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0 pointsroeme12y ago0 comments

But Adblock Edge isn't available for Safari/Chrome though IIRC?

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5 comments · 1 top-level

applecore12y ago· 4 in thread

Extensions in Chrome and Safari are not as powerful as the ones in Firefox. There's no API in Chrome and Safari to prevent network requests, so extensions can't fully block ads like they do in Firefox. They're only capable of hiding ads on the page.

sirn12y ago

> They're only capable of hiding ads on the page.

This point is untrue, at least in Safari, there is beforeload event and canLoad[1] function for preventing content from being loaded at all, not just hiding it after it is loaded.

https://developer.apple.com/library/safari/documentation/Too...

wallunit12y ago

Chrome has a webRequest API [1], that lets you block any request initiated by your browser. Adblock Plus is using that API, and blocks everything that it blocks on Firefox also on Chrome.

But even on Safari Adblock Plus blocks requests loading images, frames, scripts and other resources, by cancelling the beforeload event. Though it is not possible to block XMLHttpRequests and requests initiated by third-party plugins like Flash.

[1] https://developer.chrome.com/extensions/webRequest

gorhill12y ago

> There's no API in Chrome and Safari to prevent network requests

Wrong (for Chromium-based browsers). I am genuinely curious about how you came to believe this. Trying to understand how come that myth is still so spread.

Here, the API:

https://developer.chrome.com/extensions/webRequest

Edit: To make it clear my comment is about chromium-based browsers.

_delirium12y ago

It used to be true (for years) that Chrome extensions couldn't block loading, so my guess is not everyone's realized that it's changed. Pre-2012, Chrome had no way to block a request, so you could write an ad-hiding extension, but not an extension that blocked web-bug/tracker loading. The webRequest API was added in 2012, so now extensions can do that.

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