AdBlock

Category

Description of App

Get rid of the annoying popups and banners in apps and protect your privacy. AdBlock for iOS is finally here! It allows you to block major mobile ad servers
on all of your iOS devices.

The most important advantages of AdBlock are:
- AdBlock works with both: Wi-Fi and Cellular connection,
- AdBlock works seamlessly with other iOS apps which display ads served over the Internet,
- AdBlock helps to protect your privacy by blocking mobile trackers, which record information about your in-app activity,
- AdBlock DOES NOT act as a proxy server - we DO NOT send your private traffic to some remote server just to filter it. The magic happens right on your
device and none of your personal information is sent to anyone outside. All your connections stay direct, fast and secure.
- Setting up AdBlock is very simple! Just download the app, enable the "magic switch" and tap "Install". It takes 20 seconds to set it up and running,
- The database of blocked ad servers and mobile trackers is constantly updated with new entries. AdBlock will inform you every time there is a new version
of the filters.

Limitations:
- AdBlock is not compatible with VPN connections. You can't use AdBlock simultaneously with VPN. If you don't know what VPN is, than probably this does
not affect you and you can safely use AdBlock :)
- AdBlock is currently focused mainly on in-app advertising, so there's basically no support for filtering web ads. We do plan to change that at some point
in the future... :)

Version

1.0

Free or Paid

Paid

Apple Watch Support

Not Known

Device(s) App Was Tested On

iPhone

Accessibility Comments

This app works great. It blocks youtube advertisements and many of the ads you might see in Safari. Also blocks ads in many of the apps you might use including free apps which require purchasing pro version to remove ads. This app does it automatically. Everything is accessible and simple. After install, and initialization, you don't have to worry about it ever again.

VoiceOver Performance

VoiceOver reads all page elements.

Button Labeling

All buttons are clearly labeled.

Usability

The app is fully accessible with VoiceOver and is easy to navigate and use.

Other Comments

Definitely worth the price which is very low. Very useful and makes using IOS much better in my opinion because you no longer have to get through ads that may or may not be placed on pages properly.

Developer's Twitter Username

@adblockios

Recommendations

2 people have recommended this app

Most recently recommended by James e sparrow 1 year 3 months ago

Options

Comments

By KE7ZUM on Thursday, June 5, 2014 - 13:45

I would not be surprised if apple pulled this from the app store in a few hours. After all due to sand boxing technology this app should not work. if I understand my apple correctly.

By KE7ZUM on Thursday, June 5, 2014 - 13:45

Apparently not every app is supported. I hope the developer can add apps that have the ads to future updates to include all apps and all of that stuff. I'm reading some good reviews on the app store but I'll wait until it gets more before I decide to by. 11 is not enough.

By Raul on Thursday, June 5, 2014 - 13:45

There is another app from this developer. What is the difference between this one and the other?

By dvdmth on Thursday, June 5, 2014 - 13:45

One problem with AdBlock is that its ad suppression can break the functionality of apps or sites. Therefore, if you use this app, and you find that something on your device is behaving strangely, try disabling AdBlock and see if that fixes the problem.

For example, the MLB At Bat app will have problems playing audio, and possibly video, if AdBlock is enabled. Disabling AdBlock fixes the issue.

I'm not sure if the potential hassles caused by this app are worth paying for it, even though it is cheap. I have also used AdBlock on my computer, as a browser extension, and there have been multiple occasions where I had to disable the extension, either for a site or altogether, in order to get something to work. Problems primarily occur with sites that deliver audio or video streams, but other sites can also behave weirdly.

Have you contacted the developer of add block regarding the sites that have issues? Just asking as I don't use the product as of yet how ever it might help just in case he might be able to come up with a work around or exceptions list or something.

Good luck.

By dvdmth on Thursday, June 5, 2014 - 13:45

To the one who is wondering what the difference is between the two apps from this developer, I just tried out both, and they are actually very different.

Weblock is a much more complex app than AdBlock is. It not only blocks ads, but also has a ton of other blocking options, which are highly configurable. It works by sending requests for unwanted elements to a dummy proxy, which rejects the request and effectively prevents the content from downloading. This requires some configuration by the user, which is a bit tricky, but doable with VoiceOver. The biggest problem with this approach is that it only works with wifi and cannot block anything over cellular connections.

AdBlock is a brand new app which uses an entirely different method of blocking ads. It works by setting up a virtual VPN, which essentially accomplishes the same thing the dummy proxy does with Weblock. This method works with both wifi and cellular connections. However, AdBlock does not have nearly as much power as Weblock, which means you don't have the same level of configuration, and there are some ads that don't get blocked currently. That said, this app is very new, and I suspect the more powerful features in Weblock may eventually get added to AdBlock over time.

AdBlock is much easier to set up and use, and its ability to block ads over cellular makes it more attractive, despite its limitations. Still, I have a hard time recommending this to other users because of the problems I have run into with ad blocking in the past, as I said in an earlier post.

By dvdmth on Thursday, June 5, 2014 - 13:45

I will definitely contact the developer about the issue I mentioned here about MLB At Bat. I just discovered that the problem only happens with the new AdBlock app and not the alternative, Weblock, from the same developer. See my previous post about the difference between them.

Yes, updated filters can sometimes resolve issues, but as website designs change, new issues can surface, which means the filters need to be constantly updated. That's the nature of the beast.

By James e sparrow on Thursday, February 5, 2015 - 13:45

Works and saves a little data.

By JeffB on Tuesday, April 5, 2016 - 13:45

Saddly it says this is no longer in the US app store.

By JeffB on Tuesday, April 5, 2016 - 13:45

Still not working for me.