Adguard ok to use?

[jklingel]

NFI why a search for adguard found zip, so I'll ask. I went to the Apple web site (where I frequently got a pop up insisting I was infected, like I have been getting at most sites; may have solved that... may) and downloaded Adguard as suggested here... I think. It asks for some spooky permissions that I did not expect. Just say "OK" and pray? Adguard is legit, right? Useful? Thanks. john

 

[chscag]

We recommend you download the free malwarebytes app and run that first. Do not download Adguard, instead open Safari and then go to Safari extensions and download install AdBlock Plus.

Be sure to scan your system first with malwarebytes before you do anything else. It sure sounds like you have some malware on your machine.

 

[ferrarr]

I use the Safari Extension AdGuard AdBlocker. I switched last week from AdBlock Plus, when someone told me it was a better "content blocker". But I still use Ghostery, another Safari Extension, which they told me is not the same as uBlock. Of course, these extensions.add-ons are available for almost all browsers.

https://safari-extensions.apple.com

 

[ProTruckDriver]

I've been using the Safari Extension AdGuard AdBlocker for a few months now without flaw. I downloaded it from the link Bob posted.

 

[pm-r]

NFI why a search for adguard found zip, so I'll ask.

BTW: I don't know what or how you're searching but try using this as a sample and see if it works:
https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=mac+Adguard&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8




- Patrick
======

 

[macgig]

never heard of adguard. I use ublock origin.

 

[ferrarr]

never heard of adguard. I use ublock origin.

I had never heard of uBlock Origin, until it was mentioned here. Then a couple of weeks ago, someone told me about AdGuard and they told me it was better than AdBlock Plus, so I switched to it, and have noticed better performance, compared to ABP.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

I went to the Apple web site (where I frequently got a pop up insisting I was infected, like I have been getting at most sites; may have solved that... may)

There are two separate things that can be causing your problem. One is a malicious extension in Safari, and the other is a malicious ad pushed to the Web site(s) you are visiting. I wrote an entire article about this, back when a malicious ad could pretend to be holding your Mac for ransom:

Scary Internet Scam Becoming Disturbingly Common
https://tidbits.com/2015/07/07/scary-internet-scam-becoming-disturbingly-common/

If you are getting those scam ads on a lot of different Web sites, especially Apple's, it is unlikely that you are dealing with malicious ads coming from a poisoned ad network. (Apple's Web site doesn't subscribe to an ad network). So an ad blocker won't do you any good in this case. In any case, I just want to let folks know that instead of using an ad blocker, I've been using a new browser that has the built-in ability to block ads and trackers, and I'm loving it:

Brave (free)
https://brave.com

It turns out that if ads and trackers are blocked, and hence don't have to be loaded, your browser becomes quite a bit faster!

So, how do you get rid of the malicious extension that is causing you problems? Most folks will recommend MalwareBytes, a popular adware removal tool:

MalwareBytes (free/pay)
https://www.malwarebytes.com

But since the MalwareBytes folks developed their commercial version, the product installs way too much garbage and is too hard to remove for my tastes. Instead I now recommend the similar:

DetectX (free, $10 requested)
https://sqwarq.com/detectx/

Apple is rumored to be dropping the ability to add extensions in a future version of Safari, which will make this a non-problem for Safari users.

 

[pm-r]

Apple is rumored to be dropping the ability to add extensions in a future version of Safari, which will make this a non-problem for Safari users.

Hmmm…??? Is this really what you meant Randy??? I heard it was the other way around and Apple was ADDING the option.


EDIT:
BTW: I see it says Brave 0.22.714 18 May 2018 which to me means it's still BETA until version 1.0 is my understanding at:
https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/57004/brave




- Patrick
======

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Hmmm…??? Is this really what you meant Randy???

Yes. The rumor is that Apple will be dropping extensions from Safari as a security measure.

I heard it was the other way around and Apple was ADDING the option.

Safari has been extensible for many years. Even the copy of Safari on my machine running Snow Leopard in my office is extensible.

I see it says Brave 0.22.714 18 May 2018 which to me means it's still BETA until version 1.0

I don't know that Brave's numbering system means that. They certainly don't say that it is in beta on their Web site. It runs perfectly for me. Since a Web browser, unlike say...a word processor, isn't being used to create data, I don't see that there is the potential for any harm if the product is buggy. If there is a bug it's not going to cause you to lose any work product or data. However, it has been perfectly stable for me. In any case I don't see the harm in trying it.

 

[pm-r]

Yes. The rumor is that Apple will be dropping extensions from Safari as a security measure. … … …

Thanks Randy.



- Patrick
======

 

[Slydude]

The version of Safari included with the Mojave public beta still has the Extensions tab in its preferences so at least some extensions are still supported.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

The version of Safari included with the Mojave public beta still has the Extensions tab in its preferences so at least some extensions are still supported.

In light of the recent discussion about Safari, I'd just like to point out that currently there are more excellent alternatives to Safari for the Macintosh than ever. Here are some of the most recent. All seem to be excellent. Each one tends to have its own special reason for being. (e.g. speed, security, stability, etc.) Opera is an interesting choice as it includes a free VPN. Since they are all free, and don't conflict with each other, you can try any or all of them.

Vivaldi (free)
https://vivaldi.com/download/
(Highly customizable for power users. Based on Chrome codebase, only with all of Google's spyware stripped out. Seems compatible with everything. Fast. Stable.)
More info:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivaldi_(web_browser)

Opera (free)
http://www.opera.com/
(Includes ad blocking and free VPN.)

Firefox (free)
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/
(Recently heavily updated. Now twice as fast.)

Brave (free)
https://www.brave.com/
More info:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brave_(web_browser)

SlimJet (free)
https://www.slimjet.com/
(Based on Chrome. Optimized for speed.)

WaterFox (free)
https://www.waterfoxproject.org/
(Based on the same codebase as Firefox. Recompiled to make use of all of the technology in recent Macs for maximum performance.)

There are literally over 200 browsers for the Macintosh!!!
http://web.archive.org/web/20160507005619/http://www.knutson.de/mac/www/browsers.html

 

[pm-r]

Re: Brave 0.22.714

I don't know that Brave's numbering system means that. They certainly don't say that it is in beta on their Web site. It runs perfectly for me.

Well, FWIW, Brave's a no-go here and running Mavericks 10.9.5, it just immediately quits:
If interested:

Crashed Thread: 0 Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread

Exception Type: EXC_CRASH (SIGABRT)
Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000000, 0x0000000000000000

Application Specific Information:
abort() called

Thread 0 Crashed:: Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread
0 libsystem_kernel.dylib 0x000000011419a866 __pthread_kill + 10
1 libsystem_pthread.dylib 0x00000001142a435c pthread_kill + 92
2 libsystem_c.dylib 0x00000001140d2b26 abort + 125
3 com.electron.brave 0x000000010ec4ec99 main + 233
4 libdyld.dylib 0x00000001140015fd start + 1

Thread 0 crashed with X86 Thread State (64-bit):
rax: 0x0000000000000000 rbx: 0x00000001142aa310 rcx: 0x00007fff50fb1c88 rdx: 0x0000000000000000
rdi: 0x0000000000000707 rsi: 0x0000000000000006 rbp: 0x00007fff50fb1cb0 rsp: 0x00007fff50fb1c88
r8: 0x0000000000000040 r9: 0x00007fff50fb1b00 r10: 0x0000000008000000 r11: 0x0000000000000206
r12: 0x0000000000000001 r13: 0x00007fa791017800 r14: 0x0000000000000006 r15: 0x00006180000b2ae0
rip: 0x000000011419a866 rfl: 0x0000000000000206 cr2: 0x00000001140d2aa9

Logical CPU: 0
Error Code: 0x02000148
Trap Number: 133

Their specs say it should run:

Requirements for Brave

Intel, 64-bit processor
OS X 10.9 or later

Forget that browser for me thanks.
Now to uninstall it…

Crashed and unexpectedly quits my fanny, it doesn't even partially open, not even a tiny itsy-bitsy peek!!!

I'd say just not ready for use, at least on my mid-2011 iMac!!!




- Patrick
======

 

[chscag]

Brave ran fine on my iMac (High Sierra 10.13.4) but I didn't like its interface and removed it. It can easily be uninstalled so no problem there.

 

[Slydude]

Charlie, did you have trouble getting it to import bookmarks? Maybe I'm doing something wrong.

 

[chscag]

It imported the bookmarks but it places them in a menu like structure which is hard to navigate. For example, in order to select Mac-Forums, I had to tunnel my way down thru several menu items to select our forums. Whereas in Safari or Chrome, you can place special favorites on the top menu bar where they can easily be selected rather than have to drill your way down thru menus.

On the good side, Brave is lightning fast. It opens pages quicker than any other browser I have used. And it does automatically stop ads and other annoyances like tracking, etc.

 

[IWT]

I had never heard of uBlock Origin, until it was mentioned here. Then a couple of weeks ago, someone told me about AdGuard and they told me it was better than AdBlock Plus, so I switched to it, and have noticed better performance, compared to ABP.

As this thread started out as a request about AdGuard, I thought that I would endorse Bob's comment - I too disabled AdBlock Plus and gave AdGuard a go. In fact I've found pages load faster and the app is easy to use and modify to one's own requirements; so much so that I purchased a lifetime license.

Personal experience only, of course.

Ian

 

[IWT]

On the good side, Brave is lightning fast. It opens pages quicker than any other browser I have used. And it does automatically stop ads and other annoyances like tracking, etc.

My experience too, running Sierra.

Ian