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Apple Cracking Down on VPN-Based Ad Blockers That Work in Third-Party Apps

hashholly said:
Holy crap. What makes you think you have the right to dictate what a developer deems the best way to acquire revenue for their app is? If a developer thinks ad's are better than an actual price, so be it.

It's funny you say that because I've started to see apps for Mac/Windows that have been free for years start to incorporate ad's. Developers have seen the amount of money that can be made on the mobile side, and they want in on the money as well.

You actually prove that my point is valid with your own comment - If developers are making software for the Mac and PC its because they are making money doing so. If you don't see any ad's and you haven't paid a fee up front, they are selling your data. I won't deny that some developers exist that create apps out of the love of creating those apps and that alone, but the majority of developers out there are trying to put food on their table. One way or another, whether you see it or not, they are making money off of your download of their app.
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Holy crap what makes you think developers and Apple have the right to dictate how end users use their devices? Does your software require users to agree to a legal statement that he/she has to accept the ads you shove into their faces? If not then no one, including the developer, has a say to how people use their software.

Most of the programs I installed on my PC and Mac are either paid or open source. The rest are famous applications like VLC, Cyberduck, WinRAR, Adobe Reader etc. So no, I have not seen a SINGLE ad on my PC and Mac software. As you said you have just started seeing ads on personal computers, so no it's not a thing just yet.

What you said about free software companies selling data is precisely why we need ad blocks. First, if it's actual personal information you are talking about then I'm pretty sure it's illegal in most countries. If it's digital habits you are talking about then of course there is no way prevent them. Most data collected are analysed in order for them to sell you ads. The problem with this is that they collect your habits without your consent, which is unethical. By not installing ad block, you are encouraging this sort of behavior.

If after all it's money that you are after, either put a price tag on your software; tell your users that their habits are being monitored; or force them (legally) to view your ads. Your product is NOT free if users are being used to get you paid.
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Iconoclysm said:
You had a point going until that last sentence, of which there is no evidence to support it and you wildly make an assumption. An obviously wrong assumption at that.
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It's called deduction. He infers Apple's intention by making a reference to a real life case.
 
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jarman92 said:
I see the concern, but I think the larger issue is with third-party developers. If I make an app for iOS and can't make money because so many people are using AdBlock/Weblock to block ads in my app, I'll stop developing for iOS. Apple needs to take steps to protect the revenue streams of their developers, not necessarily for themselves. Annoying, sure, but nobody pays for apps anymore so...
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OTOH,
Any ads I see go automatically on my 'Do not buy EVER' list. Ads are [redacted] annoying, wasteful of screen real estate and bandwith that I'm paying for. Not that I'd have bought any anyway but there is an annoying advert on UK TV for Bud Light featuring three frogs. It makes me even more unlikely to buy any Bud beer which is the opposite to what the ad agency wants.
I spent a couple of years working at an Ad Company and saw how the industry works. That's why I hate all adverts. If people who developed ads were more aware of that then we might just possibly get some decent ads but somehow, I doubt it.
 
hashholly said:
Holy crap. What makes you think you have the right to dictate what a developer deems the best way to acquire revenue for their app is? If a developer thinks ad's are better than an actual price, so be it.

It's funny you say that because I've started to see apps for Mac/Windows that have been free for years start to incorporate ad's. Developers have seen the amount of money that can be made on the mobile side, and they want in on the money as well.

You actually prove that my point is valid with your own comment - If developers are making software for the Mac and PC its because they are making money doing so. If you don't see any ad's and you haven't paid a fee up front, they are selling your data. I won't deny that some developers exist that create apps out of the love of creating those apps and that alone, but the majority of developers out there are trying to put food on their table. One way or another, whether you see it or not, they are making money off of your download of their app.
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What apps are showing ads?
 
Rogifan said:
I’m using the beta on my iPad and Safari ad-blocking is working fine.
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What noise has Apple been making about advertisements? Are you talking specifically about the Apple News app? The changes they are apparently making there are because big-name publishers were threatening to pull out and no longer make their their content available in Apple News. I do use ad blocking in Safari but some sites don’t allow you to view anything unless you whitelist the site. Bottom line is nobody has a right to free content on the internet.
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And how are developers supposed to make money? I think it’s ridiculous people are complaining about this when for $.99 or $1.99 you can remove ads in most apps. And people complain about Apple being cheap and pennypinching.
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I am more than happy to pay for app to remove ad. However, a lot of app do not come with the option to remove ad. Moreover, I dont' use Safari, I use other browser which can not use Safari ad blocker to block ad. Those IOS browser rely on adblock to block ad.
 
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Why not just setup a VPN on your home network and install a pihole and use that to block ads yourself. Then you have full control of your data and don't have to worry about compromising your security. Sounds just like a DIY way of doing what these 'apps' did.
 
shastada said:
Why not just setup a VPN on your home network and install a pihole and use that to block ads yourself. Then you have full control of your data and don't have to worry about compromising your security. Sounds just like a DIY way of doing what these 'apps' did.
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Perhaps because a large percentage of the time, folks aren’t at home.
 
willmtaylor said:
Perhaps because a large percentage of the time, folks aren’t at home.
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Huh? thats why you VPN into your house first. That's the whole point. That also gives the added benefit of securing any open wifi you might jump on so you're always encrypted going back to your house first.
 
This is important.

Many, many app developers make their money from ads in some form of fashion. Allowing a user to block all ads completely via VPN makes their lives harder. Users should be punishing apps with terrible ads by uninstalling them and providing feedback to developers to use better ad networks with better ads.
 
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Roll the functionality into a VPN service and release an app like VPN Unlimited that makes it easy to turn it on and off (connect and disconnect from the VPN).
 
StevieD100 said:
OTOH,
Any ads I see go automatically on my 'Do not buy EVER' list. Ads are [redacted] annoying, wasteful of screen real estate and bandwith that I'm paying for.
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This. A thousand times this. I would estmiate of the ads I encounter (from all sources - apps, web, TV, radio, magazines... ) I respond positively (i.e. become more likely to purchase a product or service) from a tiny fraction of 1%.

The more strident devs and website owners complain that people are basically stealing from them by blocking ads - personally I think those getting money from ads are getting a lot of money from those advertisers for very little result, at least in my case.
 
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fede777 said:
I got it free a while ago but I deleted it a couple of days ago, because I have just 2 apps with ads, Terminology and Overcast, and it only worked in Terminology.
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Or you could just pay, in Overcast, to have its ads removed, instead of paying for a rather dubious app to try to block them. Marco Arment is a pretty reasonable guy.
 
The really amazing thing to me is that Apple ever allowed this in the first place. Think about it: Apple hosts app A which is free but supported by ads. Then an unrelated app B comes along and offers to block those ads so you can use app A for free without ever seeing its ads. App B makes revenue by doing nothing but deliberately screwing with app A, helping the users to cheat A out of its own revenue. Why did Apple ever think that was OK?

(Side note: Safari ad blockers are not the same, as Apple doesn't host the affected sites.)
 
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They need to implent content blocker iOS wide, if they can understand why it's needed in Safari they can understand why it would be nice to have across all apps. I'll contend that app ads are worse than browser ads with their full screen videos randomly taking over your screen or the minigame ones always look like **** and won't let you close it for up to 15 seconds, they're both the mobile equivalent of pop up ads that hijack your control of the main browsing window and won't let you simply immediately X out of em.
 
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Apple getting into the ad business is not going to end well for consumers. It was nice when they were more concerned about the user experience.
 
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Salvor Hardin said:
They need to implent content blocker iOS wide, if they can understand why it's needed in Safari they can understand why it would be nice to have across all apps. I'll contend that app ads are worse than browser ads with their full screen videos randomly taking over your screen or the minigame ones always look like **** and won't let you close it for up to 15 seconds, they're both the mobile equivalent of pop up ads that hijack your control of the main browsing window and won't let you simply immediately X out of em.
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My favorite so far, which I hadn't seen before until I let my little cousin play with my phone, is ads that pop up over ads so that you couldn't close the first ad below it until you closed the second one. These ads would pop up mid-gameplay and it would ruin the game. That's what led me to AdGuard. She's having a lot more fun playing her games now. Even if Apple does stop these apps, as another member mentioned, you can simply use their DNS for the same effect. I don't think they'll be removing our ability to change the DNS anytime soon.
 
zorinlynx said:
Ad blocking using a VPN, and worse, root certificates, sounds like a potential security nightmare waiting to happen, and I can 100% see why Apple would ban them from the store.

With a third party root certificate installed, this app can intercept your banking information or pretty much anything you do online.
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I would assume my banking app would really complain about the root certificate not being valid though, no?
 
With android if you wanted the update you could just go to the devs website on your phone, download the apk update file, and install with no interference of what corporate says is allowed in the App Store. If you want to take the risk on your phone you're an adult and you can do so. Since switching to iPhone for work related reasons I've been able to deal with the limitations Apple puts on the consumer just fine but reading articles like this still pisses me off.
 
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danskin said:
. . . . .
What makes you think a free app with ads is the right thing to do? If you are so concerned about your revenue then perhaps put a price tag on the app or incorporate in app purchase. . . . .
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The problem with this logic is that one-time in-app purchases do not generate enough revenue unless you have a wildly successful app that appeals to teenagers. You see every year a new bunch of teenagers are created and will buy these types of apps to be popular or trendy. But if you target adults, then significant numbers of new adults that want to become popular or trendy don't buy every year, but you still have to revise the app for the annual changes brought on by Apple.

That leaves ads or subscriptions. Most people prefer ads.
 
Salvor Hardin said:
They need to implent content blocker iOS wide, if they can understand why it's needed in Safari they can understand why it would be nice to have across all apps.
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The proper response to apps that have ads that annoy you is to stop using those apps. People choosing to use free apps with obnoxious ads, rather than spending a whole couple of dollars on a competing app, is why we have a glut of ... free apps with obnoxious ads. If you're complaining about the obnoxious ads in a free app you're using, you're part of the problem, not part of the solution.
 
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