5 ms·

You can use Will Strafach's new app Guardian that blocks trackers in apps. I think Apple is going to purge them from iOS apps over time, they've already started

You can use Will Strafach's new app Guardian that blocks trackers in apps. I think Apple is going to purge them from iOS apps over time, they've already started with kids apps. https://guardianapp.com/ https://guardianapp.com/

sascha_sl 7y ago
it's a vpn from all i see cloud firewalls are their own brand of yikes, unless you run them yourself
- chatmasta 7y ago
  It could be implemented as a local VPN server using the NetworkExtension API.
  - sascha_sl 7y ago
    It's not though, typical VPN provider claims. Network Traffic Encryption Protect all passwords, communications, and other sensitive network data with AES-256 encryption, mitigating any attempts to monitor your electronic activity.
wool_gather 7y ago
Very interesting technique: the firewall is remote. > The Guardian Firewall app has been designed to simply act as a client for remotely hosted VPN servers running custom fully-featured firewall software... (From https://guardianapp.com/blog/2019/06/introducing-guardian-firewall-for-ios/ https://guardianapp.com/blog/2019/06/introducing-guardian-fi...) I wondered at first why the VPN was free but you had to pay for the firewall.
reaperducer 7y ago
I think Apple is going to purge them from iOS apps over time, they've already started with kids apps. To be clear, Apple isn't purging apps that protect kids in favor of its own apps. Its my understanding that Apple is purging apps that take over the phone entirely (including the ability to remotely control the camera and microphone) by misusing enterprise certificates. There are plenty of kid protection apps out there that play by the rules and will continue to work.
- graeme 7y ago
  I think OP meant purging trackers from kids apps. https://www.macrumors.com/2019/05/31/apple-to-limit-third-party-tracking-in-kids-apps/ https://www.macrumors.com/2019/05/31/apple-to-limit-third-pa...
- Clent 7y ago
  I believe the parent was referring to a change in Apple's guidelines that was making the rounds a couple of weeks ago, “Apps intended for kids may not include third-party advertising or analytics” This was previously discussed here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20108096 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20108096
- Despegar 7y ago
  As the other comments mentioned, I meant purging trackers from iOS apps. There's a privacy reason to do it but also a business reason. Apple shouldn't have apps on their platform with dependencies to major competitors like Google and Facebook. And it's probably going to be ruled illegal anyway after the GDPR cases get litigated, so it's better to get ahead of it.
wtmt 7y ago
This app does not work in all countries and regions as yet. The pricing for the firewall capability also seems to be on the higher side: "The cost is $9.99/month (or $99.99 per year) for VPN + Firewall capabilities. VPN-only service will be available at no cost." [1] [1]: https://guardianapp.com/blog/2019/06/introducing-guardian-firewall-for-ios/ https://guardianapp.com/blog/2019/06/introducing-guardian-fi...
- stefan_ 7y ago
  And the VPN-only part is free, but it's not a locally emulated VPN. I'm gonna take a wild guess of how that particular service is financed.

sascha_sl 7y ago

it's a vpn from all i see cloud firewalls are their own brand of yikes, unless you run them yourself

chatmasta 7y ago
It could be implemented as a local VPN server using the NetworkExtension API.
- sascha_sl 7y ago
  It's not though, typical VPN provider claims. Network Traffic Encryption Protect all passwords, communications, and other sensitive network data with AES-256 encryption, mitigating any attempts to monitor your electronic activity.

wool_gather 7y ago

Very interesting technique: the firewall is remote. > The Guardian Firewall app has been designed to simply act as a client for remotely hosted VPN servers running custom fully-featured firewall software... (From https://guardianapp.com/blog/2019/06/introducing-guardian-firewall-for-ios/ https://guardianapp.com/blog/2019/06/introducing-guardian-fi...) I wondered at first why the VPN was free but you had to pay for the firewall.

reaperducer 7y ago

I think Apple is going to purge them from iOS apps over time, they've already started with kids apps. To be clear, Apple isn't purging apps that protect kids in favor of its own apps. Its my understanding that Apple is purging apps that take over the phone entirely (including the ability to remotely control the camera and microphone) by misusing enterprise certificates. There are plenty of kid protection apps out there that play by the rules and will continue to work.

graeme 7y ago
I think OP meant purging trackers from kids apps. https://www.macrumors.com/2019/05/31/apple-to-limit-third-party-tracking-in-kids-apps/ https://www.macrumors.com/2019/05/31/apple-to-limit-third-pa...
Clent 7y ago
I believe the parent was referring to a change in Apple's guidelines that was making the rounds a couple of weeks ago, “Apps intended for kids may not include third-party advertising or analytics” This was previously discussed here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20108096 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20108096
Despegar 7y ago
As the other comments mentioned, I meant purging trackers from iOS apps. There's a privacy reason to do it but also a business reason. Apple shouldn't have apps on their platform with dependencies to major competitors like Google and Facebook. And it's probably going to be ruled illegal anyway after the GDPR cases get litigated, so it's better to get ahead of it.

wtmt 7y ago

This app does not work in all countries and regions as yet. The pricing for the firewall capability also seems to be on the higher side: "The cost is $9.99/month (or $99.99 per year) for VPN + Firewall capabilities. VPN-only service will be available at no cost." [1] [1]: https://guardianapp.com/blog/2019/06/introducing-guardian-firewall-for-ios/ https://guardianapp.com/blog/2019/06/introducing-guardian-fi...

stefan_ 7y ago
And the VPN-only part is free, but it's not a locally emulated VPN. I'm gonna take a wild guess of how that particular service is financed.