[HN Gopher] Removing cookie consent requests from Firefox iOS
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       Removing cookie consent requests from Firefox iOS
        
       Author : rchaves
       Score  : 30 points
       Date   : 2022-02-17 19:06 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (rchaves.app)
 (TXT) w3m dump (rchaves.app)
        
       | manholio wrote:
       | Could someone build a large list of such cookies or local storage
       | objects, that I can simply import into my browser and it will
       | remember that I already clicked the consent button? It should be
       | a standard feature of adblockers by now, it has gotten completely
       | out of hand. A billion people losing 10 billion seconds of
       | productivity per day, a handful of lifetimes wasted.
        
       | gnicholas wrote:
       | HyperWeb (a YC company, I believe) offers this functionality in
       | its Safari extension. Very helpful!
        
         | hundchenkatze wrote:
         | Yep and the feature is just rule based auto-clicking elements
         | after the page loads. So it can skip other annoyances like
         | newsletter or app download prompts too.
         | 
         | https://guide.hyperweb.app/remove-annoyances/autoclick/
        
           | kibibu wrote:
           | Does it actually simulate a click in the browser or just call
           | the click event handler?
        
         | pl0x wrote:
         | I used auto web and it rendered Sarai unusable.
        
       | traceroute66 wrote:
       | Sure you _could_ do that.
       | 
       | Or you could just download Firefox Focus and enjoy ephemeral
       | browsing sessions where all traces can be eradicated at one touch
       | of the little trash icon.
        
         | xd1936 wrote:
         | Great app, but doesn't have anything to do with the goal of the
         | OP. Firefox Focus doesn't block EU cookie banners.
        
           | traceroute66 wrote:
           | Yes, I know it doesn't strictly block banners.
           | 
           | But for 99.9% of people it frankly achieves _roughly_ the
           | same goal of being able to hide from cookies with minimal
           | effort.
        
             | hundchenkatze wrote:
             | The goal isn't to hide from cookies, it's not having to
             | click through cookie consent modals. Having ephemeral
             | sessions actually makes this problem worse because sites
             | actually use a cookie to track whether you've consented to
             | the other cookies the site wants to use. So not having the
             | "has/has not consented" cookie causes the modal to appear,
             | making you set your preferences every time you visit the
             | site instead of just the first time.
        
             | andrewmutz wrote:
             | The problem isnt the cookies. The problem is the consent
             | popups.
        
       | wintermutestwin wrote:
       | I don't understand the advantage to using Firefox over Safari on
       | iOS. No uBlock Origin = what's the point = I have zero interest
       | in an iPad.
        
         | plushpuffin wrote:
         | It can sync your history and bookmarks with desktop Firefox. I
         | think it's also affected by any ad blockers used by iOS Safari
         | such as AdGuard, so there's very little disadvantage.
        
           | rrdharan wrote:
           | It's not able to use safari content blockers as far as I know
           | (I don't think any mom Safari browsers can?).
        
         | fsflover wrote:
         | How about freedom?
        
           | zerocrates wrote:
           | In what sense? On iOS you're still using Safari under the
           | hood basically, so there's pretty minimal "freedom" involved,
           | if any.
        
             | fsflover wrote:
             | https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-even-more-
             | impor...
        
               | netizen-936824 wrote:
               | If you're interested in freedom, as in free software, why
               | would you even touch an apple device
        
               | fsflover wrote:
               | Any journey starts with one step:
               | https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/the-journey-begins-
               | with-...
        
               | meepmorp wrote:
               | and if you're using an apple device, why bother with a
               | second class browser? The sync isn't worth the hassle.
        
               | netizen-936824 wrote:
               | You seem to be implying that apple is first rate.
               | 
               |  _hard_ disagree
        
               | zerocrates wrote:
               | I think they meant "second class" as in "second-class
               | citizen" not "second-rate."
        
               | spicybright wrote:
               | What hassle? The one time app download? Firefox sync
               | works fine.
        
       | worik wrote:
       | On computer hardware that the writer owns compiling free software
       | for other computer hardware they own - they need a license from
       | Apple.
       | 
       | What does it actually mean to buy something these days?
        
         | yepthatsreality wrote:
         | It means voting with your wallet and helping push society away
         | from corpo traps like this.
        
           | [deleted]
        
           | worik wrote:
           | Well yes! I develop on Apple. I do not own any Apple
           | hardware.
           | 
           | But I get the impression that for the people of North America
           | tablet/smartphone mean iPad/iPhone.
           | 
           | I have no data, but it is the very strong impression I get
        
             | skymt wrote:
             | About half of smartphones sold in the US and Canada are
             | iPhones. The Mexican market is dominated by Android.
        
               | brimble wrote:
               | Part of the impression that iOS is dominant comes from
               | usage stats. Last I had insight into the stats (maybe
               | three years ago? Four?) iOS users spent way more time
               | using their devices than Android users, it had been that
               | way basically since iOS and Android had existed, and that
               | state showed no signs of changing. Web browsing? Average
               | iOS user does more of it. Time in apps? Ditto. So they
               | have a much larger usage footprint, are more visible in
               | hands as you're out and about, et c.
        
       | howinteresting wrote:
       | It's kind of terrible that you can use extensions XOR your own
       | browser on iOS. One of the many things that drove me back to
       | Android after a good three years using an iPhone.
        
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       (page generated 2022-02-17 23:01 UTC)