uBlock Origin Lite Is Finally Available on Safari

Ublock Origin Lite has been a boon for many, but so far it was only available on Chrome, Edge and Firefox, leaving a lot of Apple users. Now, however, it is finally available for users of macOS and iOS Safari.

The Ublock Origin Lite extension appeared on the App Store, which means that users who seek to install it on their devices (a MacBook or an iPhone using Safari) via the Apple window can now do it. The main distinction of the garden with respect to the regular Ublock origin is its entirely declarative nature. In the context of browser extensions, this means that the extension itself does not perform active web content filtering. Instead, it provides a set of rules on the browser, and Safari, in this case, is responsible for the interpretation and execution of these rules to block network requests and modify the content of the page.

Since the browser engine manages the blocking logic natively, it is not necessary for a persistent stinking process to work in the background. Consequently, Ublock Origin Lite does not consume CPU cycles or memory resources during the content blocking process.

Not only is it probably the favorite version of original Ublock for many (and the only one if you use Chrome because it is the one that is compatible with Manifest V3), but it is also the only original Ublock version which is available for users of safari. A regular version of Ublock regular was available for Safari in the past, but it was interrupted several years ago. The judgment was due to the major changes made by Apple in its extension framework. Apple has depreciated the older and more flexible extension API on which the UBLOCK origin has been built and is transferred to a new, more restrictive model called extensions of the Safari application. It has also never been available for iOS or iPados users.

Oblock Origine’s developer, Raymond Hill, decided not to bring the full extension of this new frame at the time, because the limitations would prevent many of its advanced functionalities from operating as expected. Since UBlock origin is much lighter, however, it can work in the constraints of the modern and declarative API of Apple, which makes it available for the first time on iOS, iPados and once again on Safari for MacOS. You can already use it on MacOS using a third -party browser, but this version is nevertheless important because many people stick to Safari and do not bother to discover other browsers.

It is also remarkable because the good free adblockers who are compatible with Safari are rare. There is Adguard, but to take full advantage of it, you have to pay it, and it’s probably out of the question for many.

You can consult Ublock Origin Lite on the App Store now and download it from your device. You can also consult the Github project by yourself.

Source: App Store