Future of CentBrowser

[hemlok89]

In manifest V3, Chrome will severely limit it's adblocking capabilities. What will be the future of this browser? will you guys follow Chrome's code or do you have the ability to ignore V3?

[papadoc]

Can't believe Google is actually following through on this after the initial backlash. Man, I hope this blows up in their face. It'd be good to see their market share cut in half, and them trying to backpedal on this decision in full damage control mode.

The bit of good news is that apparently the webRequest API won't be gutted from the browser entirely, since the recent articles all mention that the API will still be available to enterprise users. Presumably, this means Google is only really self sabotaging Google Chrome, not Chromium. If they can enable the capability, other Chromium forks should be able to as well.

[hemlok89]

Can't believe Google is actually following through on this after the initial backlash. Man, I hope this blows up in their face. It'd be good to see their market share cut in half, and them trying to backpedal on this decision in full damage control mode.

The bit of good news is that apparently the webRequest API won't be gutted from the browser entirely, since the recent articles all mention that the API will still be available to enterprise users. Presumably, this means Google is only really self sabotaging Google Chrome, not Chromium. If they can enable the capability, other Chromium forks should be able to as well.

You got it backwards. They are deprecating the webRequest API form Chromium source code itself. In Chrome Enterprise version they will inject the full API itself. But every other vendor who uses chromium to build their browser will have to use the decimated V3 API. Only Microsoft has the money & manpower to fork the Chromium project & keep the weRequest API intact but I do not think they will do that. Brave is saying that they will keep V2 intact but time will tell. Only browser right now is Firefox if you want to stay safe from ads.

[patrickdrd]

first of all, there is already a thread for this:
https://www.centbrowser.com/forum/showth...p?tid=2619

so you could use the search function

apart from that,
firefox said that they would follow up google's steps,
so no, it's not a savior

the only solution for adblocking in my eyes would be standalone adblockers,
like adguard and I guess new ones could emerge

[papadoc]

Wishful thinking, I guess.

"They are deprecating the webRequest API form Chromium source code itself. In Chrome Enterprise version they will inject the full API itself."

Deprecating, yes. Removing it entirely, and "re-injecting the full API itself" in Enterprise sounds pretty far-fetched and ridiculous to me, but I haven't seen any definitive explanation as of yet anyway, so I guess anything's possible.

Don't get me wrong, if they manage to impose this stupidity on all Chromium forks, I will reluctantly switch to Firefox as well. I much prefer Chromium, so I hope it doesn't come to that.

---

@patrickdrd The statement I read from Mozilla reads:

"We are watching Chrome’s proposals for manifest v3. We do anticipate that we will adopt some of their proposals to maintain compatibility, which we believe will benefit Firefox developers and users. However, we are not committing to implement all aspects of manifest v3, and in fact, we already depart from manifest v2 in several areas where we think it makes sense."

If you think Mozilla won't be looking to cash in, in terms of being "the adblocking browser" like they used to be back in the day, I think they know they'd be crazy not to.

[patrickdrd]

I don't think they will "cash in" because they are incompetent,
just look at their progress the last couple of years,
it was only some days ago that their addons weren't working because of a certificate expiring or something..

anyway, insanely or not, I had read a statement from a mozilla leader that they would follow in the adoption of manifest v3,
I'm coming from firefox too, as a matter of fact I've got both the latest version and an old one 52.9, but still working,
both in portables and both setup with addons, bookmarks synced and passwords,
but if you ask me I've become to hate firefox and its evolution,
I hate both web extensions and their multi-process

[papadoc]

You're preaching to the choir when it comes to disliking Firefox. I still believe they'll maintain the webrequest API for various reasons, but mostly because it's in their own self interest. If they're the only ones who manage to do so, I will likely make the switch.

There will be a void, and somebody will fill it. If the API is easily reenabled, forks like Cent and others will do so. If it is more work, as OP is suggesting, it's not unimaginable that Edge decides this is a good angle to exploit to gain users fast. Unlike Google, their business model isn't quite so centered around online advertising.

Eventually, there will be a Chromium which supports the same API, or some equivalent. I'm still hopeful that if they plan to leave it available for Enterprise, that reenabling it in forks won't be the big ordeal OP seems to think. Maybe the Cent devs will have some better perspective on this, now that it seems to be a certainty.

[patrickdrd]

you insist to be optimistic, but I'm not (and neither the OP),
I wrote about firefox, I'll continue with edge:
edge is chromium based, so whatever direction chromium takes,
it is obliged to follow, there is no other way around

as I said and I'll repeat myself,
standalone adblockers are the future and the way to go,
this way you are independent or any browser/api changes

[papadoc]

I use hostsmans to block most ad servers at the OS level. Third party software for adblocking has not, and will never be as effective and efficient as a fully functioning uBO. Regardless, I will end up using a browser which continues to support a fully functioning uBO. The fact that you think every browser will blindly follow Google, when it is not in their own self interest, is simply not an opinion I agree with.

[patrickdrd]

I know that you don't agree, lets both hope that you are right,
I disagree in the first part too,
I'm using adguard in android for the last (many) months and
it is working just fine,
adguard for windows is getting better day-by-day too,
I suspect you have not tried either,
so you'd rather try them before judging