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Internet Utilities

Ad Blockers

Ads are annoying. Simple as, but it may seem wrong to block ads due to the fact they support the website. However, there are some reasons you should consider using an Ad Blocker.

  • Performance

Ads can cause heaps of performance issues on your devices, making websites load incredibly slowly and in some occasions even slowing down your computer. Blocking ads can do for a heap in improving your computer.

  • Intrusive nature

Ads can get in the way, especially on sites like downloading sites, where they’re most prone to attack. Trying to download something and getting redirected to some phishing site can be dangerous if you’re not careful. Theres also the privacy implications, with things like fingerprinting and knowing exactly what you like and how to pander to you, which may not bode with people.

Picking the right Ad Blocker is also important, as a good bit of Ad Blocks tend to be detected by sites, and they may out right block you from using the site if you use an Ad Block that is detected.

Web/Extension

The best ad block by a long mile is UBlock Origin.

Open source, updates filters incredibly fast from community contributions, lightweight and even improves performances on sites.

For Chromium users (Chrome, Opera/GX, Microsoft Edge), I’d recommend installing UBlock Lite as it supports Manifest V3, a new permissions system for Chromium. There is less customization with Lite, but its ensured to work after Manifest V2 stops being supported.

The only other good alternative for UBlock is AdGuard, but I do not have any experience using it, so understand its validity mostly comes from second hand opinions.

If you’re looking for something to block Sponsors in youtube, or generally skip filler in youtube videos, check out SponsorBlock.

Android

Ad blocking on Android is a mixed bag, as there really isn’t any good option in my experience. At best, they only block some ads, and at worst they make it impossible to connect to some things requiring you to have to turn it off and on later.

IPhone

W.I.P

Trust me, you’re gonna want these. A lot of people use link shorteners, but for various reasons. These link shorteners seem innocent, but these not only log your information when you visit them, but they also make money off of you with the ads that display. With an adblock, you’re essentially just a sitting duck for like 5 seconds while you wait for the timer to finish.

For almost all occassions, FastForward is the go to for all skipping.

bypass.city is another nice skipper with even a Userscript avaliable that works similar to FastForward, with an even larger array of supported websites.

⚠ Do not use ⚠

These sites are just untrustworthy or otherwise just commonly detected and blocked, with very little good support for them. Just about anyone would recommend you to not use these, they’re awful, trust me.

As for the case of UBlock, if you somehow find the original UBlock floating around, don’t download it. It’s not only bought out by AdBlock Pro, but theres also a reason why Origin exists, if you’re interested in that drama you can find the story yourself.