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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.
scjr

scjr

macrumors 68020
Jan 28, 2013
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BasicGreatGuy said:
Installed new Purify update. The new update makes it easy to report problem websites. About time. Should have had that to begin with. Also comes with social media button and comment blocking.
Click to expand...

The way he made it sound on Twitter, there was going to be a special feature. Underwhelmed, when compared to Silentium's options. At least it has whitelisting now.
 
Apple_Robert

Apple_Robert

Contributor
Sep 21, 2012
35,673
52,524
In a van down by the river
jack 011 said:
Is it faster than purify?
Click to expand...
"Faster" is a relative term not static.

What may be fast for me and others here, may not be fast for you, due to several variables that you may or may not have control over.

In my opinion, the primary question one should ask is, does < insert app name here > fit my needs? An app can be fast and not work like it is supposed to.
 
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hank moody

hank moody

macrumors 6502a
Jan 18, 2015
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I am glad i didnt buy purify back. Some sites still breaking and the new features arent "that" new and revolutionary after all.

I will stick with AdBlock Fast: it is open source, it blocks all ads in the sites i visit, it doesnt break any site i visit, it is fast as hell, etc etc

It is PERFECT for me and it is FREE. :)
 
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thatJohann

thatJohann

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 5, 2013
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jack 011 said:
Is it faster than purify?
Click to expand...

i haven't used Purify. I have been using Blockr exclusively since ios 9 launch, it was the only content blocker that blocked every single ad out of the ones i had tried, and it seems AdBlock Plus does the same, and even a bit faster. So I switched today from Blockr to AdBlock Plus.
 
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Lara F

macrumors 6502a
May 5, 2005
853
10
Montreal, Quebec
If anyone has managed to compile Adblock Fast on an iPhone 5 *and* doesn't have a paid dev account I'd really appreciate the help, thanks (can PM me). ATM I'm stuck due to push notifications not being supported on free accounts - there's a setting in Xcode to turn them off (provided I haven't already changed the provisioning profile) but it doesn't save. Argh.
 
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blackboxxx

macrumors regular
Sep 10, 2008
154
118
chrismatic said:
Note: Purify 1.1 also introduces seamless iCloud sync of preferences and whitelist.
Click to expand...
That's cool, but filters are still not updated remotely, so after reporting a broken site or unblocked ad you have to wait for the next update to hit the App Store.
Many free adblockers have remote updates, for a premium app it seems a glaring omission.
It's not even necessary to run your own server — Crystal syncs its blocklist from iCloud.

Oh, and just minor technical nitpicking: blockerList.json and social.json are duplicated three times (triplicated?) inside the main app bundle, blocker extension and action extension. More than 5 MB wasted :)
 
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M

Mactaculious

macrumors regular
Oct 6, 2014
106
5
blackboxxx said:
That's cool, but filters are still not updated remotely, so after reporting a broken site or unblocked ad you have to wait for the next update to hit the App Store.
Many free adblockers have remote updates, so for a premium app it seems a glaring omission.
It's not even necessary to run your own server — Crystal syncs its blocklist from iCloud.
Click to expand...

One of the things I love about 1blocker, you create your own rule to block urls from ads, trackers or cookies etc. You don't have to wait for the dev to do this as you can do this on the fly. Perfect.

What I do is, use Firefox and noscript and visit the website on desktop. It blocks everything and you can see what ads/trackers are being blocked then you can write a rule for this to block it on your mobile and share your custom lists. Priceless. No waiting needed from the devs to update their list.
 
chrismatic

chrismatic

macrumors member
Sep 24, 2014
50
111
Colorado Springs, CO
blackboxxx said:
That's cool, but filters are still not updated remotely, so after reporting a broken site or unblocked ad you have to wait for the next update to hit the App Store.
Many free adblockers have remote updates, so for a premium app it seems a glaring omission.
It's not even necessary to run your own server — Crystal syncs its blocklist from iCloud.

Oh, and just minor technical nitpicking: blockerList.json and social.json are duplicated three times (triplicated?) inside the main app bundle, blocker extension and action extension. More than 5 MB wasted :)
Click to expand...

The triplication is a sadly-necessary workaround to allow multiple-entry-point reloading of the blocker without requiring a specific prerequisite of order-of-evaluation.

No disagreements on the filter-update limitation — you're right, and it's in the works.
 
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Apple_Robert

Apple_Robert

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Sep 21, 2012
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In a van down by the river
chrismatic said:
Note: Purify 1.1 also introduces seamless iCloud sync of preferences and whitelist.
Click to expand...
In regards to the new Whitelisting ability, I think you should allow for a very brief description of the problem. Otherwise, you may not initially see the problem on your end and end up wondering what the report was about. Can lead to needless communication problems, in my opinion. Maybe set the limit to what Twitter currently allows.
 
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C

CTHarrryH

macrumors 68030
Jul 4, 2012
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1,482
BasicGreatGuy said:
The developer could create the ability via the Safari share sheet. Click on an ad, and the share sheet for the app comes up. Click on the app and then you are offered certain options as to how to handle video, text, fonts, ads etc. And depending on which option you chose, it would then send the new rule to the correct section of the app.

In regards to the aforementioned, users need to be able to back up their custom rules. A developer can create the in app option to save the app rule package to the computer, Dropbox, OneDrive, GoogleDrive for safe keeping. Automatic backup of custom rules. That way, if a user needs to reinstall the app, he or she can easily input the custom user rules list into the app.
Click to expand...
But the ad people would constantly change whatever so yesterday's rule wouldn't block today. You'd spend more time blocking than using the site
 
chrismatic

chrismatic

macrumors member
Sep 24, 2014
50
111
Colorado Springs, CO
BasicGreatGuy said:
In regards to the new Whitelisting ability, I think you should allow for a very brief description of the problem. Otherwise, you may not initially see the problem on your end and end up wondering what the report was about. Can lead to needless communication problems, in my opinion. Maybe set the limit to what Twitter currently allows.
Click to expand...

Purify uses a machine-learning-based engine on the backend to analyze reports and automatically generate a suggested solution.

It is extremely rare for reports to have to be reviewed by hand (it's only done with one-off reports in which the heuristic is unconfident about the issue).
 
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blackboxxx

macrumors regular
Sep 10, 2008
154
118
chrismatic said:
The triplication is a sadly-necessary workaround to allow multiple-entry-point reloading of the blocker without requiring a specific prerequisite of order-of-evaluation.
Click to expand...
How about this: have only one copy of the JSON in the main app bundle. On first run, copy the JSON into group container shared by the app and its extensions.

chrismatic said:
Purify uses a machine-learning-based engine on the backend to analyze reports and automatically generate a suggested solution.
Click to expand...
That's really impressive. Please mention it on the website and the App Store page.
We saw some members questioning the need for paid content blockers when there are so many good free ones.
Well, what other selling points you need when you can have an ad blocker powered by A.I.?
 
ryanmcv

ryanmcv

macrumors 6502a
Aug 12, 2007
851
545
Phoenix, AZ
Purify seems to crash when I attempt to delete multiple addresses from the whitelist. Appears to be a new bug.

Edit: Sometimes it crashes, sometimes it doesn't. Odd.
 
chrismatic

chrismatic

macrumors member
Sep 24, 2014
50
111
Colorado Springs, CO
blackboxxx said:
How about this: have only one copy of the JSON in the main app bundle. On first run, copy the JSON into group container shared by the app and its extensions.


That's really impressive. Please mention it on the website and the App Store page.
We saw some members questioning the need for paid content blockers when there are so many good free ones.
Well, what other selling points you need when you can have an ad blocker powered by A.I.?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the kind words (and the suggestion).

The reasoning behind the choice to not highlight/emphasize the neural network powering the backend is that most users:
  • would find it tedious to put in the effort necessary to understand what that means
  • don't really care at the end of the day
Ultimately, the goal is to provide great end user experience. IMO, the best products aren't ones that make things look complicated — but rather expose simple, effortless functionality while encompassing the complexity that actuates them.

That said, I'm deeply humbled to hear people appreciate the technology powering that experience.
 
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