Google engineers want to make ad-blocking (near) impossible

seasonone@opidea.xyz to Technology@lemmy.world – 2112 points –
Google engineers want to make ad-blocking (near) impossible
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I just wish Firefox would improve their UI and add a few features without needing to rely on extensions (tab groups, vertical tabs, sharing tabs from mobile to desktop, etc.).

Are we seriously sitting here, in the shadow of the open internet's apocalypse, complaining yet again about Firefox's UI?

It's like Superman trying to rescue you from a fire and you complaining about his breath.

There's no UI in the world that will make the internet bareable without functional ad blockers.

Hey, I switched to Firefox because I liked its UI better (after Quantum though)

I switched back from years with Chrome then new Chromium Edge, haven't noticed an issue. But everything I do is Ctrl+W, middle-click, and typing into search fields. If I'm using a browser's UI, it's for the menu or a bookmark folder.

I can't really fathom what a browser UI is used for beside this and the less there is of one on-screen, the better.

I left it because their "new" UI, but that was just thelast straw (after 20 years) Won't go back.

Yes. Because the UI and UX of a tool that you use everyday matters. The average user will hold ease of use over privacy 9 times out of 10. In my case though I wasn’t able to use FF for a while due to the lack of debugger support for a project I was working on. Now it comes down to me having to work on multiple projects at once so tab groups and organization are key. Now don’t get me wrong, once Chrome totally kills adblockers I’ll drop Chromium browsers like a bad habit, but the point still stands though, FF could use some UI improvements.

Id argue on mobile for instance, firefox is easier to use. One of the LARGEST differences between chrome and firefox from a UI standpoint is bottom search/site box over top one, especially for larger phones.

This of course doesnt consider anything related to addons yet.

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Or Mr. Incredible being sued for saving a guy commuting suicide..

Well, super bad breath is not your ordinary bad breath. It would possibly melt your lungs faster than the fire. Bacteria that can thrive in superman's body is not to be messed with.

I'm glad to see that even when we're about to get robbed, there'll still be humor about it. Grim, but I like it.

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I literally swore off Firefox for half a decade because they removed and broke Panorama with their engine rewrite, so yes.

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I can send a tab from my mobile Firefox to my desktop Firefox by default, so that's at least one of those that doesn't need an extension.

Yeah I thought it had that feature already but I wasn’t seeing it. I’ll have to look again.

On mobile: Hit the three line menu button -> "Send link to device"
On desktop: Right click on a tab -> "Send tab to device"

Kind of odd that they're not the same language, actually. For what it's worth I'm on iOS so it might be different for FF on Android.

You can also send either direction via the share menu, so long as you have your Firefox account signed in to them.

Is it possible to use it without syncing all browser tabs? I tried to read about it on their website since I want to know exactly what they collect and how they store it but couldn't find anuthing other than instructions on how to set it up.

Firefox already natively supports most of the features you listed.

Which ones? Besides sending a tab from mobile to desktop it doesn’t have tab groups or vertical tabs. Those features rely on extensions and/or custom css.

Hey you have genuine wants and needs from a web browser and I respect that.

I'll say though that this sort of attitude (well Chrome has this little thing I like so I allow them to take control of what was once the independent internet) is what is going to screw us.

I use FF. But I also use Chromium based browsers out of necessity. I understand where you’re coming from but what’s also going to screw us is Mozilla not keeping up with the latest features which is something they’ve struggled with. At the end of the day they have to give people a reason to switch and use FF as their main browser. Simply saying “better privacy features” isn’t enough for the average user.

Any tab group extension recommendations? Having issues finding good ones

IMO there are none. They are all janky. Your best bet, (and what I may start doing), is to make separate folders in your bookmarks bar and add any tabs you want in there as a group. Not ideal but it works.

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