The New Microsoft Edge

[danielson]

@deya - forgot to mention that Ctrl+L with Firefox in maximized mode works while it does nothing for Microsoft ChromEdge.

@Panzer - noticed Dedo's text about it yesterday. Was curious about what he meant by saying:

"For me, though, at the end of the day, it's Firefox that does the most reasonable job. Cleanest interface, solid control throughout, by far the best and widest range of extensions, and decent speed nonetheless. Even Firefox Preview doesn't cut it."

Guess he still prefers regular Firefox for Android over Firefox Preview.
If so, personally, Fx Preview is a quite good and pleasant to me.
Especially like the url box at the bottom.

[Panzer]

I settled with Bromite.

[deya]

Stable Edge updated again a couple of days ago, Version 81.0.416.58;

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-gb/Dep...#april-17-2020

.... latest Chrome security updates.

I keep giving the Android version of Edge a try but can't get along with it yet, doesn't do enough at blocking ads. I still prefer Brave for Android with its script blocking per site on the fly via the shields button, and also have Brave as secondary browser on my desktop.

[Panzer]

So why don't you use apps that
remove ads for you instead on relying on browser to do so?

I haven't seen any ad in a browser on my phone and I have it for two months.

[kendall.a]

What app are you using for blocking ads on your phone? None that I've tried have done much good.
P.S. I'm referring more to ads related to games than ads related to browsing.

[Panzer]

I have Block This (https://block-this.com/) installed. Before that I used Personal DNS Filter (https://zenz-solutions.de/personaldnsfilter/) and Blokada (https://blokada.org/).

PDNSF worked well, but I had to restart it many times as it just closed itself for no reason whatsoever.

You can also check out DNS66 (https://github.com/julian-klode/dns66).

I have only a couple of games installed, that were free for a limited time on Google Play and they have no ads. So I cannot tell which one blocks in game ads.

[Panzer]

I forgot to enable Block This just now and immediately got ads in one of my apps. Enabled BT and ads are gone.

Should also work for games ads.

[danielson]

Maybe a bit too soon, but Block-this seems to do well on Youtube app - something Adguard can't do.
Just wish it could also remove those subtitles Google sets in on specific subject matters such as those that are making the headlines these days.

Any comparable Block-this for Windows and Linux?

- - - - -

Getting away from initial thread, but Edge seems to have lost a bit of its cutting edge in the sense that you could pull down open tabs to see previews.

[Panzer]

For Youtube without ads try:
https://vanced.app/
https://newpipe.schabi.org/

For Linux, Windows or both:
iptables
http://www.metiix.com/blockade
https://technitium.com/dns/
https://quidsup.net/notrack/

[deya]

To answer your question, Panzer, I have very few apps installed on my phone, none show ads. The only way I'll see ads is via the browser (websites) and Brave blocks all of those. I've tried ad blockers in the past and, like kendall.a, I found them to not be as effective as I'd hoped. I cannot have lots of apps on my phone, no games at all, so Brave is the best option for browsing, for me.

This may be regional, but if I search the play store for ad blocker, Brave shows top of the list.

Using the Brave shields button I can set it to block ads and trackers, HTTPS everywhere, block 3rd party cookies, block scripts, fingerprinting protection. Using the slider for each option I can adjust each setting per site. On the (very) few sites I have bookmarked, on my phone, the browser remembers those settings. If I need to change those settings for whatever reason, I can do that with two thumb clicks. Unless I want to, I don't see ads, no videos run etc.

We all use our devices differently, and I only need to read content, not look at pictures or watch videos. This also saves massively on data usage. Edge for Android, although allowing you to block java, doesn't give you as much control over it. Too time consuming (allowing/blocking) going into settings to whitelist sites etc. It's the Brave shields button that's the magic key for me. If Edge was efficient at blocking adverts I possibly would use it on my Android tablet but it isn't, so Brave it is again.

Edge on the desktop is a different matter because I find it to do a reasonable job of ad blocking although it still requires a little assistance from uBlock Origin. I also believe it to be the more secure browser for Win10 simply because the company who make the browser also make the operating system it runs in, plus the very prompt security updates.

As for the privacy aspect of Edge, they've recently published this - Microsoft Edge Privacy Whitepaper;

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/mic...acy-whitepaper

.... it's a long read but it might answer a few questions for those who use it.