{"slug": "chrome-mask", "name": "Chrome Mask", "category": "browsers", "category_name": "Browsers and extensions", "description": "", "recommenders": 5, "commenters": 6, "warners": 0, "score": 4.474, "rising": -0.31, "first": "2025-11-05", "latest": "2026-09-01", "why": "A user-agent spoofer like Chrome Mask is helpful here", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 5, "neutral": 1, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [2, 2, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "A user-agent spoofer like Chrome Mask is helpful here", "kind": "", "icon": false, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Chrome Mask", "chrome-mask"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 792266736, "item_id": 49516671, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49516671", "by": "beloch", "date": "2026-09-01", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "A user-agent spoofer like Chrome Mask is helpful here", "excerpt": "A user-agent spoofer like Chrome Mask is helpful here: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/chrome-mask/ It's off by default and has to be turned on per site, but will automatically stay on for subsequent visits. Test the site with it to be sure it works for your mom. Most sites that insist on enforcing Chrome-only user-agents run just fine on Firefox. I've encountered a few that run even better on Firefox ", "context": "", "use_case": "User-agent spoofing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO"}, {"id": 740849730, "item_id": 46303108, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46303108", "by": "BizarroLand", "date": "2025-12-17", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Throw on an extension like Chrome Mask", "excerpt": "I would rather firefox release a paid browser with no AI, or at least everything Opt-In, and more user control than to see them stuff unwanted features on users. I used firefox faithfully for a long time, but it's time for someone to take it out back and put it down. Also, I switched to Waterfox about a year ago and I have no complaints. The very worst thing about it is that when it updates its very in your face abou", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "No AI* Here \u2013 A Response to Mozilla's Next Chapter"}, {"id": 739026723, "item_id": 46189170, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46189170", "by": "snowfield", "date": "2025-12-07", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'd recommend chrome mask instead", "excerpt": "I'd recommend chrome mask instead. It's written by a Firefox engineer https://addons.mozilla.org/en-CA/firefox/addon/chrome-mask/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "How I block all online ads"}, {"id": 736075008, "item_id": 46004688, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46004688", "by": "evolve2k", "date": "2025-11-21", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Install and use Chrome Mask for those sites:", "excerpt": "Install and use Chrome Mask for those sites: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/chrome-mask/ From their about: A little Firefox Extension that provides a one-click toggle to spoof as Chrome in Firefox - or, in other words, to put on the Chrome Mask. There are a lot of generic \"User Agent spoof\" extensions. However, this extension does a few things differently: - Instead of overriding the User Agent string", "context": "", "use_case": "Firefox user-agent spoofing", "switched_from": "", "story": "So Long, Firefox, Part One"}, {"id": 733309216, "item_id": 45831826, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45831826", "by": "hermitsings", "date": "2025-11-05", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "You can use Chrome Mask on Firefox for such sites", "excerpt": "I think Chrome, Edge, and Brave are all Chromium-based, so you won't need to switch. You can use Chrome Mask on Firefox for such sites: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/chrome-mask/ Edit: I researched a little more. For typical users and use cases, Firefox works ok (better with privacy extensions). What the article describes is more like browser-engine-based targeted attacks.", "context": "", "use_case": "run Chrome-only sites in Firefox", "switched_from": "", "story": "Firefox and Chromium"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["user-agent spoofing", "bypassing browser blocking", "firefox user-agent spoofing", "run chrome-only sites in firefox"], "compared": [{"slug": "firefox", "name": "Firefox", "co": 4, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "google-chrome", "name": "Google Chrome", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49514878", "title": "Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48884853", "title": "Since Chronium 148, Math.tanh is now fingerprintable to link underlying OS", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46295268", "title": "No AI* Here \u2013 A Response to Mozilla's Next Chapter", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46185816", "title": "How I block all online ads", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46002001", "title": "So Long, Firefox, Part One", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45831632", "title": "Firefox and Chromium", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 2}, "2025-12": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-10": {}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "quotes": [{"id": 792266736, "item_id": 49516671, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49516671", "by": "beloch", "date": "2026-09-01", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "A user-agent spoofer like Chrome Mask is helpful here", "excerpt": "A user-agent spoofer like Chrome Mask is helpful here: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/chrome-mask/ It's off by default and has to be turned on per site, but will automatically stay on for subsequent visits. Test the site with it to be sure it works for your mom. Most sites that insist on enforcing Chrome-only user-agents run just fine on Firefox. I've encountered a few that run even better on Firefox ", "context": "", "use_case": "User-agent spoofing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO"}, {"id": 782180672, "item_id": 48886292, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48886292", "by": "14113", "date": "2026-07-12", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "tools like \"chrome-mask\"[1] are built to solve", "excerpt": "> I feel like this is with 2026 view where browsers are so mutually compatible. I wish this was the case. Unfortunately, companies that work on non-Chromium browsers need to employ dedicated web compatibility teams to either a) help website users fix non-standard (i.e. Chrome only) HTML/CSS/JS, or b) replicate Chromium-like behaviour for specific (very popular) websites so that they work \"correctly\". There's also the", "context": "", "use_case": "bypassing browser blocking", "switched_from": "", "story": "Since Chronium 148, Math.tanh is now fingerprintable to link underlying OS"}, {"id": 740849730, "item_id": 46303108, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46303108", "by": "BizarroLand", "date": "2025-12-17", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Throw on an extension like Chrome Mask", "excerpt": "I would rather firefox release a paid browser with no AI, or at least everything Opt-In, and more user control than to see them stuff unwanted features on users. I used firefox faithfully for a long time, but it's time for someone to take it out back and put it down. Also, I switched to Waterfox about a year ago and I have no complaints. The very worst thing about it is that when it updates its very in your face abou", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "No AI* Here \u2013 A Response to Mozilla's Next Chapter"}, {"id": 739026723, "item_id": 46189170, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46189170", "by": "snowfield", "date": "2025-12-07", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'd recommend chrome mask instead", "excerpt": "I'd recommend chrome mask instead. It's written by a Firefox engineer https://addons.mozilla.org/en-CA/firefox/addon/chrome-mask/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "How I block all online ads"}, {"id": 736075008, "item_id": 46004688, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46004688", "by": "evolve2k", "date": "2025-11-21", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Install and use Chrome Mask for those sites:", "excerpt": "Install and use Chrome Mask for those sites: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/chrome-mask/ From their about: A little Firefox Extension that provides a one-click toggle to spoof as Chrome in Firefox - or, in other words, to put on the Chrome Mask. There are a lot of generic \"User Agent spoof\" extensions. However, this extension does a few things differently: - Instead of overriding the User Agent string", "context": "", "use_case": "Firefox user-agent spoofing", "switched_from": "", "story": "So Long, Firefox, Part One"}, {"id": 733309216, "item_id": 45831826, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45831826", "by": "hermitsings", "date": "2025-11-05", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "You can use Chrome Mask on Firefox for such sites", "excerpt": "I think Chrome, Edge, and Brave are all Chromium-based, so you won't need to switch. You can use Chrome Mask on Firefox for such sites: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/chrome-mask/ Edit: I researched a little more. For typical users and use cases, Firefox works ok (better with privacy extensions). What the article describes is more like browser-engine-based targeted attacks.", "context": "", "use_case": "run Chrome-only sites in Firefox", "switched_from": "", "story": "Firefox and Chromium"}]}