105

Figured out how to consistently reproduce on my end.

Pretext:
I have ublock set to block the "Creator on the Rise" and "Trending Shorts" trays on the YouTube trending page (among other things), so intended behabiour is that they don't show up.

Reproduce:

  1. Go to a new tab (orion://newtab)
  2. Go to YouTube using my keyword invokation, which is set to go to www.youtube.com/feed/trending when I type "ytt"
  3. uBlock Origin will not work. Refreshing the page will block elements as expected.
  4. Repeat as before from new tab, but this time, type youtube.com/feed/trending manually in the address bar. uBlock Origin will work as expected on page load, no reload required.
  5. type "orion://newtab" in the address bar to go back to a blank page. (Presumably this works with any other tab i.e. go to google.com or another site)
  6. Keyword invokation again causes uBlock Origin to not work.
  7. repeat back and forth and it keeps happening

Caveats I've found:

  • Invoking "ytt" from the YouTube page itself will not cause the issue.
  • Having a tab open with YouTube Trending already open will cause subsequent open tabs to not have the issue.
  • Same as above, but closing the YouTube tab and then open a new tab open invoke ytt from a blank new tab page will not cause the issue.
  • typing youtube.com/feed/trending manually in the address bar makes uBlock Origin work as expected, but typing that and then clicking the top suggestion (instead of pressing enter) will cause the issue again.

Speculation:
When visiting a site from the suggestions bar (Top hits, bookmarks, etc.) the page is loaded in a way that prevents uBlock Origin from working. This is fixed immediately upon refresh. After this is fixed, new tabs visits to the same site won't have the problem anymore.

Video:
Note the appearance of the "Creator on the Rise" and "Trending Shorts" trays in the video list.

Actions taken in the video:

  1. YouTube visited from manual URL entry: uBlock works
  2. YouTube visited using bookmark keyword invokation: uBlock does not work
  3. YouTube visited by clicking from suggestions bar: uBlock does not work

i0mx9kk The picker mode doesn't work for me either, but that's a completely different issue. I would suggest opening another thread to track it.

      24 days later

      Is there any sort of update regarding this bug? I know there are hundreds of open issue, but this one concerns one of the key features of orion (ad-blocking). Without it working as expected, the experience is not great.

      If debugging ublock issue is more troublesome than expected, can't the default in-built ad-blocker be made more powerful (lets say by adding ability to add custom/ user defined filters)?

      • Vlad replied to this.
        19 days later

        Adding my voice to the vote. Hoping to see this bug fixed soon because it relates to privacy and security. The picker never works for me and the ad-blocking sometimes only works after refreshing the page. Behaviour is wonky. Following Orion’s recommendation to disable the built-in content blocker when using uBlock Origin leads to trackers being loaded when uBlock Origin fails.

          Steps to reproduce:
          See video:

          Using the element picker works, but only once (either if you create a filter, or quit). To get it to work again, you need to refresh the page.

          Expected behavior:
          In Firefox, the element picker can be used continuously on the same page without issue. In Orion, it seems this works once, and then requires a page refresh for it to work again, otherwise the button does nothing.

          Obviously this isn't really a big issue at all, especially with the workaround, but it is mildly annoying and I thought it was worth reporting.

          Orion, OS version; hardware type:
          Version 0.99.124-beta (WebKit 616.1.10)
          MacBook Pro 16" 2021, macOS Ventura 13.3.1 build 22E772610a

            I also experience this issue on the latest RC (Version 0.99.123.3.9-rc)

              4 months later
              Merged 2 posts from UBlock Origin element picker only works once per page refresh.
                16 days later

                How come the element picker issue is continuously being merged into this thread? Could this be moved elsewhere? It's a completely separate issue.

                Anyway, content blocking is not working reliably on the latest RC (Version 0.99.125.3-rc) so I reckon this got deprioritized out of the planned release version.

                  szlend I understand the element picker is the biggest missing uBO functionality as emphasized in this thread?

                      Vlad The original post has nothing to do with the element picker. It's about uBlock cosmetic (DOM) filters rules being unreliable. I already had to elaborate this twice because unrelated issues keep being posted here.

                      https://orionfeedback.org/d/718-ublock-origin-doesnt-work-sometimes/43
                      https://orionfeedback.org/d/718-ublock-origin-doesnt-work-sometimes/30

                          szlend That's exactly what element picker does. It applies filter rules to remove some elements (or to add them). That's the main issue with uBo on Orion right now. The rules you applied work only after page restart the same issue applies with rules made with element picker. So these two topics are completely dependant and the merge of them is a right thing.

                              i0mx9kk No, it has nothing to do with the element picker. It doesn't matter how you add the rules. The rules can be included in predefined filter lists, or you can also write the rules manually with the help of browser developer tools, which is what I usually do. Fixing the element picker wont fix the issue of unreliable uBlock Origin blocking, hence it's a completely different issue.

                              I don't want these two to get mixed up, I already had to elaborate what this issue is about twice. The unreliable blocking issue is a far bigger problem as you encounter it every time you open a new tab. While the element picker can be avoided by manually writing the rules with the help of developer tools, or using the element picker in another browser. It's not something you really need on a daily basis. While unreliable adblocking is something you encounter every time you open a new tab.

                                  szlend As I already said, the function of element picker is to create a rule that blocks some visual element. Now this function doesn't work properly (it doesn't block your own rules) and this is exactly the issue. I don't understand your point.

                                      The point is:

                                      • You derail this thread into making devs focus on the element picker:
                                        Element blocking still won't work properly. Nobody gets a fully working feature, since there's no point to an element picker if the element blocking doesn't work.
                                      • You don't derail this thread and devs eventually fix element blocking:
                                        Element blocking is fixed, and everyone can make full use of the feature by temporarily guiding them to enter rules without the element picker, until that entirely separate issue is fixed.
                                      20 days later

                                      Fyi, the new Orion RC supports custom blocking lists for the built-in adblocker. This includes dom selectors like ##img which uBlock Origin struggles with. I haven't tested if it supports every single selector, but at least it works reliably. It doesn't have a way to easily input custom rules yet though, so you have to host the rules somewhere. But that's good enough for me for now.

                                        Vlad Can you summarize the most important things to look at from this thread as it is getting long?

                                        uBlock Origin: Issues Summary

                                        Here are the main issues I've identified:

                                        1) uBO doesn't initialize correctly on a newly opened tab. Cosmetic filters in uBlock Origin's settings can fail to block elements on page load in a new tab (or after restarting Orion), but work after refreshing the tab:

                                        • uBlock Origin sometimes fails to block elements on websites when accessed through external links that open in a new tab.
                                          • uBlock works when the site is accessed in the same tab, but fails when accessed in a new tab through an external link.
                                          • Links to social media sites like Twitter and YouTube that open in new tabs exhibit this behavior as well.
                                          • Refreshing the new tab causes uBlock to then block elements as intended.

                                        2) If uBO was disabled, it sometimes fails to block elements on websites after being re-enabled from the Extensions menu. User must restart Orion.

                                        3) uBO's control panel from the toolbar doesn't work when I am an advanced user is enabled.

                                        4) $removeparam rules do not work in uBO (or with Orion's blocker) to remove tracking parameters from URLs in the address bar. Also a known limitation of Safari ad blocking.

                                        5) General bugs:

                                        • Sometimes a user cannot navigate to another page. After disabling uBO, problem goes away.
                                        • Sometimes a user cannot login to certain sites. After disabling uBO, problem goes away.

                                        6) Element picker functionality doesn't work.

                                            13 days later

                                            yokoffing for me at least issue 1 has been fixed in the latest release 0.99.126.1

                                            update: sorry it gets better but the issue still exists.

                                                5 days later

                                                I'm still having this issue on Version 0.99.126.1-beta (WebKit 618.1.2)
                                                Build date Oct 30 2023
                                                MacBook Air (macOS Sonoma 14.0 build 23A344)

                                                Exactly as described by @yokoffing

                                                  7 days later

                                                  yokoffing

                                                  Today's new update doesn't fix it unfortunately. Exact same issues persist:

                                                  Version 0.99.126.2-beta (WebKit 618.1.2)
Build date Nov 10 2023
MacBook Air (macOS Sonoma 14.0 build 23A344)

                                                  It doesn't bother me too badly, but it is turning people off Orion. I recommended it on a large forum this week and people responded saying uBlock wasn't working on it.

                                                  When the very first promotional image of the browser shows uBlock Origin working, as one of the leading features of the browser, it's important that this benefit actually be delivered.