I mean, technically, "expend" is exactly what Microsoft is doing in this situation

You could switch to Firefox for Android, which has support for a limited number of Firefox extensions including Ublock Origin, with all of the desktop functionality.

If you really want to stick with a chromium based browser for some reason, you could try kiwi browser (chromium based browser for Android with chrome extension support) combined with Ublock Origin.

Ublock Origin has a few ways to do what you want. The most straightforward way is to click on the extension icon, click open dashboard, go to filter lists, scroll to annoyances, and try to enable some or all of those.

Ublock Origin also has a "nuclear" option called disabling JavaScript (extension icon -> JavaScript and reload), which happens to break video playback on just about every modern website :) .

I wish microcenter opened more locations. From what I've seen it's essentially a modern day radio shack, but they have only 25 locations (in only 16 states!), and none of them are in my state. They do sell things online I guess, but they just aren't as competitive online compared to their physical stores.

I would agree that it's mostly a non issue in that sense. My main point was that it is difficult to find keyboards with nicer features/build quality that also happens to use north facing LEDs. Unless you can suggest a few?

I can kind of see why keyboard manufacturers do this with their nicer models. Another issue with shine through keycaps is that they have to be very thin for the shine through to work properly, which makes them feel cheap to enthusiasts, who usually prefer thicker, higher quality keycaps. Therefore, most enthusiasts do not care about shinethrough (and, as a result, the orientation of the LEDs) and would rather trade shinethrough compatibility for keycap profile compatibility.

On the other hand, it is still annoying. For a hobby that puts pReFeReNcE on a pedestal, it can be hard to find a perfect endgame. It's already basically impossible to find the pudding keycaps with Mac legends like you said, but it would be even more challenging to find those same keycaps in an obscure format like ISO Nordic or something. It's why so many folks in the EU use ANSI keycaps even though they're inconvenient for them to use.

Both of those keyboards have barebones versions (ie everything included except keycaps and switches), so you could buy switches and keycaps separately and install them yourself.

The only issue being both of these keyboards utilize south facing LEDs, which are known to not work well with conventional shine through keycaps (legends appear dim compared to north facing). The reason south facing is popular with enthusiasts is due to keycap compatibility (south facing LEDs mean that the switch is "right side up" and cherry profile keycaps fit properly). Thankfully, there are one or two keycap sets that are shine through and work with south facing LEDs. On this set, it is done by placing the legends on the side of the keycaps instead of the top: https://drop.com/buy/npkc-gradient-pbt-doubleshot-side-lit-keycap-set?defaultSelectionIds=971604. If you don't like these keycaps and/or can't find any like this that you do like, read on.

The main issue with finding keyboards with north facing LEDs is that there are very few that are up to "enthusiast" standards. Most boards that ship with north facing LEDs do not have nice features that keychron (and other enthusiast) boards have like QMK/VIA support, screw in stabilizers, properly prelubed switches/stabilizers, etc. In short, they might be okish, but you will be compromising other things like sound, feel, and functionality for conventional shine through keycaps that look right.

If you are ok with lots of compromises you can try:

*royal kludge rk87

+Cheap ($55)

+TKL+Wireless+north facing+shine thru keycaps

-no hot swap or qmk/via support

-plastic housing

-Needs mods to sound and feel good (see https://youtu.be/Yrnjf_QbA3M for a similar keyboard with mods)

-bad stabilizers most likely

-weird software/firmware of unknown quality

*Redragon K596 Vishnu

+TKL+wireless+north facing+shine thru keycaps

-higher price ($75)

-no qmk/via support

-macro/media keys are non standard (no keycap set will have them)

-""""hot-swap"""" with only outemu switches (pins/sockets are thinner and regular switches don't fit)

-will also need mods probably

-bad stabilizers most likely

-weird software/firmware of unknown quality

I might just use QMK then because QMK support is already built into my keyboard by default (along with via, but I don't want to use it). Plus, I will be able to take advantage of every option that QMK based firmware has to offer in the future.

However, I will probably stick to their GUI based tools like QMK toolbox and the QMK configurator for now. Something strange I noticed in the GUI for QMK toolbox was the MCU selection. It has a dropdown that says MCU (AVR only), and the listed ones are only Atmel MCUs. Do I just ignore this menu if I have a STM32L432 MCU in my keyboard? Keychron's guide doesn't mention this dropdown at all.

I coincidentally received my V6 in the mail today - it feels and sounds great stock and I bet it would sound even better than it already does if I tape modded it. The stock stabilizers are quite a bit better than my old AliExpress keyboard, and I can't hear any ticking or rattle. I am still deciding whether to swap out the stock keycaps, but the switches are nice. I thought that they were keychron's own custom switches though? Unless they partnered with gateron to manufacture them?

You could certainly do that if you are ok with the legends being off when they are remapped (non-issue if you touch type). I have heard many people from the UK and other countries that use ISO end up doing this specifically for keycap selection. I believe the selection has gotten better over time, but it still doesn't compare to ANSI keycap selection.

Oh, so was the original post you wanting to try swapping the @ and ' keys on ANSI keycaps to mimic UK ISO? If so, this probably won't work. Keycaps typically (with exceptions) have different profiles for different rows, and besides, it would be nearly impossible to find an ANSI set with the 2 and " grouped on one keycap along with ' and @ on another like ISO.

For the ISO vs ANSI discussion, I say go with ISO unless there is an ANSI keycap set that you must have that happens to lack an ISO version. Dealing with a keyboard format I'm not used to using seems like a massive headache to me.

QMK and VIA can remap any key on any layer. Assuming the keycap set you go with has the @ and ' keys on the right rows to match the keycap profile, it will work out fine.

https://www.keychron.com/collections/keychron-iso-jis-keyboard-collection/products/keychron-q2-pro-qmk-via-wireless-custom-mechanical-keyboard-iso-layout-collection?variant=40510858887257

Also, assuming you mean this board, one thing to note is that the stock keycaps the UK prebuilt version ships with includes the swapped @ and ' keys in the box with the intention that you could change those keycaps and remap with QMK or VIA like you describe. Unless you don't like the stock keycaps, this could be more desirable.

I unfortunately do not have a switch tester. The problem I have with switch testers is how much they cost. That switch tester is only $30 cheaper than the entire keyboard I am buying (for the cheaper acrilic one)! The smaller cheaper ones won't be as helpful either. I wish there was a company that let you rent a giant switch tester for a week or so so that I could test a ton of switches without wasting money on the full cost of the switch tester.

I guess I could just try to return it after, but that's a lot of hassle.

I don't have much experience with switches other than the kalih box reds that shipped with my first mechanical keyboard. They feel fine to me I suppose. I don't think I will like tactile switches, and I can't have clicky switches because of how loud they are, so I guess that narrows me down to linears only. Beyond that, I have no idea what I would go with.

Same thing with keycaps to an extent, though I think I have a better idea of what I would like: double shot pbt (for durability/no abs shine) with a spherical profile. I have tried keyboards from old computers like the Atari 800 and I remember liking the feel of their spherical keycaps. I am mostly afraid of the spherical keycaps being too tall (especially after seeing how tall SA keycaps are), which is why I was considering MT3 until I realized that nearly all their sets were abs only... I was also considering Keychron's "KSA" profile keycaps, but I don't see them get mentioned much, and they might be too tall for me as well.

That seems like a good plan. I just realized that the extra $20 (from barebones -> switches+keycaps) for switches AND double shot pbt keycaps is a good deal anyway. If I don't like the keycaps, I can move the stock keycaps to my old keyboard to give it an upgrade before letting my brother have it. Then, I could check out keychron's KSA keycaps to replace them. The kalih box reds on my current board are perfectly usable imo, so if keychron's version of red switches is comparable, I will be fine with regards to the switches.