Is there any chance that won’t be incredibly popular? The desktop version of Safari currently allows a variety of custom extensions, and what’s the most popular? Hint: It’s called AdBlock.įor me, the arguments for using ad blockers range from the unconvincing ( dude, information wants to be free) to the reasonable ( I don’t need dozens of tracking beacons on every webpage) to the downright understandable ( poorly built ads slow my browser to a crawl). What this means is, when iOS 9 launches in the fall, you’ll be able to go to the App Store and download an extension that will block ads on most news sites. The sample JSON file below contains triggers and actions that block images on. Just edit the JSON file in the template to provide your own triggers and actions. Xcode includes a Content Blocker App Extension template that contains code to send your JSON file to Safari. Safari converts the JSON to bytecode, which it applies efficiently to all resource loads without leaking information about the user’s browsing back to the app extension. The JSON consists of an array of rules (triggers and actions) for blocking specified content. Your app extension is responsible for supplying a JSON file to Safari. Content Blocking gives your extensions a fast and efficient way to block cookies, images, resources, pop-ups, and other content. The new Safari release brings Content Blocking Safari Extensions to iOS.

Here’s how the developer documentation puts the new change, coming in iOS 9: But until now, adblocking has been limited almost entirely to desktop - mobile browsers haven’t allowed it. You can understand why that would be troubling to the publishers who sell those ads. A report from 2014 found that adblock usage was up 70 percent year-over-year, with over 140 million people blocking ads worldwide, including 41 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds. June 8, 2015It didn’t get a mention in Apple’s big keynote announcements Monday - which already had plenty of interest to publishers - but deep within Apple’s developer documentation lies perhaps the most important item of all to the news industry.Īdblocking is coming to the iPhone with iOS 9.Īdblocking - running a piece of software in your web browser that prevents ads on most web pages from loading - has moved from a niche behavior for the nerdy few to something mainstream.

Ad blocker for safari ios 10