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Apple Cracking Down on VPN-Based Ad Blockers That Work in Third-Party Apps
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Everyone knows that ad blockers are the result of overly aggressive advertisers annoying the hell out of a customer. If we choose to block their ads, there's a damn good reason for it. They need to learn how to appropriately advertise instead of harass, annoy, and trick the user into clicking on their ad. When I can't read web pages, particularly on mobile, because there is an advertisement every inch, it is way out of control. And we passed that red line long ago.
I should have a right to block all those annoyances if I choose to do so. Advertisers: grow up. Learn to advertise so you attract customers, not piss them off. Then maybe we won't block you.
I should have a right to block all those annoyances if I choose to do so. Advertisers: grow up. Learn to advertise so you attract customers, not piss them off. Then maybe we won't block you.
Thankfully I have AdClear on my devices. It's through Test Flight and probably won't be updated again. Oh well. Money is king they say.
Alright, as long as Apple gives me a functional adblocker in return.
If not, well, that's why the laptop is still my main device instead of my phone.
If not, well, that's why the laptop is still my main device instead of my phone.
Every person I know who has a PC has 2 virus protectors and malware programs. I think their computers work worse after running those programs than before.
Also, most of those programs are redundant and I'm confused to why people opt to use more than one. They tend to 'fight' each other and also compete for RAM.
Also, most of those programs are redundant and I'm confused to why people opt to use more than one. They tend to 'fight' each other and also compete for RAM.
I actually have no issue with Apple moving to ensure ads are blocked only in safari rather than apps. If you buy an app that has ads you know what your getting yourself into.
Agreed, however there is a difference between an ad online and an ad in an app. I hate ads as much as the next guy, but ads in free apps shouldn't be blocked, and in that sense I am fine with Apple restricting adblockers to safari only.
If you hate ads in an app you can find another app that has no ads (generally paid).
Agreed, however there is a difference between an ad online and an ad in an app. I hate ads as much as the next guy, but ads in free apps shouldn't be blocked, and in that sense I am fine with Apple restricting adblockers to safari only.
If you hate ads in an app you can find another app that has no ads (generally paid).
True except the last part, unless your bank uses plain HTTP. Edit: Someone said that these things actually fudge the HTTPS keys and allow the VPN to decrypt and edit traffic, so if that's really the case... Holy smokes, stay far away from these apps.
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Good riddance.
It's hard enough try to make a living from writing Apps without some cretin offering a way of blocking one of your revenue sources.
Everyone wants everything for free, including ad free.
It's this selfish mind set that prevents funding and incentivising the creation of goods apps.
It's hard enough try to make a living from writing Apps without some cretin offering a way of blocking one of your revenue sources.
Everyone wants everything for free, including ad free.
It's this selfish mind set that prevents funding and incentivising the creation of goods apps.
I have no problem with developers using non-intrusive ads. The ones using ads that are loud or immediately push you to the app store, those are what push me to an ad blocker.
The article is really vague about this. You sure this is how it works, and it's not just one of those ad-blocking DNS servers? Because I doubt very many sites serve their own ads and instead load ads from external sites you can just fail to resolve.
Edited cause I misread and accidentally submitted a reply as MacRumors's server was crashing.
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I was responding to a posting that talked about a VPN service doing ad blocking, not specifically about Adblock (I don't know the app and have no idea how it works).
Well, there are 2 people here and the article all saying different things. What's the truth? I think the article needs a lot more info.
The article lumps VPN and root certificate-based blocking together. VPN, DNS, and root certificates are very different things. Just from a security standpoint: DNS just gives them your access history and lets them present fake sites without SSL, VPN means that plus they get only your unencrypted traffic, and root certificate means you're absolutely pwned (they get to present fake SSL-secured sites and view/modify encrypted traffic). And I've never heard of apps installing root certificates! That sounds like the kind of extra sketchy **** people used to do when jailbroken.
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So AdBlock by FutureMind is really not working well now. The VPN disconnect and reconnect every time I go on Safari. Sometimes, it's working, sometimes it's not.
Adguard Pro also has the VPN option, I didn't see any people talking about restrictions yet on their forum. Is Adguard Pro going to be affected too?
Adguard Pro also has the VPN option, I didn't see any people talking about restrictions yet on their forum. Is Adguard Pro going to be affected too?
That is true for many web pages, but the ads in iOS apps are in my experience rather tame.
Ads on web pages can be blocked without violating Apple's new rules.
Sounds like more of Apple playing Big Brother (1984) telling everyone what they can and cannot do. Before today, it was OK, but now it isn't?
Those that site "security concerns" as a reason don't match what Apple says is the reason. Doesn't fit Apple's guidelines needing to be "app-like"??? That's not using security as the reason.
While I occasionally use a VPN on my iPhone (not for ad-blocking though), I don't really care one way or the other, but it's the principle that, again, Apple is dictating what can and can't be run on the iPhone.
Those that site "security concerns" as a reason don't match what Apple says is the reason. Doesn't fit Apple's guidelines needing to be "app-like"??? That's not using security as the reason.
While I occasionally use a VPN on my iPhone (not for ad-blocking though), I don't really care one way or the other, but it's the principle that, again, Apple is dictating what can and can't be run on the iPhone.
And a lot of apps have not. So what about them? What about the hard work that developers put into there apps to make it so you have a good experience with a quality app should they not be paid for there hard work?
Agree 100%.
People don't realize how much work goes into making a quality app and never will. They will always want it for free because to most they think it was easy for you to make it so why should they pay for it?
I love getting the emails every day from people demanding they get ad free on every device they have because they purchased it once for 99 cents. Even tho they do with the same Apple ID.
It's been that way forever, and you signed up for it. You used to not be able to install apps at all in iPhone OS.
That's not how the good ones work. Adguard Pro, for example.
No, it doesn't. But even if you don't believe me, it's a lot easier to pick on VPN company to research and investigate than having to trust every single app on your phone regarding what analytics info it's collecting and selling about you.
It's not just the ads, it's analytics collection and monetization of users without disclosure. Apps often connect to a dozen or more analytics frameworks with the vaguest of disclosures.
It's the devs who are shooting themselves in the foot by selling out their users for a few cents to analytics warehouses. If an app just want to *show* an ad, I'm fine with that, even if it's a big one. But none of them stop there. Every ad is passing info back about you, your device, location, IP address, browsing habits etc. to the analytics flavor of the month. With all of that data eventually making into a handful of aggregators who know more about us than our own family.
So, yes, devs that are ok with that do need to admit that they really don't give a damn about their users.
This is just like web ad blockers. The sites that went overboard with pop up and pop under ads wreck it for the rest. If Apple would put limits on the ads, I'd support the removal of blocked.
Show me *one app* that shows ads but doesn't monetize their users' data -- IP addresses, usage history, etc. -- and I'll start to believe that devs respect their users. It's very shady practices that would shock people if it wasn't so commonplace.
And I spend $20-30 / month on good apps and look at every API call (address, not content) of every app I use. It's pathetic how few of them disclose just how widely they're flogging their users metadata.
Find a different way to monetize. The users aren't doing anything illegal here. If everyone's ads are being blocked, you're all playing by the same rules.
If you want to bring ethics into it, consider that whatever ads you're pushing are tracking people without their knowledge. This used to not be the case with iAd, but iAd died because it wasn't selling enough info, which really says something. And it would be a different story if users knew about the tracking and willingly accepted it, but most of them don't. (I mean, I know but don't care, and I also don't block ads in iOS apps because there aren't enough to bother me.)
Well, that's one way to do it. The other (much more secure) way you can do it is by MiTMing the DNS requests.
Sure, but that is a very blunt (many sites host both ads and contents) and inefficient (you can't use path-based filter patterns) method.
iOS and AppleTV apps are absoltely riddled with spyware. It is a surveillance nightmare, and I'm not talking about sketchy apps. All the top apps transmit your information to advertisers and analytics harvesters who sell you to the highest bidder.
If you have the ability to watch DNS activity for your network, you'll see what I mean. This is a direct assault on user privacy to bolster developers who enrich Apple.
If you have the ability to watch DNS activity for your network, you'll see what I mean. This is a direct assault on user privacy to bolster developers who enrich Apple.
