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The iOS 9 Content Blocker thread

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@avatar-adg Does Adguard Pro route my traffic through Adguard servers? Or is the path of my traffic affected in any other way?

I understand it uses fake VPN, but I don't understand what that means.

I wish to learn more about Adguard Pro before making a purchase decision - I'm very security-conscious.
 
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How does something that states nearly exactly what you feared now puts your worries to rest? It might only be DNS requests (although they don't clarify what the fake VPN is exactly; why would you mention something like that if all you do is block at DNS level?) but it is still routing traffic through their servers which is no different than services offered by parties such as OpenDNS.
 
dyn said:
How does something that states nearly exactly what you feared now puts your worries to rest?
Click to expand...
And you need to know what is happening in my life because.. ? Before you get your feelings hurt please keep in mind that this is a valid question. Why do you need to know? Think about it.
 
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That is the wrong question to ask. Ask yourself why one moment Adguard Pro is a problem and the next it isn't while in fact nothing has changed.
 
dyn said:
That is the wrong question to ask. Ask yourself why one moment Adguard Pro is a problem and the next it isn't while in fact nothing has changed.
Click to expand...
And what did I learn in the ~7.5 hours between my original question and my purchase decision? How many webpages did I read? What was my goal? How much information from Adguard's website and these forums did I utilize toward reaching said goal?

These questions do not require answers, they were designed to show you that you lack certain information. Rest assured that I know what I'm doing.
 
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Hello guys and sorry for being late to the party.

First of all, we should have answered all these questions in one centralised place instead and it is our fault that it still does not exist. Here are some good news though, until the end of the year we will launch a knowledge base website.

ardchoille50 said:
I understand it uses fake VPN, but I don't understand what that means.
Click to expand...

Normally, when you use VPN, your traffic is routed through it.

Something like this:
Device <------> VPN server <------> Internet

"Fake VPN" in our case means, that there is no "VPN server". Your outgoing traffic stays the same, we use it for one thing only - to override system DNS settings.

dyn said:
(although they don't clarify what the fake VPN is exactly; why would you mention something like that if all you do is block at DNS level?)
Click to expand...

The thing is that VPN API is the only possible way to override system DNS settings. You can't do it manually when you're on mobile data. What for Wi-Fi, you'll have to change DNS settings for every new Wi-Fi network you connect to.

dyn said:
but it is still routing traffic through their servers
Click to expand...

Not really. DNS is used for resolving domain names to IP addresses, not for routing traffic:
https://cdn.adguard.com/public/Adguard/Blog/dns_request_scheme.png

dyn said:
which is no different than services offered by parties such as OpenDNS.
Click to expand...

Unlike OpenDNS, Adguard DNS provides no-logging privacy policy.

Anyway, starting from the latest AG PRO beta version, it is possible to create your own rules for DNS-level blocking.
We're one step from introducing DNS-level system wide ad blocking, which will not involve using our DNS servers at all.
 
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avatar-adg said:
Hello guys and sorry for being late to the party.

First of all, we should have answered all these questions in one centralised place instead and it is our fault that it still does not exist. Here are some good news though, until the end of the year we will launch a knowledge base website.



Normally, when you use VPN, your traffic is routed through it.

Something like this:
Device <------> VPN server <------> Internet

"Fake VPN" in our case means, that there is no "VPN server". Your outgoing traffic stays the same, we use it for one thing only - to override system DNS settings.



The thing is that VPN API is the only possible way to override system DNS settings. You can't do it manually when you're on mobile data. What for Wi-Fi, you'll have to change DNS settings for every new Wi-Fi network you connect to.



Not really. DNS is used for resolving domain names to IP addresses, not for routing traffic:
https://cdn.adguard.com/public/Adguard/Blog/dns_request_scheme.png



Unlike OpenDNS, Adguard DNS provides no-logging privacy policy.

Anyway, starting from the latest AG PRO beta version, it is possible to create your own rules for DNS-level blocking.
We're one step from introducing DNS-level system wide ad blocking, which will not involve using our DNS servers at all.
Click to expand...
Yes, I had learned from further research that my traffic is not routed through strange servers and this is what made me feel comfortable enough to buy Adguard Pro. I also really like the Adguard privacy policy (no logging). Thank you for taking the time to confirm my findings.. I'm happy with Adguard Pro.
 
Hi avatar-avg, I've one more question regarding Adguard Pro... how do I report missed ad in other apps? I tried examining the log but it's terribly difficult to know which url corresponded to the ad.
 
Hippocrates said:
Hi avatar-avg, I've one more question regarding Adguard Pro... how do I report missed ad in other apps? I tried examining the log but it's terribly difficult to know which url corresponded to the ad.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it'd be much easier if we could tell which app caused this or that DNS request.

Anyway, here are two common ways of reporting a missed ad:
1. Send a message from the app (it'll contain log file with all the requests, it could be very useful).
2. File a new issue on github:
https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardFilters/issues
 
The number of rules in Adguard's filters are getting bigger and bigger...

ATM i have 60684 enabled rules! Too much rules because iOS only supports 50000!!!

How do i know, which lists have duplicated rules? how can i solve this?
@avatar-adg can you help me?

filters enabled:

english
spyware
social media
annoyances
spanish
mobile ads
safari filter

easylist
easy privacy
fanboy enhanced tracking list

adblock warning removal
fanboy anti facebook
fanboy español
i don't care about cookies
malware domains
peter lowe
prebake
spam404
barbblock
 
hank moody said:
The number of rules in Adguard's filters are getting bigger and bigger...
Click to expand...

Filters tend to grow with time, and the optimization process we conduct (removing redundant rules) is periodic.

Anyways, you have quite a lot of filters enabled, it's impossible to fit all them in the 50k limit.
 
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avatar-adg said:
Filters tend to grow with time, and the optimization process we conduct (removing redundant rules) is periodic.

Anyways, you have quite a lot of filters enabled, it's impossible to fit all them in the 50k limit.
Click to expand...

Which ones do you suggest to disable?
 
hank moody said:
Which ones do you suggest to disable?
Click to expand...

malware domains -- no need, you're on iOS:)
barbblock -- won't help you block ads
spam404 -- won't help you block ads
easylist -- already included in the english filter
fanboy español -- either this or spanish filter, not both
easy privacy -- either this or spyware filter, not both
fanboy enhanced tracking list -- not necessary
 
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avatar-adg said:
malware domains -- no need, you're on iOS:)
barbblock -- won't help you block ads
spam404 -- won't help you block ads
easylist -- already included in the english filter
fanboy español -- either this or spanish filter, not both
easy privacy -- either this or spyware filter, not both
fanboy enhanced tracking list -- not necessary
Click to expand...

And which of the three Cookie Filters do you recommend? Or all 3 of them. Prebake, don’t care about Cookies and Fanboy Cookie Monster ?
 
avatar-adg said:
malware domains -- no need, you're on iOS:)
barbblock -- won't help you block ads
spam404 -- won't help you block ads
easylist -- already included in the english filter
fanboy español -- either this or spanish filter, not both
easy privacy -- either this or spyware filter, not both
fanboy enhanced tracking list -- not necessary
Click to expand...

iPhone X support soon?
 
hank moody said:
The number of rules in Adguard's filters are getting bigger and bigger...

ATM i have 60684 enabled rules! Too much rules because iOS only supports 50000!!!

How do i know, which lists have duplicated rules? how can i solve this?
@avatar-adg can you help me?

filters enabled:

english
spyware
social media
annoyances
spanish
mobile ads
safari filter

easylist
easy privacy
fanboy enhanced tracking list

adblock warning removal
fanboy anti facebook
fanboy español
i don't care about cookies
malware domains
peter lowe
prebake
spam404
barbblock
Click to expand...

avatar-adg said:
malware domains -- no need, you're on iOS:)
barbblock -- won't help you block ads
spam404 -- won't help you block ads
easylist -- already included in the english filter
fanboy español -- either this or spanish filter, not both
easy privacy -- either this or spyware filter, not both
fanboy enhanced tracking list -- not necessary
Click to expand...

ATM i only have these filters enabled:

english
spyware
social media
annoyances
spanish
mobile ads
safari

easyprivacy
fanboy's annoyances
fanboy's enhanced tracking

adblock warning removal
fanboy anti-facebook
prebake


And they are already near 50000 rules! (49943 rules!! and it was only 40k only a few weeks ago)
The number of rules rises everyday and someday we can not have more than 2 or 3 filters active! 50000 rules limit is becoming very short.

@avatar-adg which filters do you recommend to disable now? :/
 
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avatar-adg said:
Basically, these filters do the same. The difference is that one is maintained by AdGuard, and the second one is maintained by the EasyList guys.
Click to expand...

ATM i only have these filters enabled:

English
Social Media
Annoyances
Spanish
Mobile Ads
Safari

EasyPrivacy
Fanboy’s Annoyances
Fanboy’s Enhanced Tracking

Adblock Warning
Fanboy Anti-Facebook

And i am already near 50k rules again :(((
 
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