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As a developer of an ad blocker[1] our stats would seem to back up what Plausible has found: - Despite having equivalent desktop (macOS) and mobile (iOS) apps,
by happybuy 5y ago
As a developer of an ad blocker[1] our stats would seem to back up what Plausible has found:
- Despite having equivalent desktop (macOS) and mobile (iOS) apps, most of our users (> 75%) use the app primarily on desktop
- Most users say the key reason for use is for privacy protection; even with Safari providing some inbuilt privacy tracking protection
- Our app is focused on providing a simple 'set and forget' ad blocking approach; so you would think the key audience would be less tech savvy users. However a large proportion of users are tech-inclined and knowledgeable users.
- A lot of tech heavy websites are some of the worst offenders in terms of tracker usage and advertising. For example, The Verge can load 3.5x faster simply by using an ad blocker that blocks the on-page trackers and ads[2]
[1] https://www.magiclasso.co/ https://www.magiclasso.co/
[2] https://www.magiclasso.co/insights/difference-adblocking/ https://www.magiclasso.co/insights/difference-adblocking/
- telesilla 5y agoCan you make this for Android?
- happybuy 5y agoGoogle has no incentive to support effective ad blocking on platforms they control (Android and Chrome). This has made us reluctant to develop for or invest time on these platforms – the platform owner would be working against what we would be trying to achieve.
- Dah00n 5y agoWhat? Apple is even worse. There was a big cry when Google wanted to nuter adblockers API but Apple have done exactly the same thing. You fell into a pr stunt. Apple doesn't care for privacy. Just look at how they scan you pictures..
- nacs 5y agoApple literally built an API for ad-blocking. How is that worse?
- AlexandrB 5y agoAre you referring to the "content blocker" API? Because that basically forces plug-ins to supply a list of blocked domains. Just like Google's upcoming changes. Neither allow you to run your own engine for blocking like what uBlock Origin does.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- FabHK 5y agoNo, other cloud providers scan all the pictures you upload. Apple does a careful private set intersection (partially on the client, partially on the server) on all the pictures you upload to collect strictly less data than other cloud providers.
- raxxorrax 5y agoAll prominent smartphone OS come with an advertising id. It wouldn't have to be this way. I think Android is open source done wrong to be honest. But yes, in the end they are both crappy vendors.
- slaw 5y agoOn Android you can use Firefox + uBlock Origin.
- Omniusaspirer 5y agoAdd Blokada + Newpipe to the mix as well.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- htns 5y agoI don't recall ever having heard about Blokada before, but looking it up now it doesn't seem recommended: https://gitlab.com/fdroid/fdroiddata/-/merge_requests/8536 https://gitlab.com/fdroid/fdroiddata/-/merge_requests/8536
- ignoramous 5y ago(I created that merge request) Blokada's UI is without peer and so it makes for a very good "just works" for the majority (in fact, from what I know, it is the most downloaded DNS-based content blocker on Android by far). However, it is disappointing that some of their decision-making is found wanting: https://www.reddit.com/r/privacytoolsIO/comments/papgeq/any_app_connection_scanners_for_android/haejrbi https://www.reddit.com/r/privacytoolsIO/comments/papgeq/any_...
- ttctciyf 5y agoForgive the questions, but you seem to be a good person to ask.. How does Blokada actually work? Its FAQ claims it: > prevents apps and browsers installed on your device from sending your private data (known as tracking fingerprints) to the Internet. Is it doing some kind of packet inspection? As a secondary layer of blocking I use DNS66 which intercepts DNS requests and fails them for blacklisted domains, by installing itself as a virtual VPN - essentially a cooked /etc/hosts for Android. Would Blokada work alongside that?
- anon9001 5y agoHow do you collect your analytics?
- happybuy 5y agoOn our website we have no analytics or trackers installed at all. The app usage statistics come via the Apple App Store. App Store users can opt out of these stats via an OS-level setting.
- Dah00n 5y agoOpt out? It should be an opt in system in a for-privacy app.
- whimsicalism 5y ago> Opt out? It should be an opt in system in a for-privacy app. I think it's pretty clear that they are discussing an App Store policy, not analytics collected by their app.
- minhazm 5y agoApple does ask you when you set your phone up if you want to share analytics or not. I consider that opt-in, since you're given the choice up front.
- smoldesu 5y agoGreat, now it's equally as privacy-friendly as Windows 10 /s
- 8fingerlouie 5y agoI'm curious how does this compare/align with 1Blocker ?
- hkai 5y agoWhy is it important to have "privacy" from someone selling me a new video streaming service, but not important to fight against censorship and policing of content by tech giants?
- tppiotrowski 5y agoMy experience running a web server also backs this up. The number of GET requests to the back end is around twice as much as I see in Google Analytics.
- wintermutestwin 5y agoIt appears that Magiclasso is not open source. That being the case, how can anyone trust your claim that "Magic Lasso Adblock doesn't see or have access to any of your web pages or browsing history?"
- Nextgrid 5y agoThe Safari content blocking API makes sure of that. Content blockers can only provide a list of rules for content to block (based on URL regexes, CSS selectors, etc) but can't actually access the content itself.
- thurn 5y agoAre there any ad blockers for iOS that can block ads in google search results? Or is that kind of thing essentially impossible?