Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Best Mac Adblocker for PRIVACY and data protection? [MERGED]
- Thread starter Silly John Fatty
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Safari with basic rpi setup: 15% blocked.
Chrome with basic rpi setup: 22% blocked
Brave with basic rpi setup: 77% blocked.
Quite a difference. If that's the key criteria (and it certainly should figure in...) then we all need to move to Brave.
Then I tested MS Edge.
Edge with basic rpi setup: 78% blocked.
Wow. That I did not expect.
Something wrong with that site.
On this site: https://adblock-tester.com/
I get 85%+ across all browsers using a variation of ublock origin, adguard extension, pihole with adguard block list and Steven black.
The percentage changes every I've done the test. I get anywhere from 80% to 100%. Makes sense.
It's not advisable to use multiple ad blockers simultaneously, particularly if they perform the same function, such as using both uBlock Origin and AdGuard at the same time. However, combining a DNS ad blocker with another ad blocker is a good idea.
Which one is the best or the most efficient/reliable and trustable? uBlock or AdGuard (or another one?)? According to some opinions here, AdGuard seems to be a bit doubtful.
And about uBlock, is there a version compatible for each main web navigator? Is there a version for Safari and FireFox?
They're doubtful about AdGuard with absolutely zero evidence to back up why they're doubtful. They just state that some companies turned out to be bad, so this one could be be bad too, which is backwards, logical fallacy.
100% with Safari and the fabulously lightweight Wipr.
(Sorry, iOS screenshot, but it’s the same setup on my Mac)
Yes, Wipr is fantastic.100% with Safari and the fabulously lightweight Wipr.
View attachment 2173697
(Sorry, iOS screenshot, but it’s the same setup on my Mac)
So Wipr is a good adBlocker for Safari? I never heard of this one. Is it free/open source or commercial?
It's one of the best Safari ad blockers for desktop and iOS, in my opinion. It's extremely lightweight and it only costs 2 bucks.
What web navigators are you using, with which AdBlockers?
EDIT: It would be interesting to see the results of a poll about the web browser and AdBlocker combinations used by users on the forum here.
So which adblocker are you suggesting for Safari? Wipr? And for FireFox (I guess it's uBlock Origin)?
This is just my honest opinion and others might have a different one:
If you want a content blocker for Safari that does an awesome job and is trustable: WIPR.
WIPR is a content blocker and as long as you don't activate the 4th part of the Safari extension (Wipr Extra) it can't do any harm due to Apples restrictions.
In combination with a good VPN like Mullvad or IVPN you are in a very good position, ad blocking and privacy wise.
If you are using Firefox or any other Chromium based browser: uBlock Origin & a VPN will do a good job and is trustable.
If you want a Chromium based browser I would recommend Brave because it has an ad blocker build into its guts.
Like I said elsewhere: I mostly use Safari because if you are deep inside the apple system with iPhone, Macbook and iPad, its features are awesome, it will be easy on battery life and Webkit is fast.
As a backup browser and on my Windows machine I use Firefox. Not because I prefer it to Brave but because I want to support the platform. Chrom(ium) has won the browser war and if no one uses Firefox anymore we have just 2 browser engines left that are used. This is not good.
Thanks a lot for this resume. I think it makes things much clearer (for me, at least).
About WIPR for Safari, what happens if you activate that 4th part? What's wrong with it?
And about Brave, is it a free open source app? I never used this browser before.
My approach to privacy and security is centered on risk management and is forward looking. So I don't use AdGuard because it requires a level of system access that goes far beyond similar products and if AdGuard, both the company and its products, was ever successfully attacked or compromised, the breach could have catastrophic personal consequences for me. AdGuard's previous record is a plus, of course, but as with financial markets, I don't view past performance as an infallible indicator of future performance.
If you activate the fourth part, Safari tells you that it could potentially read trusted information you enter into a website, like passwords or credit card credentials. The developer, Giorgio Calderolla, has released a statement on his website that he does not harvest that information. But the fourth part is just for particularly stubborn ads, like the ads you see before a youtube video starts, so you don't have to trust it. For most ads the first three parts are more than enough. As a workaround I have only enabled the fourth part for the youtube website in Safari.
I can highly recommend Wipr and I regularly donate to the developer. It is lightweight and "set it & forget it" for Mac, iPad and iPhone. Once activated, it recedes into the background, never to be seen again. Just like the ads.
What about the ads on YouTube? If the fourth part of WIPR isn't activated, does the YT ads still there?
Which other adblockers block the YT adfs? I find these YT ads so agressive and irritating, I need something to kill'em all!
Wipr kills them, when you activate the fourth part. Otherwise they are still there. You can allow the fourth Wipr part specifically on youtube.
After all the praise for Wipr, I decided to buy it and give it a try. And so far, I like what I see. Seems very lightweight and pages appear to load slightly faster than when I'm using AdGuard (The Safari extension, not the full app).
I'll continue to use Wipr for a while and keep AdGuard disabled.
So, here's another recommendation for Wipr, from a guy who said there's nothing better than AdGuard just a couple of days ago.
I'll continue to use Wipr for a while and keep AdGuard disabled.
So, here's another recommendation for Wipr, from a guy who said there's nothing better than AdGuard just a couple of days ago.
Last edited:
Same here with the AdGuard extension on and off the VPN. I figure the test site is illustrating the level of intrusion. Generally is 90%+ and I'm good with that. Most importantly I dont see ad's on the Mac's or the PC's.
Q-6
What I don't like about Wipr is that there is no way to exclude domains. I use this page to test and wipr gets me 87%, 1Blocker with the suggested domains blocked I get 100%
There is. Just right click on the url and click: deactivate content blocker for this site. And it is whitelisted.What I don't like about Wipr is that there is no way to exclude domains. I use this page to test and wipr gets me 87%, 1Blocker with the suggested domains blocked I get 100%
talking about blocking not whitelisting - check it out. Not even close to 100% Amazon and google is pretty free to do what it wants