Essential tools to make the modern web more bearable
January 6, 2025 7:04 AM Subscribe
Essential tools to make the modern web more bearable – Because a lot of the internet is controlled by a very small number of companies, people have created tons of tools to make using services that lack viable competitors more bearable ... [Here] are a few tools that I think are pretty accessible and could make your internet experience a lot more enjoyable.
These are pretty easy to set up: I would consider this a good resource to share with Not-Extremely-Online people in your life.
Too late for using on holiday visits this winter, but a good one for next Thanksgiving!
posted by wenestvedt at 8:07 AM on January 6 [2 favorites]
Too late for using on holiday visits this winter, but a good one for next Thanksgiving!
posted by wenestvedt at 8:07 AM on January 6 [2 favorites]
Looking forward to seeing what the DNS trick will do for me.
I'll add:
FB Purity and Facebook Container, browser extensions.
TrumpBlock and Make America Kittens Again, which are of moderate help.
Privacy Badger.
posted by Dashy at 8:28 AM on January 6 [7 favorites]
I'll add:
FB Purity and Facebook Container, browser extensions.
TrumpBlock and Make America Kittens Again, which are of moderate help.
Privacy Badger.
posted by Dashy at 8:28 AM on January 6 [7 favorites]
Very occasionally, DNS filtering can cause issues with some services.
I used DNS filtering on my last phone, and it was much more than "very occasionally" that I tried to follow links and found I couldn't load them because the link included some ad-tracking type stuff in the URL, or a redirect URL, that the DNS filtering blocked by preventing the page from loading entirely. Like eg, I'd get an email from an online vendor I actually use, see something worth investigating further, and then ... just not be able to see the thing unless I manually went to their site and searched it. Or sometimes even a link texted from family to, say, a travel deal they thought I might want to jump on. That happened probably several times a month. (That phone ran LineageOS, and my app usage was largely via F-droid, so I don't have any experience to speak of with how well it might have worked for in-app ads.) So I like the idea in theory, but I haven't implemented it on my new iOS phone (and while F-droid is obviously no longer an option, I still don't really use any apps that include ads, at least not once I got the paid version of Good Sudoku). I'd be interested to know about other folks' experiences with that or the other stuff.
posted by solotoro at 8:43 AM on January 6 [3 favorites]
I used DNS filtering on my last phone, and it was much more than "very occasionally" that I tried to follow links and found I couldn't load them because the link included some ad-tracking type stuff in the URL, or a redirect URL, that the DNS filtering blocked by preventing the page from loading entirely. Like eg, I'd get an email from an online vendor I actually use, see something worth investigating further, and then ... just not be able to see the thing unless I manually went to their site and searched it. Or sometimes even a link texted from family to, say, a travel deal they thought I might want to jump on. That happened probably several times a month. (That phone ran LineageOS, and my app usage was largely via F-droid, so I don't have any experience to speak of with how well it might have worked for in-app ads.) So I like the idea in theory, but I haven't implemented it on my new iOS phone (and while F-droid is obviously no longer an option, I still don't really use any apps that include ads, at least not once I got the paid version of Good Sudoku). I'd be interested to know about other folks' experiences with that or the other stuff.
posted by solotoro at 8:43 AM on January 6 [3 favorites]
I'll add:
FB Purity and Facebook Container, browser extensions.
TrumpBlock and Make America Kittens Again, which are of moderate help.
Privacy Badger.
I've been using FB Purity for a while. When it works, it works pretty well, but b/c FB is constantly rejiggering its feed format (sometimes explicitly to break the functionality of usability extensions like this) FB Purity breaks pretty frequently and the dev sometimes takes a while to catch up to the changes. I also have FB Container installed but I only ever open FB in a private window so practically speaking it's of limited use to me since it doesn't work in private windows.
Privacy Badger is from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and is highly recommended (I also use it).
posted by Pedantzilla at 8:44 AM on January 6 [2 favorites]
FB Purity and Facebook Container, browser extensions.
TrumpBlock and Make America Kittens Again, which are of moderate help.
Privacy Badger.
I've been using FB Purity for a while. When it works, it works pretty well, but b/c FB is constantly rejiggering its feed format (sometimes explicitly to break the functionality of usability extensions like this) FB Purity breaks pretty frequently and the dev sometimes takes a while to catch up to the changes. I also have FB Container installed but I only ever open FB in a private window so practically speaking it's of limited use to me since it doesn't work in private windows.
Privacy Badger is from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and is highly recommended (I also use it).
posted by Pedantzilla at 8:44 AM on January 6 [2 favorites]
I'll toss in a recommendation for Consent-O-Matic. You basically configure your default cookie consent settings and then it auto-completes the countless cookie popups.
While I entirely applaud the spirit of the privacy legislation like GDPR and forcing companies to begin respecting user privacy, the omnipresent cookie consent boxes sure consume a lot of mental bandwidth. Consent-O-Matic makes that almost invisible and opts you out of everything you choose. Makes browsing so much better.
posted by robot_jesus at 8:56 AM on January 6 [11 favorites]
While I entirely applaud the spirit of the privacy legislation like GDPR and forcing companies to begin respecting user privacy, the omnipresent cookie consent boxes sure consume a lot of mental bandwidth. Consent-O-Matic makes that almost invisible and opts you out of everything you choose. Makes browsing so much better.
posted by robot_jesus at 8:56 AM on January 6 [11 favorites]
The one I really liked (and didn't already know about) was Unhook. It's also available for Firefox. It fixes a long-standing problem for me where (a) using YouTube is nearly a requirement for work and concurrently (b) YouTube is not suitable for work.
posted by Wolfdog at 9:10 AM on January 6 [2 favorites]
posted by Wolfdog at 9:10 AM on January 6 [2 favorites]
> While I entirely applaud the spirit of the privacy legislation like GDPR [...] cookie consent boxes
Don't believe the FUD, that's entirely on the websites. Both the spirit and letter of the GDPR explicitly forbid cookie consent boxes.
Websites do not need to ask for permission for using essential cookies and by default must not employ any non-essential tracking cookies, nor prompt the user with any variations of "accept these first, or else...".
Any such cases are blatant GDPR violations and in a perfect world would be promptly dealt with by your local friendly regulator, ideally with a healthy 4%-of-yearly-revenue fine. Unfortunately most of the EU is a liberal and fascist cesspool, so prospects for adequate GDPR enforcement are dire.
posted by Bangaioh at 9:13 AM on January 6 [14 favorites]
Don't believe the FUD, that's entirely on the websites. Both the spirit and letter of the GDPR explicitly forbid cookie consent boxes.
Websites do not need to ask for permission for using essential cookies and by default must not employ any non-essential tracking cookies, nor prompt the user with any variations of "accept these first, or else...".
Any such cases are blatant GDPR violations and in a perfect world would be promptly dealt with by your local friendly regulator, ideally with a healthy 4%-of-yearly-revenue fine. Unfortunately most of the EU is a liberal and fascist cesspool, so prospects for adequate GDPR enforcement are dire.
posted by Bangaioh at 9:13 AM on January 6 [14 favorites]
SocialFocus is amazeballs. I went through a kind of digital detox this december and it helped a great deal.
posted by Omon Ra at 9:31 AM on January 6 [1 favorite]
posted by Omon Ra at 9:31 AM on January 6 [1 favorite]
Both the spirit and letter of the GDPR explicitly forbid cookie consent boxes.
Where does the text of GDPR explicitly forbid cookie consent boxes? I know there are qualifications about not pre-checking boxes as well as giving equal weighting to accept/reject options (you can't bury the reject all button or make it less visually prominent).
Consent banners are so universal that I'd be surprised to find out they're explicitly forbidden under the law.
>Websites do not need to ask for permission for using essential cookies and by default must not employ any non-essential tracking cookies, nor prompt the user with any variations of "accept these first, or else...".
I agree entirely here. I know that there have been lawsuits around things like Facebook's "accept targeting advertising to use these features" attempts.
But the bog standard pop-up box which lets you accept/reject cookies I thought was pretty universal?
posted by robot_jesus at 9:55 AM on January 6
Where does the text of GDPR explicitly forbid cookie consent boxes? I know there are qualifications about not pre-checking boxes as well as giving equal weighting to accept/reject options (you can't bury the reject all button or make it less visually prominent).
Consent banners are so universal that I'd be surprised to find out they're explicitly forbidden under the law.
>Websites do not need to ask for permission for using essential cookies and by default must not employ any non-essential tracking cookies, nor prompt the user with any variations of "accept these first, or else...".
I agree entirely here. I know that there have been lawsuits around things like Facebook's "accept targeting advertising to use these features" attempts.
But the bog standard pop-up box which lets you accept/reject cookies I thought was pretty universal?
posted by robot_jesus at 9:55 AM on January 6
This is definitely NOT a recommendation: If I stumble across a site of interest, I will always test it with my text browser (lynx). Even with the ubiquity of JavaScript on the modern Web, a surprising number of sites are quite functional without it, assuming you can remember your password. MetaFilter is one such site, although the links in posts will probably not be as accommodating. And it's always promising to find [Jump to Content] as the very first (hidden) link you encounter. YMMV...
posted by jim in austin at 10:21 AM on January 6 [4 favorites]
posted by jim in austin at 10:21 AM on January 6 [4 favorites]
Cookie Autodelete is an essential survival tool for the modern web. Basically all cookies and stored data get destroyed when the last tab for a site is closed (after some short delay). You can set the plugin to "blue" (keeps all cookies for that site), "yellow" (keeps cookies for that site until the browser window is closed), or "red" (keeps cookies until the tabs are closed). It's fantastic for being able to set a retention policy for all the creepy stored data Web sites shovel into your browser.
Fittingly, I have MetaFilter set to "blue".
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 10:57 AM on January 6 [6 favorites]
Fittingly, I have MetaFilter set to "blue".
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 10:57 AM on January 6 [6 favorites]
Do any of the usual ad blockers also block the annoying Admiral anti-ad-block popups that have seemingly proliferated like cockroaches throughout the web?
posted by Thorzdad at 11:12 AM on January 6 [1 favorite]
posted by Thorzdad at 11:12 AM on January 6 [1 favorite]
I use the app DeadnameEraser on iOS to replace every mention of "Trump" with "Cocknozzle" and that's been a big help this past decade.
posted by Homeskillet Freshy Fresh at 12:12 PM on January 6 [8 favorites]
posted by Homeskillet Freshy Fresh at 12:12 PM on January 6 [8 favorites]
Some more recommendations from me:
- use Firefox! Be it to block ads (uBlock Origin > Chrome's uBlock Origin Lite) or for privacy reasons. I have my issues with Firefox too (Mozilla's recent push into AI garbage territory, e.g., is s/maddening) but as long as Firefox exists, I will use it.
- Essential addons for me: NoScript, Magic Actions for YouTube, SponsorBlock for YouTube, uBlock Origin, Cookie AutoDelete
- adding &udm=14 to your Google search prompts gives you AI-free search results; here's how you can make this your standard search engine on Chrome and Firefox; these days I tend to use DuckDuckGo more often nevertheless
Do any of the usual ad blockers also block the annoying Admiral anti-ad-block popups that have seemingly proliferated like cockroaches throughout the web?
I've never seen such a thing using uBlock Origin on Firefox, so I wonder if it's Chrome's plausibly-deliberate debilitation of adblockers that's causing this, if you're on Chrome?
posted by NMcCoy at 12:34 PM on January 6 [1 favorite]
I've never seen such a thing using uBlock Origin on Firefox, so I wonder if it's Chrome's plausibly-deliberate debilitation of adblockers that's causing this, if you're on Chrome?
posted by NMcCoy at 12:34 PM on January 6 [1 favorite]
So much of the internet is unusable now without blockers. I run a piHole on my network. It seems to me that rhere are now sites that have gotten so bad that if I access them without a blocker, my phone or iPad will start heating up and the battery will start dropping at an alarming rate. BoingBoing has been really bad for that since they went to a subscription model for ad-free access.
posted by fimbulvetr at 1:11 PM on January 6 [3 favorites]
posted by fimbulvetr at 1:11 PM on January 6 [3 favorites]
I use the app DeadnameEraser on iOS to replace every mention of "Trump" with "Cocknozzle" and that's been a big help this past decade.I do the same with a simple userscript (ViolentMonkey add on) to change a certain toxic billionaire's name to "Spaceboy McFuckface"
posted by dantheclamman at 1:38 PM on January 6 [5 favorites]
I hadn't heard of Unhook! I've been using uBlock to hide comments and recommended videos, but this looks much simpler and probably more reliable.
posted by extramachine at 2:22 PM on January 6
posted by extramachine at 2:22 PM on January 6
I rarely use Facebook but when I do I want to rapidly scan my feed. I used to be able to jump from post to post in sequence by pressing "j" (and go back with "k") as one can do here but that no longer works. Does FB Purity or some other extension provide this?
posted by neuron at 3:06 PM on January 6 [1 favorite]
posted by neuron at 3:06 PM on January 6 [1 favorite]
I'm a massive fan of RethinkDNS on Android, which takes some jiggering to align to your usage but is well worth the effort for a system-wide ad blocker, privacy protector, etc. Like @solotoro, YMMV, but I found the rudimentary defaults did a lot of work without much interference. From there, I dialed it up. Some blocklists are needlessly paranoid and over protective, but you can opt out if you hit a wall you'd prefer was a door.
posted by criticalyeast at 5:38 PM on January 6
posted by criticalyeast at 5:38 PM on January 6
I run Firefox (on Android, and Windows), with uBlock Origin, SponsorBlock, and Video Background Play Fix extensions.
Also good: Bypass Paywalls Clean, but can't be installed on Firefox Android unless you install a fork.
This is definitely NOT a recommendation: If I stumble across a site of interest, I will always test it with my text browser (lynx). Even with the ubiquity of JavaScript on the modern Web, a surprising number of sites are quite functional without it, assuming you can remember your password. MetaFilter is one such site, although the links in posts will probably not be as accommodating. And it's always promising to find [Jump to Content] as the very first (hidden) link you encounter. YMMV...
The diet version of this is running uMatrix (on Firefox) with stuff turned off by default. I use it, I don't really recommend it. I usually just allow first-party scripts by default, which often means new-to-me websites are at least partly broken. It sometimes does nasty things to e-commerce checkouts and sometimes I will have to just turn it off entirely for them.
posted by BungaDunga at 9:19 PM on January 6 [5 favorites]
Also good: Bypass Paywalls Clean, but can't be installed on Firefox Android unless you install a fork.
This is definitely NOT a recommendation: If I stumble across a site of interest, I will always test it with my text browser (lynx). Even with the ubiquity of JavaScript on the modern Web, a surprising number of sites are quite functional without it, assuming you can remember your password. MetaFilter is one such site, although the links in posts will probably not be as accommodating. And it's always promising to find [Jump to Content] as the very first (hidden) link you encounter. YMMV...
The diet version of this is running uMatrix (on Firefox) with stuff turned off by default. I use it, I don't really recommend it. I usually just allow first-party scripts by default, which often means new-to-me websites are at least partly broken. It sometimes does nasty things to e-commerce checkouts and sometimes I will have to just turn it off entirely for them.
posted by BungaDunga at 9:19 PM on January 6 [5 favorites]
Mod note: [We've injected this into the sidebar and Best Of blog. Thank you for posting, Wolfdog, and thank you, everyone, for your additional recs!]
posted by taz (staff) at 1:32 AM on January 7 [1 favorite]
posted by taz (staff) at 1:32 AM on January 7 [1 favorite]
For avoidance of doubt, the blue/yellow/red settings for Cookie Autodelete are per-site. So I generally leave it on "red" for everyone, and pick specific places I trust to be "blue". The "yellow" setting is mostly useful for shopping sites where I use them once a year and just don't want anything to break while building a wishlist/placing an order, but don't want them keeping stuff on my system forever.
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 2:50 AM on January 7 [2 favorites]
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 2:50 AM on January 7 [2 favorites]
I'm surprised this hasn't been mentioned already - Ghostery is a pretty configurable ad/tracking/auto GDPR do not consent plugin. You do need to occasionally disable it if some site relies on marketing cookies for purchases, but it allows for doing that on a per site/time based manner.
posted by dogfilter at 7:30 AM on January 7 [1 favorite]
posted by dogfilter at 7:30 AM on January 7 [1 favorite]
The tricky part with Ghostery is that you have to go into the settings and explicitly select to block everything; by default it'll let quite a lot of trackers, etc. keep doing their thing.
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:42 AM on January 7
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:42 AM on January 7
Be aware that Ghostery phones home to report where trackers are found. As I understand it, any web page with any type of tracker gets reported to whotracks.me, so nearly your entire browsing history would be phoned home. It's mentioned in the privacy policy. It's not a secret, but I was definitely surprised when I found out. I wouldn't expect an anti-tracking plugin to do that sort of tracking.
posted by swr at 10:18 AM on January 7 [4 favorites]
posted by swr at 10:18 AM on January 7 [4 favorites]
Be aware that Ghostery phones home to report where trackers are found. As I understand it, any web page with any type of tracker gets reported to whotracks.me, so nearly your entire browsing history would be phoned home. It's mentioned in the privacy policy. It's not a secret, but I was definitely surprised when I found out. I wouldn't expect an anti-tracking plugin to do that sort of tracking.
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
ok well, recommendation rescinded, jeez
posted by dogfilter at 10:38 AM on January 7
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
ok well, recommendation rescinded, jeez
posted by dogfilter at 10:38 AM on January 7
I have a few could add to this list - here's some I don't see above:
I use chrome because I'm required to for work and it's too much bother to switch when I got home.
PrintFriendly Extension For getting around newspaper paywalls. Find an article behind the paywall? Click the button and bam.. there's the article in all it's glory. You don't have to copy and paste the URL. There is a printfriendly for firefox, but alas I cannot tell you if to works or if it's the same developer.)
Behind the overlay. Click the extension and it gets rid of pop ups without having to hunt for the tiny X somewhere or the ones that don't even have them including the "We see you are using adblock" types.
Youtube ClickBait Remover - it strips out the thumbnails with shocked faces, gaping mouths and clickbait lettering in garish colors, and replaces it with a random still shot from someplace in the video. Makes it far more pleasant overall to look at youtube.
Extensity helps me quickly manage all my extensions! I can turn them all off with the click of a button or have a few "profiles" that only turns on certain extensions when I need them for certain tasks.
posted by crayon at 11:41 AM on January 7 [1 favorite]
I use chrome because I'm required to for work and it's too much bother to switch when I got home.
PrintFriendly Extension For getting around newspaper paywalls. Find an article behind the paywall? Click the button and bam.. there's the article in all it's glory. You don't have to copy and paste the URL. There is a printfriendly for firefox, but alas I cannot tell you if to works or if it's the same developer.)
Behind the overlay. Click the extension and it gets rid of pop ups without having to hunt for the tiny X somewhere or the ones that don't even have them including the "We see you are using adblock" types.
Youtube ClickBait Remover - it strips out the thumbnails with shocked faces, gaping mouths and clickbait lettering in garish colors, and replaces it with a random still shot from someplace in the video. Makes it far more pleasant overall to look at youtube.
Extensity helps me quickly manage all my extensions! I can turn them all off with the click of a button or have a few "profiles" that only turns on certain extensions when I need them for certain tasks.
posted by crayon at 11:41 AM on January 7 [1 favorite]
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posted by Rash at 7:55 AM on January 6 [14 favorites]