I’ve been using uBlock Origin Lite on iOS for several months now, but one shortcoming I see with the newer WebExtensions implementation in Safari is that WebExtensions can’t be used with the in-app Safari views, meaning extensions such as this one don’t work with in-app Safari views. There was an older Safari content blocker API that did work with the in-app Safari views, but it seems like apps are being updated to stop using it. As a workaround, I’ve been trying to set my apps to open the Safari app for links where possible, but I would have preferred to use the in-app Safari views.
As a side note, I personally HATE apps that opens links in an in-app web view (apps like Instagram, Facebook, etc). I really wish Apple could have a system wide preference where it could force in-app web views to open in the browser.
I had been wishing for uBlock Origin for Safari for years, but now that it’s here (I’ve been using it since the betas), I’m disappointed. It’s really ugly to look at (even the icon in the toolbar looks out of place), configuration is awkward and resets itself unless you give it full permissions for every website from the get go, and it doesn’t seem to be more effective than other popular blockers. Additionally, pretty much every other blocker includes several extensions to overcome the well-known 150K rule limit, but uBlock Origin only includes one, meaning it can’t be blocking as much.
Yes. I used to use Wipr 1 and also found it underwhelming, eventually settling on 1Blocker. Eventually I decided to give Wipr 2 a shot and it’s much improved.
It also now allows blocking even outside of Safari. Though that requires iOS/macOS 26, which I have no intention of installing any time soon, so can’t speak for how effective that is.
I've been using Wipr for a long time. Both on iOS and macOS and it works perfectly. I don't see any ads. When I happen to use or see other people's devices I'm amazed by the amount of ads on the screen.
Yeah, the ad situation really is so horrible it is worth paying to get out of it. Also supporting an inde dev to provide a useful app with the equivalent of a nice cup of coffee doesn't feel all that bad.
I mean I pay on several websites to not see ads, so it (paying to remove ads) seems like the normalest thing. And it should be the normalest thing.
The only weird thing here is that we pay a party that is not the one serving the ads, so the primary misses income from ads and potentially paying customers.
But I suspect that is what you meant with your remark.
Moreover, paying on every website is just insane overkill and very expense compared to the value you get from occasional visits (the sites I subscribe to I visit multiple times a day and they provide business value).
Something like Alby [0] could solve this though. But Crypto currency has become a dirty word around here ;) (Alby does allow fractions of cents to be transferred, like a stream, on website visits, it (among others) also powers per-second paying for Podcasts streams, splitting revenue between multiple podcast hosts, the podcast app and the central index if set up that way. It's hard to set up though, something fiat-currency, based with 0 overhead would be nice...).
Imagine there's a business that can't really enforce whether you walk out without providing compensation. You realize you have the home court advantage on enforcement and guess what, you don't want to pay. It's your browser/wallet and that's your prerogative. But what does that mean about how tempting their goods are? Do we have prerogative to these goods?
Should we live in a world where we only permit business models that require customers pay directly or don't enter at all?
In all these years I haven’t found a better solution than DNS blocking with NextDNS on iOS. The only place I get ads is YT (but for that I have an Albanian VPN)
If you're in Europe, there's the newly launched DNS4EU project which is free for personal use, and also includes adblocking at the DNS level like NextDNS.
I use it in conjunction with Adguard and secure DNS, but they also publish configuration profiles for iOS.
Safari does not respect the operating system’s DNS settings, it uses its own. I have seen several reports online that you can disable this behaviour by turning off iCloud Private Relay or disabling Advanced Tracking and Fingerprint Protection, but was never able to do so with various combinations.
iCloud Private Relay is the only thing that stops Safari using your NextDNS config, turn that off and you're golden. I've been using NextDNS since it launched, I love it.
> iCloud Private Relay is the only thing that stops Safari using your NextDNS config
Maybe that’s true for the NextDNS configuration—I don’t know, I haven’t tested, so I’ll take your word for it—but not true for DNS settings in general.
> turn that off and you're golden.
Unless you want iCloud Private Relay, in which case you’re not.
One annoying thing I have is, when I want to disable Adblock on some website (suspecting Adblock impair functionality, or where Adblock is not needed), I need to grant the extension full access before I can disable it.
I’ve been using uBlock Origin Lite on iOS for several months now, but one shortcoming I see with the newer WebExtensions implementation in Safari is that WebExtensions can’t be used with the in-app Safari views, meaning extensions such as this one don’t work with in-app Safari views. There was an older Safari content blocker API that did work with the in-app Safari views, but it seems like apps are being updated to stop using it. As a workaround, I’ve been trying to set my apps to open the Safari app for links where possible, but I would have preferred to use the in-app Safari views.
As a side note, I personally HATE apps that opens links in an in-app web view (apps like Instagram, Facebook, etc). I really wish Apple could have a system wide preference where it could force in-app web views to open in the browser.
I had been wishing for uBlock Origin for Safari for years, but now that it’s here (I’ve been using it since the betas), I’m disappointed. It’s really ugly to look at (even the icon in the toolbar looks out of place), configuration is awkward and resets itself unless you give it full permissions for every website from the get go, and it doesn’t seem to be more effective than other popular blockers. Additionally, pretty much every other blocker includes several extensions to overcome the well-known 150K rule limit, but uBlock Origin only includes one, meaning it can’t be blocking as much.
And it doesn't work anymore when you swipe back. The phone shows the previous page but without any adblocking.
I too hoped for a ublock origin with filters lists, kind of what we have on Firefox or even the lite version for chrome but it's not nearly as good.
And we can't say it's apple fault because other adblockers like Adguard does allow customs lists and custom rules.
Previous discussions of some months ago:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44795825
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44335664
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43976898
Why not use a phone that allows you to use the full version ublock? Ios is everything that is wrong with software today in one package.
Care to elaborate what is so wrong with it?
We already have Wipr 2 (https://kaylees.site/wipr2.html) on the App store which is a pretty dang great ad blocker and well worth the price.
Is it better than Wipr 1? Because I paid for that one and it's kinda ... unsatisfactory.
Edit: at least compared to full uBlock Origin on desktop Firefox. No idea how good or bad are the other mobile solutions.
Most of the time i solve my mobile ad blocking needs by ... not browsing on mobile.
Yes. I used to use Wipr 1 and also found it underwhelming, eventually settling on 1Blocker. Eventually I decided to give Wipr 2 a shot and it’s much improved.
It also now allows blocking even outside of Safari. Though that requires iOS/macOS 26, which I have no intention of installing any time soon, so can’t speak for how effective that is.
https://kaylees.site/wipr-filtr.html
I've been using Wipr for a long time. Both on iOS and macOS and it works perfectly. I don't see any ads. When I happen to use or see other people's devices I'm amazed by the amount of ads on the screen.
Adguard works well and is free. I did pay for Wipr 1 but now switched to Adguard.
Imagine paying for not having to view ads.
Yeah, the ad situation really is so horrible it is worth paying to get out of it. Also supporting an inde dev to provide a useful app with the equivalent of a nice cup of coffee doesn't feel all that bad.
I think this is sarcastic?
I mean I pay on several websites to not see ads, so it (paying to remove ads) seems like the normalest thing. And it should be the normalest thing.
The only weird thing here is that we pay a party that is not the one serving the ads, so the primary misses income from ads and potentially paying customers.
But I suspect that is what you meant with your remark.
Moreover, paying on every website is just insane overkill and very expense compared to the value you get from occasional visits (the sites I subscribe to I visit multiple times a day and they provide business value).
Something like Alby [0] could solve this though. But Crypto currency has become a dirty word around here ;) (Alby does allow fractions of cents to be transferred, like a stream, on website visits, it (among others) also powers per-second paying for Podcasts streams, splitting revenue between multiple podcast hosts, the podcast app and the central index if set up that way. It's hard to set up though, something fiat-currency, based with 0 overhead would be nice...).
[0] https://getalby.com/
Better than viewing ads.
I mean… putting the app onto the store costs a yearly fee + development costs. I don’t think the dev should pay that out of their own pocket.
Imagine you're entitled to free work by others
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45177601
Imagine asking the browser on my hardware to do things I don’t want it to do, and acting shocked when I tell it not to.
Imagine there's a business that can't really enforce whether you walk out without providing compensation. You realize you have the home court advantage on enforcement and guess what, you don't want to pay. It's your browser/wallet and that's your prerogative. But what does that mean about how tempting their goods are? Do we have prerogative to these goods?
Should we live in a world where we only permit business models that require customers pay directly or don't enter at all?
You know, I do not actually know that a website had ads before clicking on a link to it; I would be happy to only visit websites without ads.
It’s scummy to shove ads in my face without at least warning me and giving me a chance to leave, I think.
Fair point. There should be a header to reveal whether the payload has ads. Then you can refuse right there.
[dead]
A more native open-source version:
https://github.com/0xCUB3/wBlock
The normal uBlock origin extension can be installed on Orion browser for iOS
Orion is webkit and can be set as default browser.
Unfortunately uBlock Origin on Orion is a bit flaky. Also, the phone heats up a bit, but that might be due to Orion itself.
Yeah, I have the same problem. Had to stop using Orion because it always heated up the phone too much. A shame. Hopefully they fix it.
Is this legitimate? I can’t find any reference to this on Raymond Hill’s github or ublock’s web site.
https://github.com/uBlockOrigin/uBOL-home mentions it.
In all these years I haven’t found a better solution than DNS blocking with NextDNS on iOS. The only place I get ads is YT (but for that I have an Albanian VPN)
If you're in Europe, there's the newly launched DNS4EU project which is free for personal use, and also includes adblocking at the DNS level like NextDNS.
I use it in conjunction with Adguard and secure DNS, but they also publish configuration profiles for iOS.
https://www.joindns4.eu/
https://www.joindns4.eu/dns-guidelines
Humm they only mention wifi. Can't do it on [3-4-5]G?
Thanks for pointing this out
I block YouTube ads on iOS by watching in the browser (with no YouTube app installed) and using AdGuard.
YT in the browser on iOS is torture.
It's fine if you use Vinegar [0]. No ads and you can even lock your phone and keep listening to the videos.
[0] https://apps.apple.com/us/app/vinegar-tube-cleaner/id1591303...
Why not just pay for a subscription instead of VPN?
Because I don’t want to give google any money. And mullvad has many other uses besides blocking YT ads.
How does the Albanian VPN help? No ad revenue in Albania?
For some reason there are no YT ads in Albania. It’s refreshing.
The CPM difference in US vs. rest of the world is huge. If Albania has cpm near zero, it's not worth to show ads there.
Safari ads are not blocked when using NextDNS. Is it just me?
Safari does not respect the operating system’s DNS settings, it uses its own. I have seen several reports online that you can disable this behaviour by turning off iCloud Private Relay or disabling Advanced Tracking and Fingerprint Protection, but was never able to do so with various combinations.
iCloud Private Relay is the only thing that stops Safari using your NextDNS config, turn that off and you're golden. I've been using NextDNS since it launched, I love it.
> iCloud Private Relay is the only thing that stops Safari using your NextDNS config
Maybe that’s true for the NextDNS configuration—I don’t know, I haven’t tested, so I’ll take your word for it—but not true for DNS settings in general.
> turn that off and you're golden.
Unless you want iCloud Private Relay, in which case you’re not.
It’s is.
It’s not, and a basic “Safari DNS” web search shows you it’s not.
I'm wondering which ad blocker you've had success with...specifically I'm wondering:
- Does this also block ads on Youtube (in the browser)?
- Can this block Youtube Shorts (they're way too addictive for me)?
I don't know about YT Shorts but Vinegar [0] blocks ads.
[0] https://apps.apple.com/us/app/vinegar-tube-cleaner/id1591303...
The best way to block YouTube Shorts is using a modified APK on Android. Plus, you don't get ads.
I'd almost use the "real" YouTube app with ads on, if I could disable Shorts entirely.
I use lite on firefox android it's great
It's funny my Motorolla phone keeps installing random games on it like ugh...
Why use lite on Firefox/android, considering the normal one is available too?
Oh yeah my bad I mis-rememebered, I use lite on chrome pc and the regular mobile firefox
So you are using Firefox on Android which is frankly janky but not on computer where it actually shines ?
Which model is that? I have a single "Moto" app on mine that is un-removable and that is all bloat I can find.
Would it work with Firefox iOS?
One annoying thing I have is, when I want to disable Adblock on some website (suspecting Adblock impair functionality, or where Adblock is not needed), I need to grant the extension full access before I can disable it.
Is there some trick I am missing?