Best Mac Adblocker for PRIVACY and data protection? [MERGED]

[Silly John Fatty]

I just want to point out being fastidious on an AdBlockers privacy while using, plus being part of, instagram (facespace, gloogle, and the others) is kind of like complaining that about the fireman’s hose you want to use to put out your campfire while if you turn around you would see your whole house has already burnt to the ground.

It’s great privacy and tracking are getting out there and we as consumers need to put these companies and law makers under a microscope. But honestly we give away freely more important information than our computers/phones track.

Block all the Ads you want with whatever open source code makes you feel warm and fuzzy, yet still clicking “like” on whatever platform you use defeats the purpose you are trying to achieve.

No, that is a malentendu, I don't even have Facebook or any social media, but I did that day land on Instagram, because I was basically testing AdGuard. So I was visiting all kinds of different sites to see how it behaves and appears.

It won't matter for me that Instagram doesn't work, but it's good to know it messes up sites, so I know what to expect. Apart from that I totally agree with you.

Honestly, if you want a solution to block all ads, without using any programs, I'd use a host file replacement and change your host file directly with MacOS. There's a couple of good Host file replacements on the web to block ads. If you need more information, feel free to respond.

Remember though, with modifying a host file, there is no "switch" to turn off the ad block though.

Just an option.

Thank you, that sounds like an interesting option (although, admitted, I am not very tech-savvy and don't know what most of that means). Could you give me some more info?

As for the thing with the switch, why would that be a problem? Are you thinking of practical reasons in case sites require you to turn off your adblock? And I suppose I can always modify that host file again (although it's certainly more work than pressing "turn off adblock").

 

[Miat]

Thanks for replies. Plenty to think about.

AdGuard is reasonably ok.

About the only thing that works properly though is Firefox+uBlock Origin.

uBlock Origin is one of the greatest pieces of software ever. On the rare occasions I need to turn it off in Firefox I get a rude reminder of just how much visual crud it is blocking. Real shame it doesn't exist for Safari anymore.

As I mentioned earlier, an ad blocker is only a small part of gaining control over your digital footprint.

Besides trying to minimise tracking by commercial interests, the other reason I use adblockers is that my eyes are not the best, and getting worse as I get older, and the less clutter on the screen the easier it is for me. Blocking all that extraneous stuff really helps, and even if it didn't block tracking I would still use it just for that alone.

Firefox with uBlock Origin works very well, so that is my main browser these days. But would like to be able to do it with Safari too. Sometimes it works better with a site than FF.

Also, don't (only) use the CPE from your ISP,

CPE ?

 

[samwa3]

Thanks for replies. Plenty to think about.

uBlock Origin is one of the greatest pieces of software ever. On the rare occasions I need to turn it off in Firefox I get a rude reminder of just how much visual crud it is blocking. Real shame it doesn't exist for Safari anymore.

Besides trying to minimise tracking by commercial interests, the other reason I use adblockers is that my eyes are not the best, and getting worse as I get older, and the less clutter on the screen the easier it is for me. Blocking all that extraneous stuff really helps, and even if it didn't block tracking I would still use it just for that alone.

Firefox with uBlock Origin works very well, so that is my main browser these days. But would like to be able to do it with Safari too. Sometimes it works better with a site than FF.

CPE ?

Customer-premises equipment - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

My suggestion here only applies as long as you‘re sure that you know how to do it better. Otherwise it might have a negative effect overall.

And of course the router etc. from your ISP might be completely fine, I know that in my country sometimes that‘s the case. But I have read a lot of negative things about US ISPs in that regard.

 

[Miat]

My suggestion here only applies as long as you‘re sure that you know how to do it better. Otherwise it might have a negative effect overall.

And of course the router etc. from your ISP might be completely fine, I know that in my country sometimes that‘s the case. But I have read a lot of negative things about US ISPs in that regard.

Thanks.

I am in Australia, not the US. Not that our ISPs are models of perfection, though mine (Aussie Broadband) has been pretty good and has a high approval rating.

 

[baxterboy]

this is the only answer for Safari

I have used adblock and then adblock plus for years now without any discernible issues.
The adblock plus works effectively; however, both are useless on two streaming websites I use frequently for free movie and football streams.

Do you think adguard or will be effective for such sites?

 

[Choco Taco]

I use adblock plus and use a free streaming movie site and a

I have used adblock and then adblock plus for years now without any discernible issues.
The adblock plus works effectively; however, both are useless on two streaming websites I use frequently for free movie and football streams.

Do you think adguard or will be effective for such sites?

The paid desktop app, yes. I set it to paranoid mode and it blocks everything. And if paranoid mode isn’t enough, you can go into the settings and download even more filter lists. You can also manually block custom parts of the website if they aren’t blocked by the filters.

 

[Queen6]

Ad Guard and a strong VPN with obfuscation has always worked for me. Passes the GFW with ease and that's not an easy task by any means.

Outside of restricted counties, VPN with WireGuard support is a thing as little no to no degradation speed....

Q-6

 

[Choco Taco]

Ad Guard and a strong VPN with obfuscation has always worked for me. Passes the GFW with ease and that's not an easy task by any means.

Outside of restricted counties, VPN with WireGuard support is a thing as little no to no degradation speed....

Q-6

I have NordVPN on a gigabit line with NordLynx (their version of WireGuard) and I get roughly 85% to 95% of my max speed. It’s bananas.

 

[Queen6]

I have NordVPN on a gigabit line with NordLynx (their version of WireGuard) and I get roughly 85% to 95% of my max speed. It’s bananas.

WireGuard is Definity a thing, however although set up doesn't work for me as the protocol is not by design meant to be hidden or obfuscated and will be resultantly closed.

Once outside country it's on and it's fast...

Q-6

 

[makr]

I use 1Blocker and it's pretty good so far.

 

[Cyby-CyberDog]

You can also manually block custom parts of the website if they aren’t blocked by the filters.

AdGuard Home lets you add filterrules to stop blocking ads on specific sites, to allow the ads and keep accessing the sites.

 

[Choco Taco]

AdGuard Home lets you add filterrules to stop blocking ads on specific sites, to allow the ads and keep accessing the sites.

That wasn't what I was referring to. If I don't want to see your avatar anymore, as an example, I can manually block it with AdGuard and I'll never see it again.

 

[dodgywanker]

Mac: hush & ka-block
iphone: firefox focus & hush

 

[Silly John Fatty]

So I've reinstalled Little Snitch now, and interestingly it shows that AdGuard connects to a ton of stuff. Some things make sense (filter lists for example), other things I'm not sure how to interpret.

Also it seems like all your connections are going through AdGuard. Probably that is needed, I don't know. But basically, your entire traffic goes through AdGuard.

 

[nottorp]

Tbh Mac OS doesn't mean Safari. The only solution that can be really trusted is Firefox + uBlock Origin IMO.

Shame on Apple for making their browser untrustable.

 

[samwa3]

Shame on Apple for making their browser untrustable.

Feel free to elaborate. For example what would you critique here? https://www.apple.com/safari/docs/Safari_White_Paper_Nov_2019.pdf Or what is your response to the comments in here? https://libreddit.priv.pw/r/browsers/comments/x1jnog/is_safari_a_good_browser_in_terms_of_privacy/

 

[nottorp]

Feel free to elaborate. For example what would you critique here? https://www.apple.com/safari/docs/Safari_White_Paper_Nov_2019.pdf Or what is your response to the comments in here? https://libreddit.priv.pw/r/browsers/comments/x1jnog/is_safari_a_good_browser_in_terms_of_privacy/

I can't use uBlock Origin. Whatever Apple claims they do, it doesn't beat an open source anti tracker / ad blocker because it can't be verified.

 

[JustAnExpat]

No, that is a malentendu, I don't even have Facebook or any social media, but I did that day land on Instagram, because I was basically testing AdGuard. So I was visiting all kinds of different sites to see how it behaves and appears.

It won't matter for me that Instagram doesn't work, but it's good to know it messes up sites, so I know what to expect. Apart from that I totally agree with you.



Thank you, that sounds like an interesting option (although, admitted, I am not very tech-savvy and don't know what most of that means). Could you give me some more info?

As for the thing with the switch, why would that be a problem? Are you thinking of practical reasons in case sites require you to turn off your adblock? And I suppose I can always modify that host file again (although it's certainly more work than pressing "turn off adblock").

Editing the Hosts file is the best way to block ads, because it'll prevent the ads from being loaded and not just hidden. The host file is a file located on every computer (Windows, MacOS, and Linux). All websites with names like www.macrumors.com, are simply redirects to IP addresses (104.22.2.106). If you type in 104.22.2.106, it should take you to www.macrumors.com. When you type in an address like www.macrumors.com, the first place the computer will look is the host file for the IP address.

You can use a file like https://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.txt as a replacement for your current host file. You can find information about how to edit a host file at https://www.alphr.com/edit-hosts-file-mac-os-x/ .

In most software programs that block ads, there's a toggle switch to allow the ads to be displayed or hidden. If you edit your host file, there will not be a toggle switch to display or show ads.

 

[samwa3]

I can't use uBlock Origin. Whatever Apple claims they do, it doesn't beat an open source anti tracker / ad blocker because it can't be verified.

I guess we have different definitions of what it means to "make a browser untrustable" then. For me that reads like somebody is doing something potentially nefarious on purpose, like the high amounts of telemetry / tracking data sent by default by browsers like Chrome or Edge. If the only thing that is missing for you is your favourite ad blocker, and therefore you cannot trust that browser, then alright, there's nothing to argue there. For me, my blocking setup with Safari extensions and through custom DNS is on the same level as Firefox + uBlock Origin and I choose to use Safari for most web browsing because it runs better on my system. But there's also nothing wrong with the latter (and in fact I have Firefox with uBlock Origin installed and sometimes use it when I need a second browser).

 

[foo2]

Remember though, with modifying a host file, there is no "switch" to turn off the ad block though.

Been there. So what you do then is you have a script that you put on your desktop or attach to a function key that changes the hosts file and purges the DNS cache.

Much easier just to have a PiHole (Docker!) somewhere on your network and point all your machines to that; set once, fix-everywhere.

 

[Queen6]

AdGuard extension and a solid VPN on macOS & Window's don't see ad's and don't have any issue, as in zero.

Q-6

 

[foo2]

AdGuard extension and a solid VPN on macOS & Window's don't see ad's and don't have any issue, as in zero.

Q-6

Agreed, but every other device on your network must also be similarly protected, unless you’re using a VPN at the router level.

PiHole solves this (well, the ads part, not the VPN part) for the entire network, the main advantage. Set it up, tell your router to set DHCP’s DNS server to the pihole, and ads are then blocked. For all machines on your network. That’s a significant advantage.

 

[Queen6]

Agreed, but every other device on your network must also be similarly protected, unless you’re using a VPN at the router level.

PiHole solves this (well, the ads part, not the VPN part) for the entire network, the main advantage. Set it up, tell your router to set DHCP’s DNS server to the pihole, and ads are then blocked. For all machines on your network. That’s a significant advantage.

Set the DNS on the router to the private VPN's address. So the ISP is blind and that's how I want it to be. All my own systems boot up and instantly log in to the VPN and can bypass the GFW which is impressive as the AI is not short of smarts by any means...

Q-6

 

[Queen6]

DP, a network thing...

Q-6

 

[foo2]

Set the DNS on the router to the private VPN's address. So the ISP is blind and that's how I want it to be. All my own systems boot up and instantly log in to the VPM and bypass the GFW which is impressive as the AI is not short of smarts by any means...

Q-6

What about your smart devices ? How do they get onto VPN? Why not do it at the router level?