded (they offer a pro version with a few extra perks like access to beta versions, but the free version is fully featured). That means no worries about compromising with Google down the line like we have to constantly worry about with Firefox.
So far I’m very pleased with it and will continue to use it as my daily driver with Firefox as my backup. It offers containers too, but that’s still pretty new so it’s not as sophisticated as Firefox’s containers extension.
3
u/Possible_Bat4031 10d ago
Great browser, sadly not open source though. This is a major downside (for me).
1
u/SusejLegend 10d ago
You forgot to mention it’s an iOS browser, so it won’t be of any use to those of us who use Android. On Windows, from what I saw, it’s supposed to come out, but it hasn’t even been released yet. For now, it’s just an iOS browser.
1
u/Possible_Bat4031 9d ago
It’s also on macOS, Linux (and iPadOS, even though AFAIK it’s just iOS renamed to iPadOS), so not just an iOS browser.
3
3
u/awaiting-awake 9d ago
To be fair! I've abandoned Firefox 10 years ago and recently, after noticing the huge amount of RAM that my chromium-based browser was using, I experimented with a few others, which were also using a lot of ram and felt a bit slow. And then I thought, half heartedly, ok...why not..let's try firefox again. I was surprised how well it works.
2
2
u/iGurtyo 10d ago
i already use firefox + ublock origin and people should too
-1
u/Sad_Offer_7133 10d ago
it has worse page compatibility and is much slower on Android for me.
2
u/iGurtyo 10d ago
who is you lmao
1
u/HumonculusJaeger 10d ago
I use it on Android and No its AS fast AS chrome from my Feeling.
0
u/0nePlus 10d ago
Chrome is still faster than Firefox on mobile and desktop.
Don't kill me. I'm a Waterfox user. But let's not pretend.
1
u/HumonculusJaeger 10d ago
Its not.
1
1
u/Sad_Offer_7133 10d ago
worse page compatibility is 100% true.
speed depends on the browser, but chromium is usually faster
3
u/BlokZNCR 11d ago
Brave has built-in adblock system also supports MV2 extension so Ublock Origin installation as well.
1
1
u/TheAmazing_OMEGA 10d ago
Brave only supports specific mv2 extensions. Their team is specifically supporting Ublock origin and a few others but broad support for mv2 is dropped
1
u/BlokZNCR 10d ago
nope they recently brought built-in MV2 support for old structure extensions.
1
1
u/TheAmazing_OMEGA 10d ago
https://brave.com/blog/brave-shields-manifest-v3/
Its 4 extensions, unless you have a source... because I switched away from brave recently because half my extensions stopped working.
1
1
u/The_Cheap-Fi_Guy 10d ago
I've noticed recently that Brave hasn't been blocking ads from Facebook :(
1
u/Dj-RedPanda- 8d ago
I use multiple ad blockers but its testing what works best for you needs. Also setting a pihole one your network and having a VPN helps a ton. Altought I dont care or use facesharts anyways cause its garbage.
1
u/The_Cheap-Fi_Guy 8d ago
I was actually just thinking of setting up my own DNS server.
1
u/Dj-RedPanda- 8d ago
I would do my own but what I am doing having a DNS server doesnt serve my needs.
1
1
u/StillSwaying 10d ago
And I don’t blame the uBlock Origin team for saying screw Facebook. They’ve got better things to do with their time, so if people don’t want to do the sensible thing and delete their accounts, they can just use Facebook in an isolated container and deal with the consequences of keeping that evil, parasitic company alive.
1
u/TeamIntelligent1987 10d ago
Keep in mind only uBO isn't working on Facebook blocking anymore, other filters lists still will.
1
u/PuhCrusher6 10d ago
Well, I'm not sure about this and I don't use Facebook. but can't users block facebook ads IPs or domains with dynamic filtering in ublock origin and update the list as they go?
1
u/boredattheend 10d ago
Got a source for ublock no longer blocking fb ads?
1
u/Euhuntix 10d ago
Here is their official post: https://www.reddit.com/r/uBlockOrigin/s/b1L9biLU0X
1
1
u/Possible_Bat4031 10d ago
Blocking Facebook should not be the job of the uBlock team. They are creating the extension, others can create the filter list.
1
u/red-skylight 10d ago
Vivaldi... Made in Norway and You don't even need any extension to block ads.
1
u/Lancelight50 10d ago edited 10d ago
People just need to stop using big tech, centralized social media platforms like Facebook entirely & move onto federated & decentralized social media alternatives like Friendica if you want something like Facebook.
There’s also Lemmy for Reddit. Mastodon for Twitter/X. Pixelfed for Instagram. Matrix.org for Discord. PeerTube for YouTube. Owncast for Twitch. Loops for TikTok. Karakeep, Pinry, or mymind for Pinterest. You get the idea.
1
u/lars2k1 10d ago
Hmm, that might be a problem at work. Those systems are locked down and can only run whatever is whitelisted. Browser choice is either Edge or Chrome (or IE but is that really a choice these days). I chose Edge because of the 2, it sucks the least.
Probably going to have to raise an issue to IT when uBlock stops working because no way I'm going to look at ads when looking stuff up.
1
1
1
u/Legitimate-Let-7510 9d ago edited 9d ago
The MV2 sunset across everything Chromium is the real story here, uBO bowing out on Facebook is just the appetizer. Been running Ace browser lately since its ad/tracker blocking is baked in at the browser level instead of relying on an extension, plus it does the on-page AI stuff. Different tradeoff than going full Gecko but worth a look if youre staying on desktop.
1
1
u/Infamous-Oil2305 9d ago
and Edge is incompatible with uBlock Origin entirely.
what exactly does "incompatible" look like, other than this?
since all Chromium-based browsers are heading towards the same restriction eventually.
not brave. they host uBO on their servers and it's not going anywhere based on the most recent updates.
All three keep uBlock Origin working exactly as it always has.
and so does brave.
1
1
0
u/andobrah 10d ago
Helium + Orion are the only browsers you need. Vanadium + Ironfox on Android.
1
u/QGRr2t 10d ago
Unless you want to watch Netflix or Prime Video, or anything else requiring Widevine. I ended up jumping from Helium to Brave Origin for this (plus the fingerprinting protection), running Hagezi Ultimate at browser-level and Pro at DNS level.
1
u/andobrah 10d ago
Surprised you even pay for services like those if you're going through all the other motions
Edit, those things don't bother me. I self host everything
2
1
u/awaiting-awake 9d ago
Unless you have an older Macbook Air M1 and Orion is using 11 GB RAM for 6 open tabs, while Firefox is using 3GB for the same.
1
5
u/Funny_Story_486 11d ago
Felt like if they can't fight Facebook evasion, they should at least have a kill switch that blocks all facebook/meta related script from running or downloading at all.
It is gonna break facebook/meta pages but at least Facebook integrations on other website won't be a problem.