Google Chrome has begun to shape retired uBlock Origin. The developer of the free advertisement blocker, Raymond Hill, precocious reposted a screenshot that shows Chrome automatically turning disconnected uBlock Origin because it is “no longer supported.”
The alteration comes arsenic Google Chrome migrates to Manifest V3, a caller hold specification that could effect the effectiveness of immoderate advertisement blockers. uBlock Origin has launched uBlock Origin Lite, which uses Manifest V3, successful consequence to the transition. However, you person to manually instal the extension because it’s “too different from uBO to beryllium an automatic replacement,” according to a FAQ Hill that posted to GitHub.
What’s a manifest?
A manifest tells the browser each sorts of accusation astir an extension, from its sanction and type number to which permissions it’ll usage and what versions of a browser it’ll tally on. New versions of the Manifest record format alteration which features extensions person entree to. For example, Manifest V3 successful Chrome nary longer allows a developer to load codification from a distant server.
Hill says you whitethorn announcement a quality erstwhile utilizing uBlock Origin Lite compared to uBlock Origin depending connected the websites you sojourn and the extension’s configuration. That’s because uBlock Origin Lite has much constricted filtering capabilities than uBlock Origin, arsenic the Manifest V3 spec puts restrictions connected the Declarative Net Request API utilized by ad-blocking extensions.
“In general, uBOL will beryllium little effective astatine dealing with websites utilizing anti-content blocker or minimizing website breakage because galore filters can’t beryllium converted into DNR [Declarative Net Request] rules,” Hill explains successful the FAQ.
Since Google has targeted early 2025 for a afloat Manifest V3 rollout, the institution said it would commencement turning disconnected Manifest V2 extensions this year earlier disabling them completely. Google previously said 85 percent of “actively maintained” extensions successful the Chrome Web Store person already created extensions compatible pinch Manifest V3, including AdBlock, Adblock Plus, and AdGuard.