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So I tapped the link on my iPhone and was taken to the App Store. The download button is available. Great! Finally I can block ads in mobile too. It installs,

So I tapped the link on my iPhone and was taken to the App Store. The download button is available. Great! Finally I can block ads in mobile too. It installs, opening it is a simple message saying I need to enable it in Safari settings. Strange, but ok. I go to Settings -> Safari -> Extensions -> uBlock Origin Lite. > “uBO Lite” is not available for this version of Safari. This feels like a series of failures, why is it available for download on iPhone if it doesn’t work at all? Is iOS Safari really that different to Mac Safari?

cm2187 1y ago
Update your iphone and it will work
- isodev 1y ago
  The whole point of going iPhone is not to have to deal with these kinds of situations.
  - idle_zealot 1y ago
    Bad news: these kinds of situations are inevitable. You've abdicated control of your digital life for a comforting lie
  - antihero 1y ago
    The whole point of using an iPhone is that you don't have to update it?
    - josefx 1y ago
      Choice and platform fragmentation in one neat bundle. I am almost surprised that Apple doesn't just force updates on everyone when it is possible just to maintain that additional bit of uniformity and conformity for its "think different" crowd.
    - isodev 1y ago
      No, the App Store allowing you to download an app with an extension target that doesn’t match the current system. At the very least there should be a warning or a button to update iOS if that’s possible on the current device.
      - TingPing 1y ago
        Surely a packaging mistake.
  - xandrius 1y ago
    So you never got gatekept by Apple from accessing a feature unless you had a specific version of the OS? Heck, even macbooks get killed every year by not allowing them to build for newer iOS versions. The whole point of Apple, one could say, IS to make sure to forcibly make you update to access a new feature. That way either you can update or you've got to buy a brand-new device.
    - duskwuff 1y ago
      I'm curious what you believe the alternative is - "new features magically appear in released versions of an operating system without the software being updated"?
      - mathiaspoint 1y ago
        Seems to work fine on Linux unless you stick to kernels that are multiple decades old. Whether it's technical or social the situation on iOS is clearly inferior.
        duskwuff 1y ago
        You're being disingenuous. There is more to an operating system than a kernel; new features in Linux software frequently require supporting software or libraries to be updated.
        mathiaspoint 1y ago
        Even the user space updates (outside gnome which most people avoid) don't make breaking changes at nearly the rate you see in iOS.
  - criley2 1y ago
    >The whole point of going iPhone is not to have to deal with these kinds of situations. This is actually really funny because Android users have had the ability to use any browser they want for like a decade+, including browsers with adblock built in, and browsers with fully featured extension systems supporting all major desktop ad blockers, and it all just works. One click download, no setup, nothing. This is one of those places where Apple has intentionally made a terrible UX for you to steer you into their walled garden / first party products. You have to use Safari, you have to dig around in settings, you have to make sure your versions all line up, it's pointless rigamarole that will mean the majority of users stick with stock Safari, just as intended. In many ways, things "just work" on any platform Apple product managers aren't allowed to muck with...
- ryandrake 1y ago
  This doesn't work for phones that are limited to earlier iOS versions. Content blocking was available to developers all the way back to iOS 9. Why would these guys deliberately limit their software to only the latest versions?
  - bhaney 1y ago
    There was a bug in Safari's registerContentScripts that was only just recently fixed in 18.6. uBOL needs that bugfix.
    - ComradeMatis 1y ago
      There was also bugs in the declarative net request implementation that was also just recently fixed - quite a few bugs have been holding uBlock back. The reason why uBlock hadn't come sooner was because DNR hadn't been implemented which would have required the developer to go out of their way to specifically re-write uBlock Origin to work with Apple's content blocking API but now Apple has implemented DNR it should open up the possibility for more choice in the content blocking extensions market.
  - abtinf 1y ago
    The oldest supported iPhone is nearly 7 years old. Can you point to another officially supported phone that’s older?
pdpi 1y ago
I've used Firefox Focus as an ad blocker for Safari on iOS for several years now. I don't actually use it as my browser, I just use Safari as normal, but it integrates with Safari, and seems to work well enough.
- instig007 1y ago
  Try Brave browser on iOS, it cuts everything irrelevant without third-party apps, and you also get background media playback on locked screen (settings toggle) on youtube as "one more thing".
  - eYrKEC2 1y ago
    Brave is awesome. Skip the silly crypto integration and enjoy the amazing integrated ad-blocking.
  - Reason077 1y ago
    Firefox Focus has this feature too! (ie: play YouTube videos from lock screen controls, keeps playing with screen off)
- mbirth 1y ago
  Wipr 2. One time payment for macOS and mobile. And it even blocks ads on YouTube (when watched via Safari).
  - prrar 1y ago
    One time until Wipr 3, coming from a Wipr 1/2 user, just to be clear.
    - SirMaster 1y ago
      Why would you need to upgrade to wipr 3 if wipr 2 does what you want and need?
      - 1y ago
ErneX 1y ago
Extensions for Safari on iOS and iPadOS have been available since 2021, I’ve been using ad blockers on those systems, but it’s nice the have uBlock now.
- lapcat 1y ago
  This is a bit misleading. Safari content blockers have been available on iOS since 2015. In 2021, JavaScript-based Safari web extensions were added.
  - karel-3d 1y ago
    Trying to actually write one before, it's incredibly frustrating experience, as you still need to have some weird native glue code in in Swift/Obj-C. And everything is under-documented, as it the true Apple Experience. (I forgot the details. I can find the code on github, maybe.) If you ask yourself why there are so little Safari extensions, this is why. edit: I look at the code now... I needed to wrestle with BOTH cocoapods and npm, at which point I gave up
    - darrenf 1y ago
      [EDIT to clarify: here I’m talking about writing a javascript based extension, not a content blocker] That’s not my experience (in the admittedly only browser extension I’ve ever written). After getting it working to my satisfaction in Chrome and Firefox, I created the Safari macOS/iOS versions by running $ xcrun safari-web-extension-converter --bundle-identifier <bundle ID> . in my repo. Then I opened xcode, configured the signing/capabilities, and built it. IIRC I had to create the directory for the output because xcode didn't do it itself, but once that was done I could install it to both macOS and iOS. Honestly I was surprised it was so little effort. I don’t doubt that an extension with more functionality than mine might require a jumping through a lot more hoops, but it definitely can be easy to successfully target Safari IME.
      - karel-3d 1y ago
        Interesting. Maybe I tried to do something too complex, I don't remember. https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safariservices/creating-a-safari-web-extension https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safariservices/cre... Here they talk about the "container" that needs to be in Swift/Obj-C. I remember I used to have some problems with the "container" application I think the issue starts to be when you want your extension/app to have any kind of settings that is retained? I don't remember, really.
bspammer 1y ago
It seems to require iOS 18.6, it’s working for me after updating.
- mirekrusin 1y ago
  Thank you, this should be at the top.
- KineticLensman 1y ago
  Can confirm. Installed uBlock onto an 18.5 device, got the 'not supported' message. Upgraded to 18.6 and now it works.
- mock-possum 1y ago
  Which apparently my iPhone SE doesn’t qualify for. Every time this happens, I tell myself, “maybe it’s time to try and android phone”
  - MarcusE1W 1y ago
    I don't know which version of the iPhone SE you have, there have been several over time. Mine is from 2016 (had to look that up). No update to iOS 18, true. In your specific case you have to look very carefully in the Android world to avoid an even worse situation. I think there are a few Android models now that promise several years of updates, remains to be seen, though. If this is your beef with Apple, then I doubt you will feel much better with Android.
  - turtlebits 1y ago
    9 year old phone? Don't worry, google won't care about you either.
    - Cipater 1y ago
      The 3rd generation iPhone SE was released in 2022.
      - 1y ago
apozem 1y ago
> It installs, opening it is a simple message saying I need to enable it in Safari settings. Strange, but ok. I’ve made several Safari extensions for iOS, and they all have to do this. Apple provides no API for an app to enable its own Safari extension. It also has no public API on iOS to deeplink to the Settings page for enabling the extension. You just have to tell users where to go and hope they don’t get lost. (There is an API on macOS to quickly open Safari extension settings. It’s nice! Maybe they’ll add it to iOS someday.)
- MortyWaves 1y ago
  Does an app for that even need to exist? Why can’t extensions be a standalone thing in the store?
  - saagarjha 1y ago
    Because Apple's distribution model centers around everything being bundled as an app
  - duskwuff 1y ago
    > Why can’t extensions be a standalone thing in the store? 1) Because then you need a whole parallel set of processes for configuring, updating, and uninstalling those things, distinct from the existing processes for apps. And you need to make that process accessible to users who may be used to everything being an app. 2) A nontrivial number of browser extensions on iOS are part of standalone apps anyway, like password managers or bookmarking tools. It'd be very strange to have both app-with-browser-extensions and browser-only-extensions, or to require some extensions to be installed and updated in tandem with a companion app for expected functionality.
robertoandred 1y ago
Finally you can block ads on mobile? I've been using AdGuard for iOS Safari for ten years or so.
- themadturk 1y ago
  And I've been using Wipr and 1Blocker since iPhone SE-1 with Safari...
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
ibicycle1984 1y ago
>> “uBO Lite” is not available for this version of Safari. > This feels like a series of failures Your "device" is too old, because you failed to pay Apple recently enough.

cm2187 1y ago

Update your iphone and it will work

isodev 1y ago
The whole point of going iPhone is not to have to deal with these kinds of situations.
- idle_zealot 1y ago
  Bad news: these kinds of situations are inevitable. You've abdicated control of your digital life for a comforting lie
- antihero 1y ago
  The whole point of using an iPhone is that you don't have to update it?
  - josefx 1y ago
    Choice and platform fragmentation in one neat bundle. I am almost surprised that Apple doesn't just force updates on everyone when it is possible just to maintain that additional bit of uniformity and conformity for its "think different" crowd.
  - isodev 1y ago
    No, the App Store allowing you to download an app with an extension target that doesn’t match the current system. At the very least there should be a warning or a button to update iOS if that’s possible on the current device.
    - TingPing 1y ago
      Surely a packaging mistake.
- xandrius 1y ago
  So you never got gatekept by Apple from accessing a feature unless you had a specific version of the OS? Heck, even macbooks get killed every year by not allowing them to build for newer iOS versions. The whole point of Apple, one could say, IS to make sure to forcibly make you update to access a new feature. That way either you can update or you've got to buy a brand-new device.
  - duskwuff 1y ago
    I'm curious what you believe the alternative is - "new features magically appear in released versions of an operating system without the software being updated"?
    - mathiaspoint 1y ago
      Seems to work fine on Linux unless you stick to kernels that are multiple decades old. Whether it's technical or social the situation on iOS is clearly inferior.
      - duskwuff 1y ago
        You're being disingenuous. There is more to an operating system than a kernel; new features in Linux software frequently require supporting software or libraries to be updated.
        mathiaspoint 1y ago
        Even the user space updates (outside gnome which most people avoid) don't make breaking changes at nearly the rate you see in iOS.
- criley2 1y ago
  >The whole point of going iPhone is not to have to deal with these kinds of situations. This is actually really funny because Android users have had the ability to use any browser they want for like a decade+, including browsers with adblock built in, and browsers with fully featured extension systems supporting all major desktop ad blockers, and it all just works. One click download, no setup, nothing. This is one of those places where Apple has intentionally made a terrible UX for you to steer you into their walled garden / first party products. You have to use Safari, you have to dig around in settings, you have to make sure your versions all line up, it's pointless rigamarole that will mean the majority of users stick with stock Safari, just as intended. In many ways, things "just work" on any platform Apple product managers aren't allowed to muck with...
ryandrake 1y ago
This doesn't work for phones that are limited to earlier iOS versions. Content blocking was available to developers all the way back to iOS 9. Why would these guys deliberately limit their software to only the latest versions?
- bhaney 1y ago
  There was a bug in Safari's registerContentScripts that was only just recently fixed in 18.6. uBOL needs that bugfix.
  - ComradeMatis 1y ago
    There was also bugs in the declarative net request implementation that was also just recently fixed - quite a few bugs have been holding uBlock back. The reason why uBlock hadn't come sooner was because DNR hadn't been implemented which would have required the developer to go out of their way to specifically re-write uBlock Origin to work with Apple's content blocking API but now Apple has implemented DNR it should open up the possibility for more choice in the content blocking extensions market.
- abtinf 1y ago
  The oldest supported iPhone is nearly 7 years old. Can you point to another officially supported phone that’s older?

pdpi 1y ago

I've used Firefox Focus as an ad blocker for Safari on iOS for several years now. I don't actually use it as my browser, I just use Safari as normal, but it integrates with Safari, and seems to work well enough.

instig007 1y ago
Try Brave browser on iOS, it cuts everything irrelevant without third-party apps, and you also get background media playback on locked screen (settings toggle) on youtube as "one more thing".
- eYrKEC2 1y ago
  Brave is awesome. Skip the silly crypto integration and enjoy the amazing integrated ad-blocking.
- Reason077 1y ago
  Firefox Focus has this feature too! (ie: play YouTube videos from lock screen controls, keeps playing with screen off)
mbirth 1y ago
Wipr 2. One time payment for macOS and mobile. And it even blocks ads on YouTube (when watched via Safari).
- prrar 1y ago
  One time until Wipr 3, coming from a Wipr 1/2 user, just to be clear.
  - SirMaster 1y ago
    Why would you need to upgrade to wipr 3 if wipr 2 does what you want and need?
    - 1y ago

ErneX 1y ago

Extensions for Safari on iOS and iPadOS have been available since 2021, I’ve been using ad blockers on those systems, but it’s nice the have uBlock now.

lapcat 1y ago
This is a bit misleading. Safari content blockers have been available on iOS since 2015. In 2021, JavaScript-based Safari web extensions were added.
- karel-3d 1y ago
  Trying to actually write one before, it's incredibly frustrating experience, as you still need to have some weird native glue code in in Swift/Obj-C. And everything is under-documented, as it the true Apple Experience. (I forgot the details. I can find the code on github, maybe.) If you ask yourself why there are so little Safari extensions, this is why. edit: I look at the code now... I needed to wrestle with BOTH cocoapods and npm, at which point I gave up
  - darrenf 1y ago
    [EDIT to clarify: here I’m talking about writing a javascript based extension, not a content blocker] That’s not my experience (in the admittedly only browser extension I’ve ever written). After getting it working to my satisfaction in Chrome and Firefox, I created the Safari macOS/iOS versions by running $ xcrun safari-web-extension-converter --bundle-identifier <bundle ID> . in my repo. Then I opened xcode, configured the signing/capabilities, and built it. IIRC I had to create the directory for the output because xcode didn't do it itself, but once that was done I could install it to both macOS and iOS. Honestly I was surprised it was so little effort. I don’t doubt that an extension with more functionality than mine might require a jumping through a lot more hoops, but it definitely can be easy to successfully target Safari IME.
    - karel-3d 1y ago
      Interesting. Maybe I tried to do something too complex, I don't remember. https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safariservices/creating-a-safari-web-extension https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safariservices/cre... Here they talk about the "container" that needs to be in Swift/Obj-C. I remember I used to have some problems with the "container" application I think the issue starts to be when you want your extension/app to have any kind of settings that is retained? I don't remember, really.

bspammer 1y ago

It seems to require iOS 18.6, it’s working for me after updating.

mirekrusin 1y ago
Thank you, this should be at the top.
KineticLensman 1y ago
Can confirm. Installed uBlock onto an 18.5 device, got the 'not supported' message. Upgraded to 18.6 and now it works.
mock-possum 1y ago
Which apparently my iPhone SE doesn’t qualify for. Every time this happens, I tell myself, “maybe it’s time to try and android phone”
- MarcusE1W 1y ago
  I don't know which version of the iPhone SE you have, there have been several over time. Mine is from 2016 (had to look that up). No update to iOS 18, true. In your specific case you have to look very carefully in the Android world to avoid an even worse situation. I think there are a few Android models now that promise several years of updates, remains to be seen, though. If this is your beef with Apple, then I doubt you will feel much better with Android.
- turtlebits 1y ago
  9 year old phone? Don't worry, google won't care about you either.
  - Cipater 1y ago
    The 3rd generation iPhone SE was released in 2022.
    - 1y ago

apozem 1y ago

> It installs, opening it is a simple message saying I need to enable it in Safari settings. Strange, but ok. I’ve made several Safari extensions for iOS, and they all have to do this. Apple provides no API for an app to enable its own Safari extension. It also has no public API on iOS to deeplink to the Settings page for enabling the extension. You just have to tell users where to go and hope they don’t get lost. (There is an API on macOS to quickly open Safari extension settings. It’s nice! Maybe they’ll add it to iOS someday.)

MortyWaves 1y ago
Does an app for that even need to exist? Why can’t extensions be a standalone thing in the store?
- saagarjha 1y ago
  Because Apple's distribution model centers around everything being bundled as an app
- duskwuff 1y ago
  > Why can’t extensions be a standalone thing in the store? 1) Because then you need a whole parallel set of processes for configuring, updating, and uninstalling those things, distinct from the existing processes for apps. And you need to make that process accessible to users who may be used to everything being an app. 2) A nontrivial number of browser extensions on iOS are part of standalone apps anyway, like password managers or bookmarking tools. It'd be very strange to have both app-with-browser-extensions and browser-only-extensions, or to require some extensions to be installed and updated in tandem with a companion app for expected functionality.

robertoandred 1y ago

Finally you can block ads on mobile? I've been using AdGuard for iOS Safari for ten years or so.

themadturk 1y ago
And I've been using Wipr and 1Blocker since iPhone SE-1 with Safari...

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

ibicycle1984 1y ago

>> “uBO Lite” is not available for this version of Safari. > This feels like a series of failures Your "device" is too old, because you failed to pay Apple recently enough.