Vivaldi has outlined the future of its adblocker and how it might work if Manifest V3 is enforced. Google says the changes it brings will protect users from loading remotely hosted code.
Browser makers such as Mozilla, Brave and Vivaldi are concerned about the controversial declarative NetRequest API, which threatens the future of content blockers on Chrome and Chromium-based browsers and poses a risk to users’ privacy and security. Mozilla will continue to support Manifest V2 in Firefox, as will Vivaldi.
The Manifest V3 Riddle
An article published on Vivaldi’s blog points out that Manifest V2 will not be completely deprecated, only the ability to block requests from webRequest. V2 will be available to business users until June 2023. The developer says the underlying code for webRequest will remain intact until then, and since declarativeNetRequest is built on top of it, Vivaldi’s native ad blocker written in C++ should be able to use the Chromium API and continue to function on paper when Manifest V3 becomes the norm.
If Vivaldi continues to support Manifest V2, existing add-ons including ad blockers will remain unaffected, won’t they? The developer says this largely depends on how Manifest V3 develops, as well as what APIs the extensions use. The browser maker plans to remove any restrictions Google adds, but admits it could be a tough ride. In the event that Vivaldi has to discontinue support for Manifest V2, users may have no choice but to rely on the browser’s built-in ad blocker.
AdGuard recently released a Manifest V3-compatible content blocker, but the extension hasn’t had an impressive start. Raymond Hill, the developer of uBlock Origin, has released an add-on called uBlock Lite (formerly uBO Minus), it looks promising, but it’s not as good as the original version. The extensions are crippled by the changes in Manifest V3, access to the APIs, and artificial restrictions. It may take some time for these extensions to develop.
Limitations in Vivaldi .’s adblocker
I love Vivaldi and use it regularly (explained below), I don’t mean to paint it as a bad browser, but I can’t help but avoid its limitations. I use Vivaldi (and Safari on my Mac) to watch football on Sonyliv.com, as the site’s video player doesn’t work in Firefox, although the latter has absolutely no problems with videos on YouTube, Amazon Prime, Disney+ Hotstar, etc. .
There is a problem accessing the site through Vivaldi, Sony Liv detects the native adblocker and prevents me from accessing the website without disabling the feature. This isn’t a big deal for me as I can subscribe to the AdGuard annoyance filter to get around the restriction. You can find the AdGuard filters here and uBlock Origin filters on this page.
But I can’t say the same about other websites that detect ad blockers, they may not be supported by filter lists, you should report them to the admins and wait for the site to be added to the list. Or you can block the anti ad blockers by adding custom rules. This isn’t easy, as Vivaldi doesn’t have a custom block rules editor, you’ll need to create a text file with your rules in it and import it as a filter. These steps can make it a tough task for the average user. The simpler and more effective solution is to install a good content blocker like uBlock Origin.
Ad banners and video ads are not the only annoyances on the web, many websites have custom sidebars, video players, chat boxes, permanent banners that appear as you scroll through pages, popups and overlays that prevent you from clicking without subscribing or entering your email address, etc. uBlock Origin’s element zapper and element picker are useful for blocking these, Vivaldi’s adblocker lacks such cosmetic filtering, also known as element blocking. Advanced features like Javascript blocking, web logger, are not available in the browser’s built-in blocking.
There is another issue that can affect Chrome extensions. In early 2022, Google stopped accepting Manifest V2 extensions on the Chrome Web Store and announced that it will remove all Manifest V2 add-ons from the store by 2023. This will result in the removal of content blockers such as uBlock Origin, so users may not be able to install or update the extension from the Web Store.
Vivaldi’s users rely on the web store to install extensions, so this has an immediate effect on them. If Vivaldi continues to support Manifest V2 in 2023, it should provide users with an alternative way to install V2 extensions. The only solution, besides sideloading the browser plugin (needs to be updated manually), would be to introduce a Vivaldi Store to host extensions, something the developers say would not be an easy task and only would require effort and willingness from add-on enforcers. The same goes for Brave Browser, although you could argue that the built-in content blocker is better.
Personally, I think uBlock Origin cannot be replaced. Vivaldi’s adblocker is good, but there’s plenty of room for improvement. It really needs an element blocker for cosmetic filtering and a custom rule editor, otherwise it risks losing to users who may want to migrate away from Chrome next year.
Would you use Vivaldi’s adblocker instead of uBlock Origin?
Overview
Article name
Vivaldi Says His Ad Blocker Will Keep Working Even After Manifest V3 Changes
Description
Vivaldi claims that its adblocker continues to work even after changes to Manifest V3. But can it replace uBlock Origin?
Author
Ashwin
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News about Ghacks Technology
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