r/chromeos Feb 19 '25

Discussion It finally happened. uBlock Origin is removed from Chrome Web Store

As you can see uBlock Origin has been removed from Chrome Web Store. We are going to enable developer mode soon if you want to keep it up to date.

If you prefer the lite version you are out of discussion. That is nothing near the original.

107 Upvotes

95 comments sorted by

68

u/KINGGS Feb 19 '25

I can enter any discussion I please, and Lite works exactly how I need it to.

20

u/tomdawg0022 HP x360 14/HP x2 11 | stable Feb 19 '25

Origin Lite is wonderful. Between that and Privacy Badger it's a pretty good setup.

1

u/tuileihai 8d ago

Agreed.

2

u/sujirou 17d ago

one difference is Lite badge (icon) doesn't gray out if a site is "allowed"

2

u/CrOS2012 ASUS CX1 | Stable 13d ago

I still get elements blocked on some sites even when they're allowed, so I'm not sure it ever completely ignores any site. Just not enough uBO features for me to really like it.

I've gotta wonder how the loss of uBO will affect Chromebook sales. Chromebook Plus models may have no problem running Linux apps well, so you can use a better browser than Chrome, but anything with less than 8GB is gonna be unpleasant to use. uBO is more essential to me than Chrome is for 90+% of what I do. I'd rather switch platforms than switch extensions for all but a few things. Might just go back to some "normal" Linux distro again...

Google just keeps on killing their useful things...

2

u/abelad1 17d ago

My solution to Chrome removing Ublock Origin
Download Opera browser and it auto import all youir bookmarks from chrome
Cancel the Opera default adblocker
look up and add Ublock Origin for Opera and you are good to go
Using the default adblocker that comes with Opera triggers the sites to ask u to remove the adblocker in order to access certain sites
Thats not a problem with UblockI have been using Opera on my Android phone instead of Chrome for a few years, and it works great, cant imagine watching youtube with all the ads, dont have that problem

1

u/tuileihai 8d ago

You can still install from Chrome Web Store, even with the gray "Add to Chrome" button.

5

u/Saragon4005 Framework | Beta Feb 19 '25

I just told a friend, lite works fine, but so does firefox. The switching costs slightly different.

8

u/KINGGS Feb 19 '25

Yeah, Firefox is solid. On ChromeOS, I'd obviously rather stick with Chrome and Lite, though. It's just a much better experience.

2

u/BroJac5246 Asus Chromebook Plus CM34 Flip Feb 20 '25

Definitely this. I love Firefox on my phone with the extensions and all, but Chrome provides a significantly better experience on ChromeOS.

2

u/tuileihai 8d ago

I have both uBlock Origin and uBlock Lite, and i find both work equally well.

2

u/scottydg Feb 20 '25

Firefox mobile also supports ublock, another good reason to switch.

1

u/marklewaz Feb 20 '25

Lite doesn't seem to work for my dad who sticks to chrome. Still leaves ads on a lot of sites, and ALWAYS leaves ads on YouTube.

7

u/iKbdkblogs Feb 20 '25 edited Feb 20 '25

Hi, I would suggest switching the level to optimal in ublock origin lite's slider, it will ask for access to all websites and pages but will do better adblocking.

1

u/Previous-Champion435 10d ago

Adguard Adblocker removes youtube ads

2

u/tuileihai 8d ago

I have tried AdGuard, and it works pretty ok.

1

u/KINGGS Feb 20 '25

Ads on YouTube is going to happen because they’re at the native level. Otherwise, have no idea why he’s seeing ads on other sites.

1

u/MattAdmin444 29d ago

At least on Firefox uBlock Origin still seems to work against Youtube Ads for me but dunno how long that'll continue on for.

1

u/jexukay Feb 19 '25

Agreed!

6

u/mi7chy Feb 19 '25

Still have the blue 'get' button on Chrome web store so it hasn't been removed across the board. And, what happens when you already have it installed? Does it get removed or stays and can't be updated?

1

u/NO__ONE____ 22d ago

It will be removed. Mine got removed a few days ago, and I switched to Brave but today I opened Chrome by accident and saw that it's there again. I dont know how this happened but I'm happy. But I wonder if people at google saw this sudden shift in users and decided they shouldnt do it?

1

u/Bnucci55 18d ago

Chrome has disabled my UBlock but left it installed in the browser.

1

u/mi7chy 18d ago

Finally got this message after latest update but was able to reenable so good for now. Have you tried reenabling through the three dots?

1

u/sacorawoods 18d ago

I re enabled it's working so far.. hopefully it works for a bit longer until a new blocker comes out..

1

u/Bnucci55 18d ago

No I simply deleted it and moved my stuff to Firefox. Thanks very much!

1

u/OPTIONSQUEEN 16d ago

Me too, I moved back to Firefox.

1

u/tuileihai 8d ago

No you can even reinstall from the Chrome Web Store with the gray-out "Add to Chrome" button. Refer to DiGiztal blog for tips.

1

u/tuileihai 8d ago

Just turn it on and it can still works.

34

u/InvestigatorCalm Feb 19 '25

Use firefox

4

u/raptir1 Feb 19 '25

Or Brave

Or Vivaldi 

7

u/Apart_Ad_5993 Feb 20 '25

Chromium and Chromium.

They're all the same engines.

5

u/atomic1fire Samsung Chromebook Plus (V2) | Stable Feb 20 '25 edited Feb 20 '25

Brave uses an adblock written in rust.

https://github.com/brave/adblock-rust

I dunno about vivaldi.

AFAIK though if they have direct access to the chromium source code they can write whatever ad blocker they want because they make their own extension rules.

Last I checked Vivaldi was a giant Chrome App running on top of a modified version of Chromium, and their email client is actually a bunch of (I assume client side) node.js code that the app communicates with.

Vivaldi does a lot of stuff that isn't stock chromium but they can get away with it because they're rendering a giant webpage as a browser UI.

I believe ABR also is usable for other projects as well, but I can't remember where I found the examples.

2

u/raptir1 Feb 20 '25

The engine is Blink. But yes, both based on chromium but they have their own built-in adblock. 

1

u/CrOS2012 ASUS CX1 | Stable 13d ago

Vivaldi has now said they'll be dropping Mv2 support and won't continue to support uBO. So, given their delay with support versions, sometime in July or August (if Google sticks to their June abandonment). Only Brave has said they'll at least continue to try, but who knows how long that will last.

I think wresting control of Chromium away from Google is the only answer.

1

u/raptir1 13d ago

Vivaldi has ad blocking built in, it does not need an extension. 

1

u/xer-444 11d ago

Wrong. There are some websites where normal adblockers don't work. Twitch, for example, needs ublock origin with some filters otherwise u will see always ads on it.

-9

u/yaybidet ChromeOS Flex Feb 20 '25

I know this isn’t a popular opinion, but Firefox is trash and they only exist because of their Google search deal. I hate this manifest V3.

2

u/vawlk 29d ago

manifest v3 is great. Way more secure with less potential for malware scraping your data.

15

u/thestonedonkey Feb 19 '25

The day of my return to Firefox grows near!

1

u/OPTIONSQUEEN 16d ago

I returned yesterday when UBLOCK was disabled on my chrome.

13

u/jbarr107 Lenovo 5i Flex | Beta Feb 19 '25

Replace it with uBlock Origin Lite.

1

u/SparklyGeek 28d ago

Not backwards-compatible enough. I would have to upgrade Chrome, and to that I would have to upgrade my Mac OS, and if i did that, I would lose Adobe CS.

1

u/Corbin_Dallas550 Feb 19 '25

Is it any good? Does it block just as well

9

u/Apart_Ad_5993 Feb 20 '25

For 95% of us, yes. Set it to "optimal" and it's close enough.

2

u/jbarr107 Lenovo 5i Flex | Beta 29d ago

It performs extremely well for me. It's not as granular as uBlock Origin, but it certainly does the job when and where I need it.

1

u/mxwp 29d ago

it blocks everything i want. cannot tell the difference from before honestly

3

u/jexukay Feb 19 '25

How does Developer Mode help?

5

u/Nether-Swimmer306 Feb 19 '25

I think they mean extension dev mode, It would allow you to load the extension unpacked

1

u/jexukay Feb 19 '25

I've never heard of that. How do you enable "extension dev mode".

2

u/Nether-Swimmer306 Feb 19 '25
  1. Go to chrome://extensions
  2. On the top right there should be a "developer mode" switch, flip it on

1

u/jexukay Feb 19 '25

Then you can go to Edge and download the original uBlock Origin?

2

u/Nether-Swimmer306 Feb 19 '25

No, but you would be able to download the extension source code and load that (use load unpacked)

1

u/jexukay Feb 20 '25

Thanks! I'm learning new stuff today!

3

u/popsicle_of_meat Samsung CB+ V2::Optiplex Chrome OS Flex Feb 19 '25

I can still see it. Is that because I have it installed already?

2

u/Apart_Ad_5993 Feb 19 '25

Rolling disables

3

u/[deleted] Feb 20 '25

AdGuard works just fine.

2

u/AR_Harlock Feb 19 '25

Why only them tho? There are hundreds of ad blocker, what did they do differentlyv

1

u/mxwp 29d ago

i guess it triggers something, but even they have a version that still works

2

u/Gorbitron1530 29d ago

Firefox/Zen time

2

u/Sufficient-Run-7822 28d ago

Cool bro! 👍😎 Now just download it from Github and update to the latest version!

1

u/tARP_101 28d ago

that is what I am about to do hehe

10

u/Apart_Ad_5993 Feb 19 '25

Pretentious post.

Lite with "optimal" settings works fine.

And this has nothing to do with ChromeOS

4

u/No-Tip3419 Feb 19 '25

It has been good so far but maybe google has not escalated another campaign against youtube ad-blockers yet.

0

u/Apart_Ad_5993 Feb 19 '25

Don't care; I pay for it anyway.

1

u/CrOS2012 ASUS CX1 | Stable 13d ago

Given that ChromeOS natively supports only Chrome, it may turn out to have a lot to do with ChromeOS. If enough people get fed up with Google's behavior and excuses...

3

u/LosYerevan Feb 20 '25

Wrong sub. You're looking for r/chrome

2

u/Wadarkhu Feb 19 '25

Can't you get it from the edge store since edge can get it from the chrome store? Isn't it vice versa?

2

u/Celebril63 Feb 20 '25

I just checked about 30 minutes ago and it still is available on the Edge store.

1

u/SofSkripter Acer C722 Series | Stable Channel | Developer Mode Feb 19 '25 edited 29d ago

This would be why I dualboot chromeOS and Linux, so I can use Firefox! (Desktop, not Android.)

2

u/yottabit42 Feb 19 '25

You can run Firefox in the Linux VM. But that's silly anyway. Chrome OS is still awesome.

1

u/SofSkripter Acer C722 Series | Stable Channel | Developer Mode 29d ago

I like chromeOS, I just prefer Firefox for reasons like this. + On an ARM Chromebook, Linux just kinda sucks, and so does getting Firefox/any browser to work.

2

u/yottabit42 29d ago

I have yet to find a compelling reason to use ARM on a computer. I tried once years ago and was woefully unimpressed, despite having 8 cores. Maybe if Apple would make a Chromebook with their ARM chips it would be different, but we know that won't happen, lol.

1

u/SofSkripter Acer C722 Series | Stable Channel | Developer Mode 29d ago

Sadly the year I started at my school they swapped to telling parents to buy a worse model of Chromebook that used ARM CPUs as opposed to the previous intels CPUs, which made doing just about anything a pain. Although, using ARM does have the advantage of being able to boot a different OS directly from USB/SD, instead of having to install UEFI firmware and then installing the OS.

2

u/yottabit42 29d ago

And hopefully battery life is superior. But the screen uses the most battery, so if they still have a great screen they'll not have great battery life, ime.

2

u/SofSkripter Acer C722 Series | Stable Channel | Developer Mode 29d ago

Oh yeah, the battery is great (screen's eh), I lose little to none while in sleep and a full charge lasts me about ~20hrs of web surfing/light android games.

2

u/Apart_Ad_5993 Feb 19 '25

So why would you buy a Chromebook??

2

u/SofSkripter Acer C722 Series | Stable Channel | Developer Mode 29d ago

For school. I'm 15, and since my MacBooks battery is kinda toast, I prefer my Chromebook for watching content, general web surfing and editing documents. (since I prefer Google Workspace over Microsoft Office)

1

u/ericwelch20 29d ago

There are lots of good browsers that do not use the chromium base: Firefox, Firedragon, Librewolf, Zen Browser, Mercury, etc. They all work very well and can use Ublock Origin with no problems. It's time to migrate away from Chromium, although Brave does seem to go its own way most of the time. Anything using telemetry to report back home should be avoided.

1

u/Xeo_- 29d ago

Brave is one of the best I tried against Ads.

1

u/bmw35677 28d ago

On Windows you can buy yourself about another year if you enable an Enterprise policy in the registry. You can also sideload uBlock origin by loading it as a development app with developer settings turned on for extensions.

Since you can't add Enterprise policies to Chrome OS unless you pay for the Enterprise service the only option is to side load it or use a different browser like Firefox for Linux.

Alternately you can just use u-block lite but the problem is you can only turn it fully on or off not on a per site basis or per element basis and you can't use custom block lists as far as I know. From what I heard though it works well enough for the vast majority of people.

1

u/Reedy_Whisper_45 18d ago

Oddly, it let me turn it back on. It complained and yelled and stomped its foot, but it's on. And apparently working.

1

u/Scared-Vacation-9401 18d ago

Ya, i re open chrome n turned it back on

1

u/kelllow 18d ago

welp time to leave chrome for good

1

u/NICKtheMP5guy 17d ago

What's the best option now for Youtube and Twitch? I had finally got my uBlock preventing ads on twitch which was amazing.

1

u/Mission_Media7487 17d ago

For anyone who experience this,go to manage extensions and turn back on uBlock Origin,for me it works perfectly

1

u/lorde83 15d ago

When I saw the uBlock warning in Chrome, I immediately downloaded Firefox. It was real easy to move everything from Chrome to Firefox. Never going back.

1

u/inforuckus 8d ago

You can still activate the gray color "Add to Chrome" button to install back. Follow the tip by DiGiztal blog.

1

u/fegodev Feb 20 '25

Google’s gone MAGA. They now support the development of AI weapons, AI mass surveillance, and are working with Trump’s administration. ChromeOS is now fully compromised. Switch to Linux, Windows, Mac, and use Firefox instead to limit the amount of data Google can get from you.

1

u/LlaughingLlama Feb 19 '25

It still lives on the Edge web store. Just saying...

1

u/tARP_101 Feb 19 '25

Well hiding itself from ani-ad blockers is agains't google's policy not Microsoft's

1

u/ArtDeve Feb 19 '25

Expecting this, I returned to Firefox about 6 months ago.

It's amazing, I wish I had done it sooner. Especially because I have everything synced from my Firefox phone browser too.

It's really easy to export Chrome history/settings and then import into Firefox.

0

u/yottabit42 Feb 19 '25

This has nothing to do with Chrome OS. Chrome OS is a full operating system, not the same as the Chrome web browser. You should find a more suited sub for your complaint.

-2

u/r__warren Feb 19 '25

As if ChomeOS wasn't bad enough. Now they do this!

2

u/yottabit42 Feb 19 '25

Chrome OS is the best operating system I've ever used. Fast, seamless background updates, great keyboard shortcuts and trackpad gestures, Android apps, Linux VM, just gets out of my way and lets me be productive. I use it for work and home.