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The iOS 9 Content Blocker thread

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The first post of this thread is a WikiPost and can be edited by anyone with the appropiate permissions. Your edits will be public.
Hi,

I did a few searches on the forum regarding content blockers in iOS Safari. I've been using Crystal for a while now and now also using Focus and it seems OK but wondered now that the dust has settled a bit if there is any widely and highly rated blockers out there (free or paid)? Came across a few like Purify and Adguard. What's your views?

I have a scorched earth approach with ads and tracking. If they want my data and time they can pay me for it.
 
I've been happily using Magic, which I think is quick to good. But Santa brought an Air 2 and Magic seems to be crashing. At first it was crashing every time I tried to update the rules, but then it started crashing every time I tried to change a setting, and stock per blocking ads entirely. So I'm back to Crystal. Bummer.
 
SCOLANATOR said:
Hi,

I did a few searches on the forum regarding content blockers in iOS Safari. I've been using Crystal for a while now and now also using Focus and it seems OK but wondered now that the dust has settled a bit if there is any widely and highly rated blockers out there (free or paid)? Came across a few like Purify and Adguard. What's your views?

I have a scorched earth approach with ads and tracking. If they want my data and time they can pay me for it.
Click to expand...

I've spent reasonable amount of time with Adguard, Magic, 1Blocker, Umbra, Purify, Adblock Fast, BlockBear and Focus. Purify and 1Blocker are paid while the rest are free.

As the content online is changing all the time, so no content blocker will be perfect at anytime. Hence, the best content blocker for me would be one that is under active development over long run, and one that could incorporate users' feedback (missed ad or false positive) in a timely fashion.

I would recommend Adguard based on the above criteria. In fact, it wasn't even the best when I first used it. It broke some of my frequently visited websites but those problems/bugs had been fixed rapidly after getting in touch with its lead developer, avatar-adg (here at macrumors) and also through their support email. So, Adguard has since become my resident content-blocker on all my devices.

I don't wish to be biased towards what I'm using. Just wanna say that if your content blocker developer is responsive to your reports, and is actively improving the app/filter list, then you've already found a winner. From my own experience, the developers for 1Blocker and Umbra were responsive to reports, but didn't fix them; Magic and Purify totally ignored my reports and left them unfixed. Only Adguard responded to reports and fixed its filter lists unfailingly each time. Can't speak for everyone though because others might have different experience.
 
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Hippocrates said:
I would recommend Adguard based on the above criteria. In fact, it wasn't even the best when I first used it. It broke some of my frequently visited websites but those problems/bugs had been fixed rapidly after getting in touch with its lead developer, avatar-adg (here at macrumors) and also through their support email. So, Adguard has since become my resident content-blocker on all my devices.
Click to expand...

I have done the same for the reasons you mentioned. I have not seen any content blocker with the configurability options Adguard has. Plus their participation in the forums here is a big plus IMO. Looks like they are pretty proactive answering questions in their own forums as well.
 
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Ahonen said:
I've been happily using Magic, which I think is quick to good. But Santa brought an Air 2 and Magic seems to be crashing. At first it was crashing every time I tried to update the rules, but then it started crashing every time I tried to change a setting, and stock per blocking ads entirely. So I'm back to Crystal. Bummer.
Click to expand...

Try deleting the app and then redownload it.
 
Sonnto said:
Is there anyone here that's still using Crystal? Want some opinion on its performance aside from the upcoming acceptable ads incident/update. I personally really like its performance so far however, there are some websites I visit that it blocks videos on and they aren't ads either. They're news sites like CBC.ca and they have videos on the article and it blocks it. Aside from that, I am very satisfied with Crystal's performance. It's based in the UK (the developer) so I was wondering if anyone else outside of the UK like myself have these types of issues. Some times it does also block scripts (I think that's what they're called) that would be undesirable to block, however, it's not that big of an issue. Thoughts on Crystal?
Click to expand...
I also still use Crystal and am quite satisfied with it but I agree with your message, for some reason it blocks CTVnews.ca but it is not a big deal for me.
 
Hal~9000 said:
First off... I love Adguard. The most consistent and fastest adblocker I've tried.

The only website I've had an issue with though while using it is idownloadblog.com (which will simply load as a white page with no content).

If it helps I have the following filters set:
  • English
  • Spyware
  • Social media
  • Safari
Any ideas on why this particular website isn't working?

c87aT9z.jpg
Click to expand...
Indeed it does. I've sent a bug report in.
 
Crusoe said:
Hello Mr/Ms Adguard. Any plans to implement an EU cookie warning blocker?
Click to expand...

Has to be one of the most retarded decisions the Eurocrats ever made. Just shows how little of an understanding they have of modern technology.
I don't give a monkeys if a website is saving cookies, I wipe them every day regardless, just stop having them pop up on websites. Faceless, stupid beaurocracy 1 - common sense 0.

Also Adguard sounds good!
 
bandofbrothers said:
I'm now using Crystal and Purify together.
Click to expand...

I'm using the same combination. However, I disabled Purify because I noticed that my iPhone 6S gets really hot while visiting some websites, including macrumors. Without Purify, everything is as cool as before. Have you noticed the same problems?
 
mayuka said:
I'm using the same combination. However, I disabled Purify because I noticed that my iPhone 6S gets really hot while visiting some websites, including macrumors. Without Purify, everything is as cool as before. Have you noticed the same problems?
Click to expand...


I've only being using this combination for a week or so. I've not noticed anything similar to you on my iPhone 6 Plus or iPad Air.
 
Magic Adblock received a much needed update last night with auto updates and some speed improvements. I have only had issues on one site with it so far in a month of usage. Although I did not do extensive testing.
 
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