Manifest v3 arrives soon, time to ditch Chrome and install Firefox

[PDifolco]

Seems that by June Chrome will finally forces Manifest v3 and screw up all adblockers, even if some progress seems possible (see https://www.androidpolice.com/google-chrome-big-change-to-extensions-mid-2024-manifest-v3/#:~:text=Google plans to replace its,API to address developer concerns. )

I do think the whole goal is to get rid of adblockers, especially for YT where their last attempt wasn't really successful (just install Ublock Origin and you're good), so won't bet a dime on them changing the thing much

So anyway, time to move on and switch to Firefox for me, so that I won't be caught unprepared , no way I'd ever bear endless piles of crappy ads

Installed it, went smoothly, and it's able to migrate mostly everything I had in Chrome (extensions included)

Experience is pretty similar as well, didn't notice anything weird, it's as fast as well

Any tips or feedback about the good and the bad on Firefox ? If it's that close to Chrome why don't everyone just uses it ?  

 

 

 

 

[manikyath]

any news on how this impacts chromium based alternatives like vivaldi?

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

37 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

Any tips or feedback about the good and the bad on Firefox ? If it's that close to Chrome why don't everyone just uses it ?  

The same reason why people in the mid to late 2000s still used Internet Explorer. If it works, it's just a hassle to switch to something different even if there is no actual gardenwalling to prevent people from doing so. 

 

Once Chrome and Chromium in general pisses people off enough, then we'll see another shift in market leader much like what happened with Internet Explorer.

[PDifolco]

3 minutes ago, manikyath said:

any news on how this impacts chromium based alternatives like vivaldi?

Looks complicated ...

https://vivaldi.com/blog/manifest-v3-webrequest-and-ad-blockers/

 

[manikyath]

8 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

Looks complicated ...

https://vivaldi.com/blog/manifest-v3-webrequest-and-ad-blockers/

 

it also looks like manifest v3 is something firefox will have to contend with as well?

https://extensionworkshop.com/documentation/develop/manifest-v3-migration-guide/

[PDifolco]

3 minutes ago, manikyath said:

it also looks like manifest v3 is something firefox will have to contend with as well?

https://extensionworkshop.com/documentation/develop/manifest-v3-migration-guide/

Sure they'll have to, but will keep the abilty of adblockers to work, at least that's what they say

https://adguard.com/en/blog/firefox-manifestv3-chrome-adblocking.html

 

[ki8aras]

27 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

If it's that close to Chrome why don't everyone just uses it ?

honestly i don't really know, in 5 years of using firefox i found just 1 website that wouldn't cooperate (but i guess thats why explorer is built in to all our systems /s )

[manikyath]

Just now, PDifolco said:

Sure they'll have to, but will keep the abilty of adblockers to work, at least that's what they say

https://adguard.com/en/blog/firefox-manifestv3-chrome-adblocking.html

 

as does vivaldi.

[WereCat]

 

[manikyath]

Just now, WereCat said:

<why not both meme>

 

 

which is kind of my point... each time chrome does something it's like a wave of "well darn, everyone must use firefox now.. y'all better come switch to our side"

[PDifolco]

3 minutes ago, manikyath said:

which is kind of my point... each time chrome does something it's like a wave of "well darn, everyone must use firefox now.. y'all better come switch to our side"

Well, I've used Firefox in the past (10y+ ago, ok..), and Chrome just felt better at that time

Now if Chrome prevents UBlock origin from workning there's not any other choice (or at least it's the most obvious choice)...

[HanZie82]

5 minutes ago, WereCat said:

 

Its never enough.
 

[manikyath]

Just now, PDifolco said:

Well, I've used Firefox in the past (10y+ ago, ok..), and Chrome just felt better at that time

Now if Chrome disallows UBlock origin from workning there's not any other choice (or at least it's the most obvious choice)...

there's vivaldi, there's edge, there's opera and opera GX, ...

 

the only reason why firefox is the most obvious choice is because you're ingoring edge, and everything else looks like small peanuts because chrome and safari combined make up something like 80% of the browser marketshare.

[PDifolco]

10 minutes ago, WereCat said:

 

Using both is kinda useless, like using 2 spreadsheet softwares

[HanZie82]

Also the more Google keeps advertising that its possible to block adds like this.
People will want to block those adds, and people like me will help them achieve it.

 

1 minute ago, PDifolco said:

Using both is kinda useless, like using 2 spreadsheet softwares

You must have never made webpages or coded for web-view?

[PDifolco]

1 minute ago, HanZie82 said:

Also the more Google keeps advertising that its possible to block adds like this.
People will want to block those adds, and people like me will help them achieve it.

 

You must have never made webpages or coded for web-view.

Nope indeed, it may be necessary for developers, was talking about users

[manikyath]

2 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

Using both is kinda useless, like using 2 spreadsheet softwares

disagree, i've got chrome, vivaldi, and edge up at this very moment.

 

it's helpful to segment between different tasks.

[HanZie82]

Just now, PDifolco said:

Nope indeed, it may be necessary for developers, was talking about users

Ofcourse, i was just being silly, and a bit dumb, cus i forgot about normal people.

[PDifolco]

8 minutes ago, manikyath said:

disagree, i've got chrome, vivaldi, and edge up at this very moment.

 

it's helpful to segment between different tasks.

Which "different tasks" ? Browsing browsing and browsing look like the same to me  

[manikyath]

Just now, PDifolco said:

Which "different tasks" ? Browsing browsing and browsing look like the same to me  

well...

 

- my main browser is still chrome, because i largely cant be arsed to migrate away.

- stuff that requires A LOT of tabs (like comparing products on webshops) i prefer to do in vivaldi for browser layout reasons (but i sont like said layout for regular day-to-day stuff because of my preferred window layout)

- i've got edge open for cookie clicker. that's all it's doing, and if i accidentially X out of my browser, i didnt X out the game.

[WereCat]

14 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

Using both is kinda useless, like using 2 spreadsheet softwares

Firefox is in stone age compared to Vivaldi feature wise. And I love and use almost all of the Vivaldi features.

I use hardened Firefox only for private browsing, until it gets feature parity with Vivaldi it will never be my main browser. So it's not useless to have multiple browser, it's just a different tool for different needs.

[Mark Kaine]

46 minutes ago, manikyath said:

there's edge,

edge is full of Microsoft ads (and subscription kinda based services ala "rewards") its the most annoying and intrusive browser ive ever tried using. also its chromium based lol. 

 

[Mark Kaine]

44 minutes ago, manikyath said:

disagree, i've got chrome, vivaldi, and edge up at this very moment.

 

it's helpful to segment between different tasks.

i mean, there's nothing wrong with that, its just i personally really dislike having to jump between ui's, features and settings just to do basically the same task (i have chrome and Firefox on my phone for example but i hate using both due to how clunky and non functional both are, chrome ui is a nightmare, Firefox can't do most essential extensions. i almost exclusive use Samsung browser therefore,  yes, its chromium too, but it does what i want it to, sometimes Firefox,  eh, its "ok" i guess, and almost never chrome, way too clunky and funny enough the slowest of all three...)

 

so yeah, might work for you, but certainly not for everyone.  

[porina]

I feel the UI/UX is the most important thing which is kinda why I settled on Chrome. Under the hood Edge might not be so different but it's association with Microsoft's services as opposed to Google's is massive. I moved to Chrome from Firefox years ago, as at that time Firefox kept changing the UI every single patch, and adding extra but to me pointless functionality. Adblocking is part of the experience too, and I guess I'll wait to see how much pain is ahead on any of the routes: staying on Chrome, or moving to FF or others.

 

About the only time I use a browser other than Chrome is either if a website is broken and I want to check if other browsers are affected, or if I need to be logged into the same site on different accounts at the same time. Maybe there's a way to do it with a single browser but I never bothered figuring it out.

[Heats with Nvidia]

For me there is no need to switch, because i never switched away from Firefox. In the last couple of years, i just hardened it a little more and switched out some of the plugins. So far its very rare that a Website doesn't work and if i encounter one, its usually due to skript blocking or similar plugins.