I get it that Apple requires a 64-bit processor to block content. But why? I can see no technical reason for this. The only thing I can think of is that this is a marketing decision by Apple to fence older devices out of the content blocking game as an inducement to upgrade to a new device. Is that right?
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Why is a 64-bit processor required for content blocking?
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No technical reason, I'm sure of that. Just... give poor Apple some change.
Apparently is due to performance limitations on the 32-bit devices. Although I find it hard to believe that the A6 can't do simple filtering.
There's no technical reason that Apple is preventing content blockers from running on 32-bit devices. The impact on speed was likely the only reason. Content blockers can be compiled and run on 32-bit devices if you're willing to do it yourself.
https://github.com/krishkumar/BlockParty
https://github.com/ArmandGrillet/Adios
https://github.com/krishkumar/BlockParty
https://github.com/ArmandGrillet/Adios
NO this is not problem guys. Apple aim is in future it give only 64 bit device. See iMac etc...
32bit is fack for Apple.
E.g See in iOS 9 first iOS version allowed 64 bit apps only for the App-Store.
32bit is fack for Apple.
E.g See in iOS 9 first iOS version allowed 64 bit apps only for the App-Store.
The only reason I can see is speed. If you use more modern devices, with 64-bit processor's, content blocking will speed up results. If you use older devices with, 32-bit processors, content blocking will actually slow down results. So should Apple spend time making extra code to slow down results?
And as blocklists get bigger over time within a content blocker app, the speed savings is further reduced.
I never noticed any slowdown caused by blocking ads with Weblock and it's PAC file with my A5 devices.
I’m sure there is someone with more technical knowledge on this, but in a nutshell content blockers add a bit of overhead to Safari as it is basically just string matching that needs to be executed fast, for every page load. This is something the 64-bit processors are much better at. Content blockers were designed for speed and efficiency so it makes sense that they would restrict it to the hardware that actually delivers that.
Also note that Apple does enforce a size limit for the block list, so I suppose there needs to be a baseline where the performance remains adequate if that limit is hit. So even though ‘light’ adblockers could run just fine on 32-bit devices, maybe the performance is bad on large websites with an extensive block list. This does have an impact on the user experience and may be of particular concern to Apple.
Also note that Apple does enforce a size limit for the block list, so I suppose there needs to be a baseline where the performance remains adequate if that limit is hit. So even though ‘light’ adblockers could run just fine on 32-bit devices, maybe the performance is bad on large websites with an extensive block list. This does have an impact on the user experience and may be of particular concern to Apple.
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Perhaps.
I use Lightbeam on Firefox on my rMBP. It shows me what other sites are linked to by the sites I go to. Sometimes, just landing on a home page for a site will result in that site going to 20 or more other (third-party) sites. Some of those are for retrieving content to display, some are adservers, some are analytics or tracking sites. From what I've seen, most of these links are in the last 2 categories.
Safari on IOS would experience the same linking phenomena as I see with Firefox running OSX on my rMBP.
So I tend to think that Safari performance on IOS9 is far more affected by these link outs to other sites than it is to do the processing to decide which sites to block. Does the content blocking in IOS9 block all these other nefarious sites, like the trackers that don't result in ads, or is it just the adservers that get blocked?
I know there was a significant performance tax on the A5 in my iPad3 because of the Retina display handling needed. But I can't believe that a few filtering calculations could be all that taxing to it.
The iPad 3's CPU performance is identical to the iPad 2 which is what would be handling content blocking, the retina display is driven by the GPU.
I tired this and it doesn't work. You can install the app, yes, but there remains no content blockers option in safari settings to actually enable it.
Because Apple is so far ahead of time, that it would't even recall, what a 32bit device is all about... 
On my iPad, I am using the hosts blocker addon from Cydia. It blocks ads differently then an adblocker by refusing the connection. If a popup does get through such as on my Surface Pro 3, it opens a blank popup and says connection refused.
The hosts file blocks everything including ads in apps. I use this same thing on my Android phones with an app called Adaway. It modifies the hosts file and blocks all ads in apps and my browsers as well.
There are a number of steps you have to follow to install these properly:
https://medium.com/@searls/installing-a-content-blocker-on-ios-9-public-beta-a25b2b83848f
I have an iPad 4 and I do hope some developer comes out with a content blocker for 32 bit devices and then maybe I'll update to iOS 9.
Part of the reason I reduced using Safari on my iPad 4 was the ridiculous amounts of ads on some websites, even on MacRumors. I accidentally click on them when I'm scrolling. It's so annoying and the ads are nothing that I would ever be interested in. It's a joke.
I'm jailbroken on my iPad 4 in iOS 8.3 only for the F.lux app which is a godsend. I was wondering if any of the jailbroken content blocker apps are decent?
Part of the reason I reduced using Safari on my iPad 4 was the ridiculous amounts of ads on some websites, even on MacRumors. I accidentally click on them when I'm scrolling. It's so annoying and the ads are nothing that I would ever be interested in. It's a joke.
I'm jailbroken on my iPad 4 in iOS 8.3 only for the F.lux app which is a godsend. I was wondering if any of the jailbroken content blocker apps are decent?
Install the untrusted hosts blocker and Adblocker 2. You will be able to block ads in apps and in your browser with these two. I never EVER see ads in anything I do on my iPhone/ipad.
Thanks for your reply. What do you mean by "untrusted hosts blocker"? I've seen Adblocker 2 in Cydia. Does it slow Safari down?
Search Cydia for untrusted hosts blocker. I have not noticed any speed decreases with any Cydia adblockers installed.
