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

[69Mustang]

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Update: When reached for clarification, Apple said “This is not a new guideline. We have never allowed apps on the App Store that are designed to interfere with the performance or capabilities of other apps.” It also said it would remove other apps that offer features that block advertising in third-party apps if they “may have snuck on to the App Store.” Apple added, “We have always supported advertising as one of the many ways that developers can make money with apps.”

Oops. Looks like you forgot to credit your source material. Here ya go.
https://9to5mac.com/2017/07/15/appl...-policy-to-stop-adblockers-outside-of-safari/

 

[danskin]

1. Because they made the app, and its Apple's system. Apple can set the rules and control them as they wish, within the law. You have every right not to buy an Apple device if you have a problem with it, as you have every right not to buy an app if you have an issue with it. In my eyes using an ad blocker to block ad's in app that is ad-supported is no different than theft. You know full well that the app is "free" in return for viewing ad's.

2. It exists, and don't be surprised within the next few years seeing it become more of a thing. And although WinRar doesn't have Ad's in the traditional sense, how is the popup reminding you of the trial period and telling you to purchase much less annoying? Again, you know what your getting into with the app.

3. Why not just stop using the app? I get it, you don't like the idea of your data being sold, then why not simply stop using the app, or not download it to begin with? It's no different than people who complain about google using your surfing habits for ad purposes.....stop using google products...its not complicated.

4. Now let me know how a developer can legally force you to view their ad's in an app, while at the same time you are supporting a product (vpn blockers) that block those same ad's? You can't have it both way, and what apple is doing in part helps make sure you are forced to view ad's in those apps.

Free apps are free in the sense you are not monetarily paying for them.

1. Actually no. For example I have the right to jailbreak without violating the law because I paid for the device (whether Apple will fix my broken phone is another story). In my eyes claiming a product to be free while exploiting personal data/showing intrusive materials is the same as fraud.

2. Because WinRar has made it explicit that their product is NOT free. Just because I can practically use it without any form of payment, doesn't mean I'm entitled to it. Therefore I do not have the right to complain because I'm using a paid software without paying.

3. Because the app is useful? I'd delete it if the developer explicitly states that I have to view their ads. Otherwise I'm using their product within every form of agreement. I never complained about google because on Chrome ad block is allowed. Google even plans to incorporate ad blocking technologies into Chrome. The point I'm trying to make is that we should not encourage selling personal data without consent. By any means developers can do whatever they want to make sure people view their ads. e.g. ad block detection. When I encounter this situation, at least I have the right to choose whether I want to view the ad in order to view the content, or simple quit the page.

4. No they cannot, that's the point. You don't get to complain if you do not explicitly required users to view your ads. Also, why is it okay to have ad block on safari but not apps? Are those who make web contents who might as well work as hard as app developers inferior? Ah wait yes they are......because apple doesn't get a cut from user browsing the internet on Safari! So you see this no ad block policy isn't there to protect hard work, but Apple pocket.

5. Thank you for the one who posted about Adguard earlier. I have not seen a single ad in apps (and most websites) after configuring to Adguard's DNS server on my router. Planing to buy their pro version of iOS app as well, because anything of quality is worth paying for.

 

[weup togo]

With a third party root certificate installed, this app can intercept your banking information or pretty much anything you do online.

this is not how x.509 certificates work

 

[sparkso]

it's all about the inconsistency of the ever changing app review guidelines. http://www.vweeter.com

 

[elmateo487]

Understanding how vpn works. The amount of trust you have to put into the company providing the service, and how bad this can go. I understand why Apple made this decision.

The VPN is a local host setup. It routes the data through a local VPN provider that then filters your stuff.
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It does not install root certificate. There's even no actual VPN server on the other side. Blocking happens right on the device. Have a look at the app descr.
[doublepost=1500081438][/doublepost]

Just to clarify - it's not true. Ad blocking happens on the DNS/domain level right on the device. There is no VPN server on the other side of the tunnel, so no sensitive data is sent out. AdBlock doesn't install root certificates.

Thank you, SOMEONE speaking some truth in this thread. Too bad its not up voted for visibility

 

[whg]

Just wait until this policy applies to macOS in the coming years....

This has already started! As an example, MathType was not updated to Office 2016 because of sandbox restrictions. I will stick to El Capitan as long as possible.

 

[JackieInCo]

We are surprised, to say the least.

On Monday we will try to get an updated version through review and see how it goes. There is a small chance that they decided to banish apps which use the old "mobile config" profile installing option.

However, I tend to believe that the article is true and they've made the decision to ban all the device-wide ad blockers. Unfortunately, there's no easy side-loading on iOS, and we can't just live without the app store as we do on Android. So it is more likely that we'll have to re-think the "Pro" app and think up a new set of premium features, which will distinguish it from the free version. I hope they will at least allow us to have the DNS settings functionality.

The old "Pro" app will be left as it is now.

I've always supported your app on iOS and especially, on Android. I have 6 lifetime licenses on Android because of how well it does what it does and what I expect it to do.

AT least on my Jailbroken iPhones that I still own, I can block Adguard from being updated and I will not update the app on my non jailbroken devices either.

I refuse to use these ridiculous ad laden apps where many of them force you to view an ad before you can even use their app and then there are the ridiculous apps that will out of nowhere, redirect you to the app store to view some stupid game.

Thank you for your great apps Adguard.

 

[dilbert99]

I don't really agree with ad blockers.
I don't really agree with the incessant ads and bad ad behaviour either


I installed an ad blocker recently because my desktop eBay pages were taking an age to load (im on 25MBit service).
instantly fixed my eBay issue.

Sites have to learn before everyone uses one.

 

[avatar-adg]

Apple said “This is not a new guideline. We have never allowed apps on the App Store that are designed to interfere with the performance or capabilities of other apps.” It also said it would remove other apps that offer features that block advertising in third-party apps if they “may have snuck on to the App Store.”

At least now it's clear, that the problem is not a security or some vague terms violation.

 

[UL2RA]

At least now it's clear, that the problem is not a security or some vague terms violation.

It's still complete nonsense. You have the best ad blocker on the App Store, so I'll continue using it in whatever form it takes.

 

[shaunp]

This is quite simple, if an ad annoys me by interrupting what I am doing then you can guarantee 100% I won't be buying that product. I use an ad blocker because I am sick of being tracked and rubbish being forced down my throat afterwards.

I'm quite happy to pay for a product I find useful, but don't go offering only the free version and then pumping it full of ads.

 

[curtvaughan]

I’m using the beta on my iPad and Safari ad-blocking is working fine.
[doublepost=1500124969][/doublepost]

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.
[doublepost=1500125127][/doublepost]
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.

How developers make money is their business. If they want to offer a free/cheap application and still want to make money, then ads are one way to go. See what the market will bear with whatever quality app you are offering. What is ridiculous is to whine at customers that they aren't being fair, given your long-suffering hours of development. If your app offers functionality that many people want, then offer them an ad-free version at a price they are willing to pay and that you think adequately compensates you. If your app won't sell under those circumstances, then what you offer isn't worth the price you are asking of your potential customers. If what you produce isn't in demand for the price you demand - either via ads or money - then either adjust/improve your app or get into a different business. Blaming "cheap" or "unfair" customers for the failure of your app to make price point will never bring you more business. No seller gains customers by attempting to lay on a guilt trip.

 

[RumorSeeker]

As if drawers of soon useless dongles isn't enough reason to ditch the fruit of the company, any assault on adblockers should definitely keep buyers away.

 

[lockerc18]

The problem isn't VPN adblockers. The problem is ads themselves. There needs to be a new business model developed which isn't based on ads and clickstreams to generate revenue. It's time to get rid of ads altogether. No more invasive pop-ups that steal personal data. How much of internet traffic is due to just adstreams?

Just going to macrumors.com links to 4 different adserver or analytics sites. (Lightbeam is a terrific plugin.) Going to one of my favorite sites, Arstechnica, links to 12. Going to washingtonpost.com gets you 22. It's no wonder that web browsing is so slow. It's been said that 40 percent of internet bandwidth is due to porn. I think more than that is due to just adserving and the infernal analytics meant to target those ads to you.

NO MORE ADS.

 

[Pike R. Alpha]

Read the post I was replying to...I never said blocking ads was illegal. If you are so worried about draining data, pay for apps!

No you didn't, but then again it was only a clarification, about the fact that blocking ads isn't illegal either.

Hey. I'm not worried about data usage. I don't even use the app. Fact is that data costs money, and thus you were wrong to suggest that people aren't already paying for the ads.

 

[femike]

I support Apple on this. If you don't want to use a free app with ads, either pay for it or if there is no option, delete it or if you can't even do that, stop whining and move on. The more people do this, the app developers will get the message. There will be a few reasons why Apple did this, its not a single reason.

 

[lockerc18]

I support Apple on this. If you don't want to use a free app with ads, either pay for it or if there is no option, delete it or if you can't even do that, stop whining and move on. The more people do this, the app developers will get the message. There will be a few reasons why Apple did this, its not a single reason.

It's not just apps. It's full web sites, too. If I subscribe to a particular site, which is analogous to paying for an app, why should I ever see an ad there again? I'm already paying good money to subscribe to it. Isn't that enough for the site owner? I guess not.

 

[Hippocrates]

I support Apple on this. If you don't want to use a free app with ads, either pay for it or if there is no option, delete it or if you can't even do that, stop whining and move on. The more people do this, the app developers will get the message. There will be a few reasons why Apple did this, its not a single reason.

This will never happen. There are just too many people who are lured to free app without considering the hidden cost of being tracked. To be fair to the consumer, the app should be made to declare its interest of monetizing users' data, instead of hiding their motive under the vague clause of "we track you to understand your habit and we are committed to deliver better browsing experience to you". They should be upfront and say something like "We sell your data to our advertisers at 2 cents for every 10 minutes you spend on the app". Or something like "using our app consume 120% more of your mobile internet bandwidth to deliver the ad to you and to track you".

 

[639051]

This is crazy. So many apps have gone overboard with annoying, interpreting ads. I hope some vpn service will start offering reliable ad blocking.

Tell the dev you would like an ad free option and you'll pay for it, otherwise just stop using the app. Good apps deserve payment, crappy ad supported ones are just miserable.

 

[avatar-adg]

Tell the dev you would like an ad free option and you'll pay for it, otherwise just stop using the app. Good apps deserve payment, crappy ad supported ones are just miserable.

Told it FB Messenger devs a few times, they didn't listen ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The problem is not the in-app ads. There're browsers with no content blockers support, there're browsers embedded into apps like FB or twitter, there are dozens of trackers inside of all apps including the paid apps. We did a small research recently and found third-party trackers inside of a lot of banking apps, which is simply outrageous.

 

[Hippocrates]

Tell the dev you would like an ad free option and you'll pay for it, otherwise just stop using the app. Good apps deserve payment, crappy ad supported ones are just miserable.

Most of my app are paid except for Flipboard and Facebook, having spent hundreds of bucks on apps. A couple of paid games still deliver ads! Good apps can be supported for sure. The problem is most people do not understand the cost for viewing ad and being tracked. That has to be explicitly mentioned or people would believe that a company that is earning billions in profit is actually doing community service for tracking them... and that applies so smaller developers using the same sneaky modus operandi even though they haven't made it to the scale of earning billions.

Moreover, if I do not want to connect to child porn websites, I'll put a filter to get rid of those URLs. I don't see how that's different from blocking ad/trackers URLs. Any developer who wants to have ad in their apps have to be upfront about it and be totally responsible for displaying the app, meaning, using their own URL than using third party ad/tracker server links. They can't blame adblockers for blocking someone else's URL which is not theirs to begin with.

 

[0924487]

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.

If you understand how it is implemented, you will understand it is more secure than allowing ad servers freely connecting to your device.

VPN ad blockers listen locally and route all ad traffic to Google DNS which is 8.8.8.8 to closed ports that DNS servers don't listen, which means ads are being routed to a dead end. If you don't trust Google, you can change the server to whatever you want. Nothing is sent to a third party server for filtering.

Proxy based blockers use PAC file which is proxy auto configuration file to set up a dummy proxy which essentially does the same thing as a VPN based solution. The only difference is that it only works via Wifi or over your own personal or corporate VPN connection. It doesn't work over cellular without a personal or cooperate VPN. It requires manual setup on every WIFI network you join. VPN based ad blocker can do everything automatically and seamlessly with zero technical knowledge required and it works over all connections.

Smart up. I can't live a day without ad blockers. I will move to MS surface pro and galaxy S if Apple make this too harsh. In most cases I can find a work around. I have a real personal VPN which does ad blocking and custom filtering on the server side anyway.

Just clear text reading is difficult enough for people with reading disorder. If you are the kind of person that does those kinds of shenanigans, please don't let me see you in real life, because I will carve you like a Halloween pumpkin the way you carve an app view or web view and you will know exactly how I feel.

 

[Hippocrates]

Tip to avatar-adg... if you guys launch a real VPN service with the excellent quality of Adguard Pro in the future, I'm sure to be one of your subscribers!

 

[alphaod]

Maybe Apple can introduce some new ad guidelines as well.

 

[DevNull0]

I was very late to the adblock party because I figured if I enjoy the content let them profit a bit off their ads.

It was actually macrumors that convinced me I needed an adblocker. The ads are so bad here that I can't even view the site at all anymore on my iPad 4. On my newer mac, it takes forever to load, sometimes goes into a frenzy where the whole page blinks white every second forever. I get a spinning beachball when I try to scroll it which doesn't clear until I swipe out of the browser and back in. Sometimes it loads forever as an ad script doesn't end. With adblock, this site is smooth, clean, and quick.