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Explanation of the state of uBlock Origin (and other blockers) for Safari #158
Description
Very quick tl;dr: uBO will no longer work with Safari, use Firefox or a new "content blocker" app (see below for good replacements).
In the past few months, and especially in the past week, there have been a lot of posts and comments questioning the status of uBlock Origin for Safari. This should answer all questions on the status of uBO for safari.
uBlock Origin was ported for Safari in 2016, and was updated regulary (mostly changes from the main project) until 2018 when development completley stopped. Since then Apple has begun phasing out Safari extensions as extensions, and has instead been implenting a new extensions framework which is extremley limited in adblocking functions, only allowing "content blockers", which are just links bundled as an app which Safari enforces. From Safari 12 / macOS Mojave, old legacy Safari extensions were still allowed, but came with warnings saying that they will slow down your browsing (they infact won't, or at least not noticably). Safari also recently shut their Extension Gallery, instead redirecting it to the mac app store. Though it is still curently possible to install uBlock Origin by downloading the extension from Github (edit: must follow these instructions, it will not be starting from Safari 13 / macOS Catalina, when the legacy entension API will be fully deprecated.
It will not possible for uBlock Origin to work with the upcoming Safari 13 / macOS Catalina release
If you are a current user of uBlock Origin for Safari here are the options to continue blocking ads:
- For the moment continue to use Safari 12 with uBlockOrigin. Anybody with uBO currently installed, it won't be removed until you update to Safari 13. If you don't have uBO installed, and wish to install on a pre-Catalina version of Safari, Download the latest (and final) release here and follow these instructions to install it. Unfortunately it's a bit complicated. This will stop working with macOS Catalina (coming "this fall"). Update: It appears that it is not possible to install uBO permanently, it will always uninstall on a restart of Safari. If you have it, it should stay.
- Switch to a different browser. If you choose this, I strongly recomend Firefox. Chrome will itself be ending support for uBlockOrigin soon. If battery life is an issue for you get Firefox Beta, Nightly or Developer which has massive battery life improvements to bring it on par with Safari / Chrome being tested (note: somewhat unstable). This will come to the stable version, hopefully in time for uBO-Safari's eol.
- Get a content blocker. Not nearly as powerful as uBO, but the best option if you want to stay with Safari. Do not get the app called "uBlock", this is unassociated with uBlockOrigin (read about the split here), and is simply a content blocker with a big negative feature of having acceptable ads built in (which is AdBlockPlus's pay-to-play ad and tracker unblocking program). It shares no code with uBO and has no advantages over any other content blocking app. Here are some recomendations of content blockers:
Top picks
- Adguard for Safari, very good blocking and free. Very customisable. Doesnt always have the best performance (though this has apparently been fixed). AdGuard's performance is quite controversial, read discussion [here].(Explanation of the state of uBlock Origin (and other blockers) for Safari #158 (comment)). AdGuard also uses the same lists and filter syntax as uBO, making migration easier.
- 1Blocker, by far the most powerful, with custom rules and an element picker. This is the best option if you don't mind paying. Costs $10.1Blocker has switched to a subscription model, even for people who already paid for it. Avoid.Update: do not buy. 1Blocker has teased 1BlockerX for Mac, which will be a paid upgrade. I cannot reccomend buying an app now which will soon be obsolete..Update 2: 1Blocker has said that it will be a free upgrade to 1BlockerX from the current version, so there isn't any reason to wait if you want it. - Ka-block. Unexceptional. Free. Will block ads, nothing more. Pretty sure it's just a wrapper for easylist, but it's a good option if you mind paying for 1Blocker. Also open-source.
Other Good Options
- Ghostery Lite. Free. Ghostery. Some advanced options for whitelisting. Good lists for ad and tracker blocking.
- Adguard for Mac. Fully featured system wide adblocker, contains custom lists and element picker. Does cost after a trial, see here for prices.
- Wipr. $1.99, simple featureless and popular.
Don't see any advantage in this over Ka-block (see above) for an extra $1.99.Apparently Ka-Block doesn't work for youtube (wipr does), and Wipr uses 3 extensions to get around the limit in rules.
Do Not Reccomend
- AdBlock Plus for Safari - Supports acceptable ads, a pay-to-play ad allowing system which allows certain ads and trackers which meet guidelines and pay AdBlock Plus. Some of these ads, imo, are not acceptable, and I don't consider any trackers acceptable. Uses Easylist so otherwise is identical to Ka-Block!.
- uBlock - Don't at all associated with uBO or the code which uBO contains. Is instead identical to AdBlock Plus in all but name including acceptable ads.
- AdBlock for Safari (made by BETAFISH INC) - Yet another acceptable ads-supporting blocker which just uses easylist. Avoid.
- There are plenty more on the mac app store, have a look if none of these suit. No new content blockers can spy on you as they send lists though Safari's built in system, so they are all pretty safe. If you find a good one comment and I'll add it to this list.
Update: Here is a statement from gorhill (uBO developer) on the state of Safari
Edit: a lot people are asking about uBlock Origin not working in the future on Chrome. If you'd like more information on this, here is an article from ghacks from january, and a statement from gorhill, developer of uBlock.**
There has been discussion of this on Reddit Github and Hacker News.
Activity
dpkonofa commentedon Sep 19, 2019
What differentiates an "ad-blocker" from a "content-blocker" that makes it impossible for this change? Isn't an "ad-blocker" just a "content-blocker" that only blocks a very specific type of content?
Tongzhao9417 commentedon Sep 20, 2019
thanks for u summation. it's so sad:( i have used it for three years and it's time to say goodbye...
nheeren commentedon Sep 20, 2019
Thanks! You should pin this issue.
Rjevski commentedon Sep 20, 2019
Just FIY I would not recommend buying 1Blocker. I paid both for the initial version and the "1Blocker X" one on IOS but I had the constant feeling the filter lists weren't being updated and I wasn't sure of their origin (I'm assuming they use EasyList for the ads, but which one do they use for privacy & annoyances?).
AdGuard for Safari is free, open-source and is compatible with uBlock-style filter lists (it has code that does its best to convert them to Safari content blocking lists). You can choose to use EasyList, EasyPrivacy, Fanboy's lists or any of the regional lists so I would recommend it over 1Blocker.
ameshkov commentedon Sep 20, 2019
You can take a look - https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdGuardForSafari
ameshkov commentedon Sep 20, 2019
Not really. Here's how it looks on my MBP, and in my case, I am actually actively using it, not just keep it in the background:
There was indeed an issue with the version of Electron we were using previously, but it's now gone.
On the other hand, I share your sentiments about Electron. The UI is generally worse and slower than it could be if we made it native. But it allowed reusing a lot of existing code from the Chrome/FF extensions so here we are.
freediverx commentedon Sep 20, 2019
freediverx commentedon Sep 20, 2019
benjamingr commentedon Sep 20, 2019
What about building uBlockOrigin as either a proxy with a root certificate or using applescript and making it a Mac app?
vassudanagunta commentedon Sep 20, 2019
Further options are being discussed in uBlockOrigin/uBlock-issues#145.
134 remaining items
daslicht commentedon Apr 3, 2024
I dont care which engine :) I just want to use privacy gateway of safari and its convenient macos integration. Or does Orion can be used with apples privacy gateway?
[EDIT] I juist installed orion and a excited, it just looks like Safari anbd even support touch id etc, keep testing
daslicht commentedon Apr 3, 2024
does Orion iOS also support extensions now in EU?
marlonjames71 commentedon Apr 4, 2024
I must admit that I haven't been using Orion recently due to some bugs I encountered and a preference for a more polished design similar to what I found in Beam browser that was around a little bit ago. However, I'm optimistic about the improvements Orion is making, especially with the implementation of web extensions API. I look forward to giving it another try in the future. It's got so many great features and I especially appreciate how privacy focused it is.
gitguys commentedon Apr 5, 2024
IMHO, I wonder if it's worth it? I've switched all my Macs to Firefox a long time ago and don't regret it. Firefox is fast nowadays and I've dodged numerous security and privacy vulnerabilities over time because Safari was the gateway for multi-chain macOS attacks. I used to prefer Safari, but I just gave Firefox a Safari-looking theme and went forward. Far less headaches, far more options and often far ahead of Safari in features built-in and third party. I don't know if I'll ever go back to Safari on macOS unless something very compelling is offered I can't do with Firefox.
daslicht commentedon Apr 5, 2024
Same here except that touchID, keychain, passkey works better in Safari, which theme do you use ?
maxexcloo commentedon Apr 5, 2024
It is a shame to miss some features like 2FA auto fill though!
gitguys commentedon Apr 6, 2024
Now that I look closer I'm just using a theme called "System theme - auto" and it looks similar to Safari to me. I think in the past I used to use a different theme to simulate Safari but forgot I switched maybe to the default after it improved?
There's this following option perhaps, but I'm happy with "System theme — auto":
https://github.com/AdamXweb/WhiteSurFirefoxThemeMacOS
I haven't had keychain issues with Firefox, but I use the 1Password extension for password management for the most part. I haven't noticed any touchID issues with Firefox either, but maybe that's due to using 1Password, I don't know.
daslicht commentedon Apr 6, 2024
Another issue is that Appel Privacy Gateway and 'hide my email' is only working in Safari afaik
Or does that work in other browsers as well?
gitguys commentedon Apr 6, 2024
@daslicht I'm not sure, I don't use "hide my email" but I do know Firefox has its own free "Firefox Relay" extension.
https://nerdschalk.com/firefox-relay-vs-apple-hide-my-email-what-to-use-and-why/
As far as Apple Private Gateway, I use my own VPN that works with every connection on my Mac computers and isn't specific to any app. Although I do have the option for split-tunneling to allow certain apps through the VPN but I don't have any need for that. I would hope that APG would protect any app that connects like any standard VPN does, but I don't use it. It may not play well with Firefox because Apple is notorious for trying to edge out third party options for their userbase. Another reason why I use my own VPN, Firefox, etc.
daslicht commentedon Apr 7, 2024
Firefox relay sounds great but paying extra for a dedicated VPN is out of sc ope over here.
gitguys commentedon Apr 8, 2024
One caveat (unless Mozilla has changed this recently) is it apparently has a ridiculously small attachment size limit according to the article (150 KB), so it may not be the best choice either (unless Moz upgraded that limit since the article was published).
HVR88 commentedon Jun 9, 2024
No one has mentioned what's missing from CURRENT versions of Safari. Apple claim that's there's a green light to support extension conversion from other browsers. Some people balk at developer registration being $99 - except you can get a free account and distribute outside the app store if you so choose.
callmefil commentedon Jul 17, 2024
Does anyone know if Hyperweb extension for Safari works at all with UBlock Origin script being uploaded? Or is there more to it? Can someone test it out for me?
jr-seven commentedon Jun 16, 2025
affan2021shaikh commentedon Jun 24, 2026
Add wBlock to Top picks