7mo ago

Google's "Manifest V2" Chrome extension phaseout next month is expected to impact the original uBlock Origin extension, which still uses the V2 framework and has 37 million users

www.theregister.com Google prepares for Chrome extension Manifest V2 phase out

Starting Monday, users will gradually be warned the end is near

The new MV3 architecture reflects Google's avowed desire to make browser extensions more performant, private, and secure. But the internet giant's attempt to do so has been bitterly contested by makers of privacy-protecting and content-blocking extensions, who have argued that the Chocolate Factory's new software architecture will lead to less effective privacy and content-filtering extensions.

For users of uBlock Origin, which runs on Manifest V2, "options" means using the less capable uBlock Origin Lite, which supports Manifest V3.

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Switch to Firefox.
- yeah the solution here is so simple, yet most people seem allergic to firefox.
  
  I have serious video playing issues on Firefox. I thought it was ublock, so i tried turning it off but video and live streams still take forever to load they freeze, too. My computer is very powerful so that's not the issue. No idea what is.
  
  That's bizarre. I am also on Windows 10 and use Firefox as my primary browser, largely because I can stream DRM'd video sites (Netflix etc) to my friends on discord.
  Sounds dumb, but have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling? I might suggest also removing or disabling all extensions to see if that does anything.
  
  Running Linux? Graphic drivers all updated and is FF updated?
  
  Nah, im on windows 10, unfortunately.
  
  Very strange what sites cause issues?
  
  Youtube, mainly
  
  Google is actively sabotaging for Firefox users.
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38349357
  Can't list all the examples of this but they are a scumbag company.
  
  Have you turned off Firefox's built-in enhanced tracking protection? If not, turn it off but leave uBlock Origin on and see if that solves your issue.
  
  drivers all up to date?
  
  Yeah I think so
  
  You may want to try disabling DNS over https as that was causing similar issues for me https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-dns-over-https
  
  I'll give it a shot. Thanks!
  
  I guess there is an option to activate to read DRM content (it exists on librewolf, not sure if it is there on Firefox too). it is activated ?
  
  I am on Linux and Firefox works better than chrome for my system
  
  I don't on mobile because it's way too slow.
  But I guess that isn't applicable to this post because mobile Chromium doesn't have ublock anyway...
  And on linux, I have firefox issues with wayland because of some Nvidia thing. Chromium too, but its less severe and I can actually get GPU acceleration working.
  
  How is Firefox slow? What exactly are you using Firefox for on mobile? These are honest question, I don't understand.
  
  They're not wrong, benchmarks have been done on mobile firefox.
  https://www.androidauthority.com/best-fastest-android-browsers-337802/
  Firefox doesn't lose every test, it even won one in the linked article, but chrome at least beats it in every other one and firefox comes in last several times.
  
  Not to be the guy that deepthroats Mozilla or anything, but these benchmarks show it being at worst 1 second slower.
  Like, Firefox really isn't noticeably slower than other browsers in the vast majority of situations.
  
  You're not wrong, but it should be noted that 'at worst 1 second slower' means a lot more when the fastest time is under 2 seconds. Saving 1 second is kind of a big deal when you only have 3 to work with. Closing that much of a gap would be a huge win for Firefox.
  Also worth noting that many of the linked tests are also not directly based on time, and the difference in benchmarking is still fairly substantial. With the exception of the singular test that it came out on top on, the best case among these benchmarks is that firefox mobile is 15-20% slower than Chrome. These benchmarks even include Mozilla's own Kraken benchmark (where it still comes in last among these results).
  Lastly, do want to say that I hope mobile firefox can catch up on these, but they've got a lot of work to do and the odds are stacked against them.
  
  Like, Firefox really isn't noticeably slower than other browsers in the vast majority of situations.
  I imagine there is a bigger difference on older phones though. An imperceptable difference could easily become unbearable when the phone is a little outdated. I experience it at work using a slightly older PC on Windows 10.
  
  It's one thing to fail benchmarks, but another thing to be perceive so slow that you'd rather use chrome. Maybe I just have low standards in that regard.
  
  An old Snapdragon 845 phone, lol. A razer phone 2.
  It just feels sluggish. Pages render slower, especially larger ones, and it eats more battery, especially with extensions like adblockers running.
  It's especially apparent because the RP2 is like the oldest 120hz phone. Bromite (aka chromium) feels like butter in comparison.
  
  Same story for me on a OnePlus 5T which is the even older Snapdragon 835. Firefox is genuinely unusable. I tried Mull and Iceraven too. For several months I tried to put up with it, but they were all a slow and buggy mess. Switched to Brave and it works fine.
  I use Librewolf on my desktop for the record.
  
  Firefox on mobile has extensions. You can have whatever ad blocker you want. You can automatically replace pictures of trump with kittens. I'm sure there are other extensions that are useful too. I'll take that over some negligible purported speed increase any day.
  
  Once Firefox on mobile got extension support, I switched over immediately to use a decent adblocker. Made sure every app that opens a browser opens in Firefox. Has made my mobile browsing experience so much better, of my goodness.
  
  mobile Chromium doesn't have ublock anyway...
  Kiwi browser on Android is Chromium based & has had the ability to add extensions such as uBlock for years
  
  Indeed, though I prefer skipping extensions on mobile because (as said above) native implementations tend to be faster and more power efficient.
  Ublock is probably an exception though. It's quite fast.
- I never left, because I'm not a sucker that fell for chromes marketing wank.
  
  it wasn't marketing wank. it was a significant performance difference. people forget Firefox 3.x but i remember. it was fireslug more like.
  
  Exactly, i went from firefox to chrome because the performance. Got back to firefox a couple of years ago because the performance didn't mather between those two.
  
  I dunno man. I quickly learned to avoid Chrome at all costs because of the performance. Even when it was supposedly "good", it was always a massive memory hog. Never had that issue with Firefox, and if it ended up taking a few seconds longer here and there to load a page, it would pale in comparison to the overall hit to the system from Chrome. Like being penny wise and pound foolish.
- And donate too!! We have to keep Firefox going to protect our privacy and security.

98 comments