Filip Brož Ad blocking has always been a prerogative of desktop browsers. With the arrival the new iOS 9 system however, there was also a smaller revolution in the form of dozens of applications that somehow manage to block advertising in Safari. Some of them are even breaking download records and charts in the App Store in the United States. Other apps, on the other hand, shot up sharply and ended quickly.
This sad scenario hit the app Peace from the well-known developer Marc Arment, who is responsible for, for example, the popular application Instapaper. As we have already informed you, Arment was met with a negative wave of criticism, so in the end, even for his own good feelings, he decided to pull the Peace app from the App Store just as it reached its peak.
He apologized to users for that Peace have paid and the app is no longer in need of further support. Because of this, he urged everyone to get their money back from Apple, and as it turned out later, Apple probably started refunding the majority of users who bought Arment's quickly extinguished Comet. I am alone Peace managed to download, but during testing I found that there are even more effective and user-friendly apps for blocking ads in mobile Safari.
First of all, it is necessary to note that the ad blocking apps are only intended for devices with a 64-bit processor, that is, for iPhone 5S and later, iPad Air and iPad mini 2 and later, as well as the latest iPod touch. iOS 9 must also be installed on the device. It is said that older products from Apple's portfolio would not be able to block advertising.
Ad blocking only works in Safari. So don't expect ads to be blocked in other apps as well, such as Chrome or Facebook. You also need to activate any downloaded blockers. Just go to Settings > Safari > Content Blockers and enable the installed blocker. Now all that remains is to answer the question of which application to choose.
On your own skin
I've personally tried six third-party apps (Apple itself doesn't offer any) that can block unwanted content in some way. Some of them are very primitive and practically do not offer any user settings, so their operation cannot be influenced. Others, on the contrary, are full of gadgets and with a little time and patience can become literally invaluable. All applications can block selected content such as cookies, pop-up windows, images, Google advertising and more.
On the other hand, Apple continues to control the technical capabilities of blocking ads, and in many cases they are very limited. Compared to desktop ad blockers, this is the most basic level. In principle, Apple only allows which websites or addresses the user should not see. From a developer's point of view, this is a JavaScript object notation (JSON) that describes what to block.
Applications aimed at blocking advertising can still save a huge amount of data and save your battery, because you will download less data and different windows will not pop up, etc. You will also find basic protection of privacy and personal data in blockers.
The applications passed the editorial test Crystal, Peace (no longer in the App Store), 1Blocker, Purify, vivio a Blkr. I have divided all the mentioned applications into three categories, quite logically according to what they can do and, above all, what they offer. This has made me some hot candidates for the imaginary king of all blockers.
Simple applications
Maintenance-free and completely basic ad blocking applications include Crystal and Blkr, which are developed in Slovakia. Czech or Slovak developers are behind one more blocker, the Vivio application.
The Crystal application currently dominates the foreign charts of the App Store. Personally, I explain it by the fact that it is a very simple application that does not require any deeper settings. You just need to download it, install it and you will see the results immediately. However, Crystal does not offer anything else. The only thing you can do is if you come across a page in Safari where you see an ad even after installing the app, you can report it to the developers.
Personally, I'm happy with Crystal and it was the first ad blocking app I ever downloaded. Originally free, it's now available for one euro, which is a pittance considering how easy the app can make your internet browsing experience.
The same applies to the Slovak application Blkr, which works on the same principle. Just install and you will know the difference. However, unlike Crystal, it is free to download in the App Store.
Opportunity to choose
The second category consists of applications in which you already have some choice. You can choose what you want to block specifically. This is the Czech application Vivio, followed by Purify and the now defunct Peace.
In addition to basic blocking, Peace and Purify can also work with images, scripts, external fonts or social advertising like Like and other action buttons. You can set all the mentioned options in the applications themselves, and you can also find several extensions in Safari.
Just select the icon for sharing on the bottom bar in the mobile browser and click on the button More you can add the given extensions. Personally, I like Purify's Whitelist option the most. You can add websites to it that you think are fine and don't need blocking.
The Peace app is also not far behind and includes a very interesting extension in the form of the Open the Peace option. If you choose this option, the page will open in the integrated browser from Peace, without ads, that is, without those that can block.
According to foreign sources, the now-defunct Peace contains the largest ad-blocking database, and developer Marco Arment took great care in developing the application. It is a great shame that this app is no longer in the App Store, because otherwise it would no doubt aspire to be my "king of blockers".
The Czech Vivio application, which can block based on filters, is not bad either. In the application settings, you can choose from up to eight filters, for example German filters, Czech and Slovak filters, Russian filters or Social filters. In the basic setting, Vivio can handle up to seven thousand rules. For example, as soon as I turned on the option to block Social Filters, the active rules jumped up to fourteen thousand, that is, twice as many. It's up to you which preferences you choose.
You can no longer find the Peace application in the App Store, but you can download Purify for a favorable one euro. The Czech Vivio AdBlocker application is completely free.
The king of blockers
Personally, I have had the best user experience with 1Blocker. This is also free to download, while it includes a one-time in-app purchase for 3 euros, which takes the use of the application to a whole new level.
In basic settings, 1Blocker behaves similarly to the aforementioned applications. However, after purchasing the "update", you get to a much deeper setting, in which you have the option to block unwanted content such as porn sites, cookies, discussions, social widgets or web fonts.
The application offers more than an extensive database, including creating your own blacklist. If you play around with the app a bit and tweak it to your liking, I strongly believe it will become the best app to block unwanted ads. You can easily add specific pages or cookies to the blocked lists.
However, just because I personally like 1Blocker the best doesn't mean it won't provide the best experience for everyone else. Every day, new applications arrive in the App Store that offer slightly different ad blocking options. For some, maintenance-free blockers like Crystal, Blkr or Vivio will be more than enough, while others will welcome the maximum possibility of personalization and settings, as they find in 1Blocker. The middle path is represented by Purify. And those who might not like the Safari extension can try it for ad blocking standalone browser from AdBlock.
Jablickar doesn't work with Crystal. the page won't load at all.
This is exactly what I wanted to write
But Jablickare passed the editorial test and that's the main thing :-D What to think about the evaluation of other apps and other reviews is up to you :-D
Well, every now and then on the iP mini, Safari tells me that there are problems and the page will be reloaded. That I, the idiot, pushed for the 9.
This won't make anyone very happy: http://www.imore.com/crystal-ad-blocker-will-soon-let-some-acceptable-ads-through-default Everyone will probably have to program the AddBlocker themselves to be able to rely on it.
Hello, even with active Crystal, the Jablíčkáře website works normally for me, that is, both the mobile version and the desktop version... I don't know where the error is, even while writing this review, everything worked normally for me, just without side ads :-)
So the fix: the mobile version doesn't really work for me with Crystal on, which is weird because I was fine with Crystal just last week...
obviously the developer is making changes to the blacklist and the filtering method. In addition, the fact that they changed the policy of ad filtering and the blacklist provider to one that pays for whitelisting (yes, Google and Microsoft paid for not filtering :( ), is an understatement from the developer. The good news is that Apple returns the money when it is satisfied with a refund. and I can confirm that, because I asked for it myself. It's not about one euro, but about the principle, and that's exactly what I wrote in the reason, which was recognized and returned to my account within half an hour :) You can add it to the article if you want :)
In addition, during his changes, he reworked something in the app, from the user's side, the non-functionality of some pages is reported en masse.
Nice summary. Just please send the direct link to the AppStore :-).
I downloaded 1blocker, enabled it in Safari and activated it. I reloaded the page and saw the same ads as before.
Well, it can be seen that it is in its infancy. The blocking board does not block a lot of ads on different websites, even if they should be blocked according to the settings. In conclusion, the much-lauded 1Blocker really bothers me because it seems to display a space for advertising when loading, which then "disappears", i.e. the page jumps when loading (and I then easily click elsewhere than I want). Vivio didn't do this, for example.
Thanks for mentioning Vivio! We'd love for you to download and try the app yourself https://bit.ly/vivioapp Behind it Vivio, Tomas
Thanks for mentioning Vivio! We will be happy if you download the application yourself, try it out and give us feedback. https://bit.ly/vivioapp Behind it Vivio, Tomas