uBlock Origin just shipped what could be its last Chrome release

If you use uBlock Origin on Chrome, this next update might be the last one you ever get through the Web Store.

The team behind the ad blocker just pushed out version 1.73.0, and the release notes make it clear that this release is most likely the last one.

The build is heading to the Chrome Web Store, but it lands right as Google is closing the door on the whole Manifest V2 system that uBlock Origin runs on. If you’ve been following along, you’ll know this has been coming for a while. We wrote back in June about how Chrome 150 pulled the key flag that kept uBlock Origin alive, with Chrome 151 locking down the leftover tricks. This update is basically the sequel to that.

As we reported in early July, Google did announce a final cut-off date for MV2 extensions, which is August 31. So this post from the team is a bit of a reminder that the day is approaching fast.

Over on Reddit, the team wrote that the Chrome Web Store “will remove uBO on August, 31,” and added that this is “quite likely the last stable uBO version to hit the web store.” So while nobody is saying 1.73 is definitely the end, the people who make it are already treating it that way.

The update itself just tweaks a bunch of scriptlets, adds a new shim, and has some behind-the-scenes fixes that you can dig into on the GitHub releases page.

Of course, this doesn’t mean you’ll have to bid adieu to uBlock Origin everywhere. On Firefox, it works today and will keep working, since Mozilla runs its own extension platform. Brave has also gone its own way and now self-hosts the extension. Meanwhile, Vivaldi had also recently cleared up the confusion for its own users. We covered that here.

So in short, if you are on Chrome, grab the update while it’s there and start thinking about a plan B. We rounded up the browsers stepping in as Chrome pushes uBlock Origin out if you want to see where to go next. If you’re already on Firefox, Brave, or Vivaldi, you can mostly carry on as normal.

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