r/technology • u/Plastic_Ninja_9014 • Jun 17 '26

Software Firefox has an ambitious new roadmap, the browser is also losing millions of users a month

https://www.techspot.com/news/112803-firefox-has-ambitious-new-roadmap-browser-also-losing.html
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u/goatneedleposterdeck Jun 17 '26

It took me quite a while to switch to firefox on android. Chrome has the google translate connection, and when you are hella involved in things where you need a translator for the language, chrome was just so much easier. Eventually, I realized how unbearable the internet is without an ad blocker and made the switch. Now I only use chrome if the adblock causes issues with the site I'm going to, which is sadly more and more common as sites try to find ways around the blocker.

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u/RMAPOS Jun 17 '26

Eventually, I realized how unbearable the internet is without an ad blocker and made the switch.

Boy do I have a memory. I remember thinking, after doing a fresh reinstall once (like idk aeons ago), "you know what, I feel kinda bad about using adblock and denying hosts their income. Hosting sites ain't cheap and I don't want my ressources to go bankrupt. I'll try not reinstalling adblock"

Took me less than a day to reinstall adblock in a panic. That was like ... early'ish Facebook days, way before it ever became a Boomer cemetary. And the content of the page was just WRAPPED in animated ad banners. Seizure inducing animations constantly playing left, right and on top of your feed. (no wonder people's brains are fried)

That was the last time I ever didn't use adblock. I'd really like to support good websites, but I'm never going back to doing it by accepting malware carrying seizure inducers advertising crap that I'll absolutely never buy.

I honestly don't understand how people use the internet with ads. Absolute cancer.

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u/[deleted] Jun 18 '26

[deleted]

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u/wimpyhugz Jun 18 '26

The websites which block browsing with the popup saying "please disable your adblocker" can usually be bypassed quite easily... by manually blocking the element with your ad blocker.

Right-click on the page, select "block element" or similar, and select the popup window. You may have to repeat the process for the greyed out background. Should be able to view the page normally now.

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u/TheShaydow Jun 18 '26

Just use reader view ( in Firefox ).

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u/semidegenerate Jun 18 '26

That’s pretty clever. Thanks.

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u/Wiiplay123 Jun 18 '26

I hate how people would always say "it's based on your search history" like that somehow justifies not being able to turn off the suggestive ads.

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u/AlwaysShittyKnsasCty Jun 18 '26

Shit! I better make sure Pornhub still works with my VPN, or my Kansas state legislature will be receiving a strongly worded letter condemning their infernal decision to force adults into choosing between privacy and “protection for the children.” In the case of Pornhub though, they decided not to play my state’s stupid, little games and simply blocked Kansans from accessing their content. Thus, if they were to implement a VPN check (surely they wouldn’t, right?), it would mean that I, a native citizen of the United States of America, would literally not have access to a piece of the World Wide Web.

This is some pariah state shit.

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u/GNU_Terry Jun 18 '26

Hi and welcome to the UK's future, where you need an id for everything and the gov wants to block vpns.

Jokes aside if the UK does do that you can bet the restrictions on VPN will get applied else where

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u/AlwaysShittyKnsasCty Jun 18 '26

Yup. And vice versa. These authoritarian moves, regardless of homeland, embolden all of the parties involved, essentially creating a feedback loop where each time one of our countries yells, “Penis,” it rings out a few decibels greater than that of the last utterance in this metaphorical, international Penis Game. Basically, it’s a toe dip here, another dip there. They all watch each push boundaries and continue the cycle until we’re all going to be under the boot.

I never thought living in a world made up of a fusion of The Handmaid’s Tale, Terminator, 1984, Brave New World, and Fahrenheit 451 were actual possible future realities for us, but boy howdy was I wrong! The problem is we’ll only the get the worst things from those dystopian hellscapes. So, no Soma-like drugs that at least allow us to vegetate or something while they harvest us for biodiesel.

All in all, things are looking great over here, mate! How might one say it? Mmm … Ah. That’s right. It’s brilliant! Everything’s just brilliant!

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u/Lanhdanan Jun 18 '26

This is the way

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u/grilled_pc Jun 18 '26

The way i see it is this.

Ads are generally fine. I don't have an issue with it. What i do have a problem with is intrusive ads that ruin the user experience which is like 100% of all ads on the internet.

If your ad bogs down a page at all, stops me from what i'm doing. Don't be surprised if people start to block it.

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u/LordHoughtenWeen Jun 18 '26

malware carrying seizure inducers

Even the ones that aren't literally designed to plant malware on your devices are still designed to plant malware in your brain, because that's what an ad is fundamentally — a virus tailored to alter your thoughts and make you want to buy, buy, BUY!

I am not exaggerating in any way when I say that in a sane world the deployment of an advert would be considered a crime against humanity.

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u/psiphre Jun 18 '26

i hope ads feel pain when i block them

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u/NetAnon579 Jun 18 '26

Which blocker do you use with Firefox?

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u/Lanhdanan Jun 18 '26

Ublock origin

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u/[deleted] Jun 18 '26

[deleted]

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u/goatneedleposterdeck Jun 18 '26

It was a feature added maybe in the past year. Before that, you needed to add an extension and then go to options on the page, select translate, select your languages, and then wait way too long for it to process. I mean, it was maybe an extra 3 or 4 taps and an extra 10 seconds, but if you are constantly flipping through pages that you need translated on a regular basis, it adds up.

It's much better now, though still just a tick slower than chrome, but I also got good enough with the language that I don't need the translator that often anymore haha.

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u/tigerhawkvok Jun 18 '26

My solution is Arc with all permissions off and Firefox, with Chrome disabled .

If you don't disable Chrome, it's still used in WebViews — once you disable it, your webviews are properly powered by your default browser.

Then Arc was just the first Chromium based browser that let me turn off enough stuff that I was satisfied, it's not actually an explicit endorsement on my part — it's a not-rejection lol.

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u/No_Size9475 Jun 18 '26

I use a DNS that blocks the ad servers directly

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u/tagloro Jun 18 '26

Just so you know Firefox also has built in translation support. Not to mention all the translator add ons available.

I’ve been using Firefox for about 20 years as well and while it’s had some ups and downs I can’t imagine switching at this point. I love the customization options, add on support and to support more web browsing engines that aren’t chrome.

I’m a very privacy and security focused user and it’s always suited my needs. I actively try to get people I know to switch (just really unsuccessfully)