Feature Guide

This guide explains Chroma's protection layers and their limits. For common tasks and recovery steps, start with Everyday Use & Troubleshooting; for control names and defaults, see the configuration reference.

Master Protection Lifecycle

The master switch pauses Chroma's blocking, page cleanup, scriptlets, proxy routing, and optional browser privacy controls. Your settings, lists, proxy configurations, and custom resources remain saved.

Turn protection back on to restore your selected features. Lists may still refresh while protection is paused. See Pause all protection for page reload requirements and how the master switch differs from a site exception.

YouTube Ad Stripping

Chroma's primary YouTube defense intercepts and cleans ad-related metadata from JSON payloads before they reach the player. This includes sponsored Shorts overlay payloads and player ad metadata. The goal is a seamless, high-performance viewing experience without relying on playback acceleration.

For the full platform-specific breakdown, see YouTube Protection.

Spotify Ad Blocking

Spotify ad blocking redirects known ad-media requests from the web player to a short packaged silent clip. Its browser-native rules are adapted from uBlock Origin and include podcast exceptions.

Use Settings -> Protection -> Spotify to control it independently of YouTube and general Network blocking. Master protection and the site whitelist still apply. See Spotify Protection for setup and troubleshooting.

Split-Tunnel Proxy Router

Chroma can route selected media domains through a user-configured HTTP, HTTPS, SOCKS4, or SOCKS5 proxy while keeping unrelated browser traffic direct. It is designed for media-site routing: sending supported services through proxy regions that reduce ad serving or match country-specific media delivery.

The router includes:

• Domain-specific proxy overrides.
• Global Proxy Fallback for unmatched browser traffic.
• Smart-Link expansion through a fixed map of known media and CDN domains.
• Real-time connection verification.
• Local-only proxy credential handling for HTTP/HTTPS authentication.
• A default direct-connect list for selected Google/Chrome-related domains. It applies to page traffic as well as browser services and takes precedence whenever Chroma proxy routing is active, including domain-only routes.
• WebRTC leak protection controls.

Master off pauses every proxy route and releases Chrome proxy control while preserving the configured routes. Health separates requested routes from effective Chrome routing, reports another extension or policy as Controlled elsewhere, and automatically reconciles after control is released.

For the full proxy manual, see Media Proxy Router.

Source-Generated DNR Network Blocking

Chroma selects OISD Small and Big first, then fills otherwise-unused static capacity with a stable cross-list selection of adult and shock-site domains from OISD NSFW. Protected custom and recipe layers bring the packaged corpus to exactly 300,000 static rules, while runtime dynamic rules add user-configurable blocking at the browser engine level.

DNR blocking is central to Chroma's MV3 design because request decisions can be enforced by Chromium without waking the extension service worker for every network request.

Tracking URL & AMP Cleanup

Tracking URL Cleanup removes a fixed set of known tracking query parameters from top-level navigation URLs with DNR redirect rules. Examples include utm_source, utm_campaign, fbclid, and gclid; it does not remove every parameter beginning with utm_. Selected sign-in, payment, and banking domains are excluded for compatibility, and site whitelists also apply.

De-AMP Links is optional and disabled by default. When enabled, Chroma redirects supported Google AMP viewer and AMP cache URLs to publisher URLs while respecting current-site and target-domain whitelists.

Live Filter List Subscriptions

Chroma subscribes to Hagezi Pro Mini, EasyList, Fanboy Annoyance, and the bundled Chroma Scriptlet Library. Subscription rules are parsed locally, cached for restoration, deduplicated where appropriate, and routed to an active layer that can enforce them:

• Network rules can become DNR dynamic rules.
• Cosmetic rules feed the cosmetic filtering layer.
• Supported scriptlet rules feed the userScripts engine.
• Unsupported or malformed rules are dropped instead of guessed at.

For custom subscription behavior and MV3 rule budgeting, see Filter List Subscriptions.

Scriptlet Injection Engine

Chroma's scriptlet layer uses Chrome's userScripts API to run supported scriptlets in the page context at the right lifecycle point. It translates supported uBlock Origin and AdGuard syntax into native JavaScript.

Capabilities include JSON pruning, property-read aborts, constant setting, fetch prevention, regex translation, and explicit timing flags such as document_start, document_idle, and document_end.

Advanced users can also add their own uBO-style scriptlet resource URLs in settings, then save matching rules such as example.com##+js(resource-name). These user-provided resources are not bundled with Chroma and are separate from normal filter list subscriptions; add only resources you trust. For setup examples and linked-resource troubleshooting, see Advanced User Scriptlets.

Subscription and advanced scripts require master protection. Turning it off unregisters all Chroma-managed userScripts for future documents while retaining their rules and resources for restoration. Whitelisted domains are excluded when registrations are active. Already-executed arbitrary page code may require a tab reload to remove its effects.

Quiet Console

Quiet Console is off by default. Chroma does not register its page-context helper unless Quiet Console is turned on and master protection is enabled. Turning it off unregisters the helper for new documents; already-open tabs that received the helper need a reload to remove that page-context code. When enabled, it reduces adblock-related noise in page DevTools by catching handled scriptlet and fingerprint warnings and short-circuiting known ad/tracker fetch, XMLHttpRequest, and sendBeacon calls. It does not rewrite DOM resource URLs such as script, image, iframe, or stylesheet sources, so Chrome may still show browser-generated resource-failure rows for blocked subresources. Coarse local diagnostics remain available to the extension.

Cosmetic Filtering Layer

The cosmetic layer removes ad slots, placeholders, unwanted UI, and unsolicited overlay dialogs through CSS injection and DOM mutation monitoring. It is optimized for YouTube and Twitch, where server-side ad insertion or platform UI behavior can leave page clutter even when network blocking is active.

Controls include:

• Hide Shorts modules.
• Hide Merchandise panels.
• Hide Movie/TV offer modules.
• Suppress browser-configuration warning overlays.
• Apply local cosmetic rules from Element Zapper.

Element Zapper

The Element Zapper is a manual cleanup tool for one-off annoyances that filter lists do not catch: sticky banners, leftover ad containers, newsletter blocks, floating widgets, and site-specific clutter.

Choose Hide once for the current page or Save for this site for a persistent local cosmetic rule. Chroma rejects invalid selectors and warns when a selector matches many elements. Saved rules carry a zapper source and depend on master protection, cosmetic filtering, and site exceptions. Follow Hide an element with the Zapper for the complete selection, confirmation, and undo flow.

Main-World Interceptor Safety Exclusions

Chroma bypasses its generic MAIN-world interceptor and bridge on critical infrastructure, including listed financial institutions, authentication providers, and sensitive TLDs such as .gov, .mil, .edu, and .int.

Broader network, cosmetic, and scriptlet behavior remains governed by user settings, subscriptions, and per-domain whitelisting.

Recipe & Blog Optimization

Chroma provides specialized protection for high-clutter recipe and lifestyle sites. It prevents ad scripts from breaking site layouts, preserves recipe card content, and suppresses aggressive anti-adblock overlays and scroll locks.

The layer includes style protection, semantic recipe content preservation, anti-adblock containment, scroll-lock recovery, and site-specific cosmetic overrides for major recipe platforms.

Recipe protection pauses when master protection is off or the site is whitelisted.

Dynamic Ad Acceleration

Dynamic Ad Acceleration identifies and accelerates YouTube video ads at a configurable speed (x4, x8, x12, or x16, default x8). It is a fallback for cases where stripping is disabled or platform behavior changes.

It ships off by default. Ad acceleration is not available for Amazon Prime Video or Twitch.

For platform-specific behavior, see YouTube Protection.

Privacy Hardening & Fingerprint Randomization

Chroma includes optional browser privacy controls:

• Block third-party cookies.
• Keep Do Not Track disabled.
• Disable supported Privacy Sandbox ad APIs.
• Request blocked website geolocation access through Chrome's native site setting.
• Apply WebRTC leak protection modes.
• Randomize or farble supported fingerprint surfaces per document.

Do Not Track remains disabled deliberately: the W3C retired the DNT specification, sites are not required to honor the signal, and sending an uncommon preference can add another observable browser difference without reliably preventing tracking.

Fingerprint Randomization covers surfaces such as canvas, audio, WebGL, navigator hardware fields, and normalized language APIs. It uses fresh non-persisted salts and full-hostname domain separation.

Browser Privacy Hardening, Geolocation Protection, WebRTC modes, and Fingerprint Randomization require master protection in addition to their own feature settings. Master off releases or unregisters Chroma-owned runtime controls without erasing requested values; master on restores them. For browser privacy and WebRTC, Health distinguishes requested, controlled, and effective state, and Chroma retries when an external controller releases a setting.

Geolocation uses a different browser API that does not expose ownership. Health checks the effective location setting for a sample URL; it cannot prove that Chroma owns the setting or that every site's result is identical. Refresh Health or change the setting to retry. This feature does not provide fake coordinates or conceal an IP-derived location. See Health Panel.

These features are optional because browser privacy hardening and fingerprint changes can affect site compatibility. For sign-in or captcha problems, the popup's FPR-only site exception lets you keep ad blocking enabled.

Local Event Tracker

The settings page includes a local-only statistics dashboard for Protection Events, top domains, rule sources, timelines, and recent event summaries. It distinguishes network blocks from allow/whitelist matches. MAIN-world YouTube and scriptlet diagnostics accept only coarse, bounded event types, so those page-layer totals are approximate rather than authenticated enforcement evidence.

For retention, privacy modes, and export behavior, see Statistics & Health.

Platform Compatibility

Chroma is designed for Windows, macOS, and Linux versions of Google Chrome 122+ and other Chromium-based browsers with engine version 122+. Chrome 122 is Chroma's declared minimum supported version across its feature set; the 12-part static ruleset alone does not require Chrome 122.

Chrome 138+ also requires users to enable Allow User Scripts on Chroma's extension details page. Chrome 122-137 uses Developer Mode to enable the userScripts API.

Recommended Companion Extensions

Chroma already includes network blocking, cosmetic filtering, scriptlets, proxy routing, and platform-specific handling. Running it alongside another ad blocker can cause overlapping rules, false positives, and broken pages.

Extensions with a different purpose can complement Chroma:

• SponsorBlock: Skips sponsor segments and other interruptions on YouTube.

Recommended Alternatives

Chroma is built for users who want a transparent, source-auditable, Chrome/Chromium-focused MV3 extension with integrated proxy routing, YouTube ad stripping, custom subscriptions, and no store-mediated update delay. If that fits your workflow, Chroma is the right tool.

If you prefer a store-installed extension, a Firefox-first setup, or a dedicated proxy manager, alternatives include:

• Chrome / Chromium: uBlock Origin Lite + FoxyProxy. Recommended for users who want the Chrome Web Store path. uBlock Origin Lite comes from the uBlock Origin project and is a more reputable choice than most generic store ad blockers. FoxyProxy adds focused proxy management without bundling unrelated ad-blocking behavior.
• Firefox: uBlock Origin + FoxyProxy. Recommended for users who want the strongest traditional content-blocking setup. Full uBlock Origin has more browser API power on Firefox than MV3 Chrome blockers, and FoxyProxy is a mature, dedicated proxy-routing tool.