What is ad blocking?
Although ad blocking technology has existed since the introduction of iOS 9 a few years ago, not many people have taken advantage of it. Many simply do not know that they can block ads in Safari, and most apps overcharge for what is quite a simple piece of tech.
There has been an increase in the number of intrusive ads: pop-up ads, redirects that open up a new tab, and autoplay video ads that blast your speakers. The problem comes when there is a conflict of interest—users don’t want to pay for content, and publishers aren’t receiving enough advertising revenue. This ends up worse as content creators resort to increasingly deceptive and intrusive advertising.
Luckily, many third party developers have developed Safari extensions that allow you to remove almost all forms of advertisements when you browse the web.
For example, the Crystal app was pretty popular when it launched in 2015. I’ve used it before, but unfortunately it wasn’t well maintained and is mostly no longer relevant today.
I currently use AdGuard Pro for iOS, and I think it’s pretty cool. It’s probably one of the most useful apps I’ve used in a long time.
The distinction between AdGuard and other blockers
AdGuard blocks apps system wide.
I’m not sure if you understand this distinction, but AdGuard blocks ads in almost every third party app, not only just Safari.
AdGuard also:
- has over 50 popular ad filters built into the app, so you don’t have to manually search for them
- blocks trackers from fingerprinting your browser
- blocks social widgets (like Facebook and Twitter) to speed up browsing
- allows you setup your custom DNS server (e.g. 1.1.1.1)
I’ve been using AdGuard Pro for the past 4 months, and my own experience has been nothing short of smooth. The setup is fast and my browsing experience is now very lean and quick. Note that contrary to popular belief, ad blockers speed up webpage load times, not slow it down.
My feature though, is that AdGuard allows you to toggle the system-wide ad blocking straight from the iOS notification centre widget. This feature is genius and allows you to turn it off temporarily as and when you need it.
If you value your time and want a clean browsing experience, get AdGuard here.
I’ll be looking to test out the macOS version of AdGuard next, so do look out for that.
