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Best adblocker for Safari (Mac)
- Thread starter joptimus
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I use 1Blocker. It works quite well.
Lately, some ads are shown on YouTube: it happens randomly – at the beginning of a video: I guess it's due to the recent fight against ad blockers that Google/YouTube embraced.
I checked the Spiegel website. The "Anzeige" elements are still shown (I see two types: image banners and Anzeige "fake" articles – both difficult to spot for an ad blocker). AdChoices aren't visible, though.
These ads are not shown with 1Blocker:
These ads are shown:
Lately, some ads are shown on YouTube: it happens randomly – at the beginning of a video: I guess it's due to the recent fight against ad blockers that Google/YouTube embraced.
I checked the Spiegel website. The "Anzeige" elements are still shown (I see two types: image banners and Anzeige "fake" articles – both difficult to spot for an ad blocker). AdChoices aren't visible, though.
These ads are not shown with 1Blocker:
These ads are shown:
I'm using Wipr and that seems to work with the spigel site as well
On Wipr's App Store page, it reads:
Global
- Wipr will use an enhanced blocklist for Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Thai, and Vietnamese speakers.
On Wipr's App Store page, it reads:
Global
- Wipr will use an enhanced blocklist for Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Thai, and Vietnamese speakers.
Does it hide the "Anzeige" fake articles as well (the ones not in the sidebar, those containing text and images)?
"Best Mac Adblocker for PRIVACY and data protection?"
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...r-privacy-and-data-protection-merged.2378717/
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...r-privacy-and-data-protection-merged.2378717/
Free AdGuard browser extension or paid AdGuard for Mac? AdGuard for Mac is rock solid, you can configure block lists and, most important, it blocks malware and trackers - not just ads.
I am not knocking ka-block! which clearly suits you. There is a big difference in the ways they work:
ka-block! (and most other adblockers) are browser extensions - so work with just one browser. Their method operation is limited by what the browser allows.
AdGuard for Mac (the paid version) is a system/network extension so that a) it works for all apps (you can specify which), and b) it inspects network traffic and can make more complex modifications to the data stream (e.g. it can be a better adblocker in YouTube).
I am using Roadblock (Safari content blocker) https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/roadblock-content-blocker/id1037709284 which I think is very good, and it's nice that you can add custom rules because with a lot of these content blockers you can't. It definitely doesn't block as much as, say Brave (the browser) or something that provides a system extension BUT from a privacy point of view I much prefer a Safari content blocker as the app vendor gets no information about browsing history, ads that are blocked etc. Basic ad blocking is free. Custom rules cost money (IAP).
I had Ka-block for a long time and you can't argue with free but it hasn't been updated in ages so the rules are slowly becoming out of date. As it's free and open source I guess there would be nothing stopping someone cloning it and updating the rules and making their own custom version (with an Apple developer plan).
I understand about wanting a free app only, but software development does cost money, it's good to support development of your favourite projects.
I had Ka-block for a long time and you can't argue with free but it hasn't been updated in ages so the rules are slowly becoming out of date. As it's free and open source I guess there would be nothing stopping someone cloning it and updating the rules and making their own custom version (with an Apple developer plan).
I understand about wanting a free app only, but software development does cost money, it's good to support development of your favourite projects.
I'm using AdGuard too (AdGuard for Mac, Browser Extension and DNS) but do not see any ads here. Did you report it to the AdGuard Team? https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardFilters/issues
Absolutely
With security apps (blocking trackers and malware goes beyond mere adblocking it is critical to consider how the developer is going to make money and provide ongoing development. I prefer to pay a modest amount in the hope that the developers will not need to sell their potential data stream about me.
So AdGuard for Mac does more than AdGuard Home does on e.g. a RaspberryPI or something (the counterpart to PiHole)? So essentially limited DNS filtering. Is it along the lines of uBlock Origin, which is probably the best and most powerful tool?
AdGuard Home (free) and PiHole act as DNS resolvers and block (or modify) DNS requests. AdGuard Home is very configurable using multiple blocking lists. Being DNS only it can only block web requests based on the host part of the URL.
AdGuard for Safari (free) is a "traditional" ad blocker which inspects every web request. It runs as a Safari extension - as do many other browser ad blockers. Because it sees the whole URL it can be much more selective than a DNS blocker about what it blocks or modifies. As well as being an ad blocker it is a powerful tracking and malware blocker.
AdGuard for Mac (paid) has a similar powerful engine, but rather than being limited to Safari it inspects all network traffic and applies its rules to anything http/https - e.g. Mail and other web browsers. Optionally it can also inspect DNS requests rather like AdGuard Home.
Though I have both AdGuard for Mac and AdGuard Home (on a Pi), I don't really need AdGuard Home to protect my Macs.
It is some years since I evaluated blocking products for my use, but my understanding is that uBlock Origin is a browser blocker like AdGuard for Safari (which is better arguable, but both a good). AdGuard for Mac is more powerful as it covers all http/https requests.
Ok. Thanks.
But anyway. uBlock Origin is not available for Safari.
Have you compared Adguard for the Mac with 1blocker (i.e. in relation to Safari)?
Yes, but very powerful and good. I don't know Adguard for Safari or for the Mac, but I'd be surprised if it's as good as ublock origin in a browser. uBlock origin can also replace NoScript!!! Here is a German tutorial: https://www.kuketz-forum.de/t/ubloc...dynamic-filtering-und-skript-blockierung/1441
But anyway. uBlock Origin is not available for Safari.
Have you compared Adguard for the Mac with 1blocker (i.e. in relation to Safari)?
Not for some years. I did use 1blocker long ago. At that time everyone was looking at blocking ads. Now it seems just as important to block trackers and malware. I am really saying, one needs to decide what is important to you and make comparison based on that.
Don't forget that with a product that can view ALL your web activity (in and out), trust is important. I am more trusting of a product from a vendor with a well defined income stream, possibly alongside free products. In the security space, I am suspicious of suppliers with only free products.