IdeaWell

Project ideas from Hacker News discussions.

Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO

Original Article

Hacker News Discussion

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

1. Preference for Firefox as a privacy‑focused alternative to Chrome
- “Switch to firefox” – malfist
- “AND try to not use Google, Facebook, Amazon, OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft, Oracle and other similar products made by asshole companies.” – abroszka33
- “Firefox is genuinely quite a good option… they do let you actually turn things off, which I’m very appreciative of.” – tentacleuno

2. Concerns over Chrome’s Manifest v3 changes and their effect on ad‑blocking/uBlock Origin
- “Chrome's multiprocess sandboxing wasn't unambiguously good. It carried a steep cost in overhead.” – wtallis
- “Google is now deciding for a frighteningly large part of the public exactly how much security and privacy they should get.” – wtallis
- “The big loss for me with the mv2 deprecation was uMatrix… uBlock Origin Lite … now has full scriptlet support…”. – taviso

3. Advocacy for low‑tech or pen‑and‑paper note‑taking to reduce digital overload
- “Honestly, at what point do we just throw our kit in the trash and go back to pen & paper?” – Henchman21
- “Yesterday. Do we actually need any of this stuff? Probably not. But it's damn hard to stop enjoying it.” – abroszka33
- “Reintroducing pen and paper to your note‑taking repertoire might not be such a bad idea, anyway -- it's a much more creative medium than most digital, textual forms.” – tentacleuno

4. Calls for antitrust action / breaking up big tech (Alphabet, Amazon, etc.)
- “Alphabet needs to be broken up. Chrome, Search, Android, Youtube need to be separate companies.” – bogzz
- “We had a glimpse of that antitrust future on the horizon with the previous admin. This spooked all the big tech weirdos so much that they put their weight behind the other guy and, well, they won. Antitrust is dead for another generation.” – coldpie
- “A break up of big tech… can only accelerate [innovation]… America is totally fucked if we keep betting it all on these monopolies.” – bogwog

🚀 Project Ideas

Generating project ideas…

InkFlow: Freeform Digital Note‑Taking with Local‑First Search

Summary

  • Combines the unrestricted canvas of pen‑and‑paper (ink drawing, free‑form text, image embedding) with powerful digital features: instant full‑text search, backlinking, tagging, and cross‑device sync via a self‑hosted server.
  • Core value: gives users the creative flexibility of paper while eliminating the frustration of lost, unsearchable, or disorganized notes.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Knowledge workers, students, and researchers who miss the freedom of paper but need searchable, portable notes (as noted by tentacleuno and unclad5968).
Core Feature Infinite canvas with ink, text, and image layers; markdown‑backed storage; instant search; bidirectional links; optional end‑to‑end encrypted sync.
Tech Stack Electron (or Tauri) for desktop, React + Redux for UI, IndexedDB/PouchDB for local storage, WebAssembly for ink rendering, optional sync via CouchDB/Nextcloud.
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Revenue-ready: "Freemium – free core, $5/mo for premium sync & advanced templates".

Notes

  • HN users lamented the difficulty of organizing written notes and the lack of search (63stack, unclad5968); InkFlow directly addresses those pain points while preserving the creative medium they love.
  • The self‑hosted sync option satisfies the desire to avoid big‑tech cloud services mentioned by abroszka33 and others.

SeekSafari: Custom Search Engine Wrapper for Safari

Summary

  • A lightweight macOS/iOS app that presents a searchable list of any search engine (Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, Qwant, Ecosia, SearX, etc.) and injects the chosen engine into Safari’s search bar via a custom URL scheme.
  • Core value: lets Safari users bypass Apple’s whitelist and use their preferred private or alternative search engines without sacrificing convenience.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Safari users on macOS/iOS who want to use non‑whitelisted search engines (infecto, abawany) and avoid big‑tech tracking.
Core Feature Search engine picker, one‑tap set‑as‑default, automatic fallback to user‑chosen engine for address‑bar queries, optional private‑mode enforcement.
Tech Stack SwiftUI (macOS/iOS), App Extension (Safari Content Blocker) to intercept and redirect requests, CloudKit for syncing picker settings across devices.
Difficulty Low
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • Commenters explicitly called out Safari’s inability to add engines like Qwant or Ecosia (infecto, abawany); SeekSafari solves this with a simple, privacy‑respecting wrapper.
  • By enabling private search engines, it aligns with the broader boycott of Google/Facebook/Amazon expressed in the thread.

LibreFox Hardened: Privacy‑First Browser with Built‑in uBlock Origin

Summary

  • A hardened fork of Firefox (Gecko) that ships with uBlock Origin pre‑enabled, disables telemetry, enforces strict site‑sandboxing, and adds vertical tabs and container‑style profile management out of the box.
  • Core value: delivers a ready‑to‑use, privacy‑centric browsing experience for users frustrated by Chrome’s MV3 changes, Mozilla’s direction, and invasive tracking.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Privacy‑conscious power users, developers, and former Chrome/Firefox users seeking a browser that just works with ad‑blocking and strong sandboxing (see uBlock Origin discussions, unethical_ban, Night_Thastus).
Core Feature Pre‑configured uBlock Origin, enhanced process sandboxing (especially on Android/Linux), vertical tab tree, multi‑account containers, hardened about:config defaults.
Tech Stack Mozilla Gecko source, Rust for sandboxing patches, CI/CD via GitHub Actions, binary distribution via GitHub Releases.
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • The thread is filled with praise for uBlock Origin, concerns about MV3, and desire for a browser that “just works” with ad‑blocking without Google’s influence (e.g., Lovesong, chrysoprace, tentacleuno). LibreFox Hardened gives them exactly that out‑of‑the‑box.
  • By removing telemetry and Google‑related defaults, it satisfies the boycott sentiment toward large ad‑driven companies.

AdListAI: Community‑Driven, AI‑Enhanced Filter List Service

Summary

  • A platform where volunteers submit false‑positive/negative ad‑blocking reports; an AI model suggests filter updates, which are then reviewed by maintainers and published as uBlock‑compatible lists.
  • Core value: keeps ad‑blocking effective against evolving AI‑generated and obfuscated ads, addressing the community’s worry that the ad‑blocking war is moving beyond simple heuristics.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience uBlock Origin users, filter list maintainers, and privacy advocates who want up‑to‑date blocking without relying solely on big‑tech‑maintained lists (see discussion on MV3, AI‑based ads, and ad‑blocking fatigue).
Core Feature Web dashboard for reporting, AI‑powered suggestion engine, Git‑based list distribution with signed releases, optional premium “early‑access” lists.
Tech Stack Node.js/Express backend, React frontend, TensorFlow.js for lightweight model inference, GitHub Actions for automated list builds and releases.
Difficulty High
Monetization Revenue-ready: "Donations + $3/mo for early‑access AI‑curated lists".

Notes

  • Users noted that ad‑blocking is becoming an AI arms‑down (bdt, Bobby, and others) and that current lists may fall short; AdListAI gives the community a proactive, collaborative way to stay ahead.
  • The service can be self‑hosted, reinforcing the desire to avoid dependence on large corporations (abroszka33’s boycott list).

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