Apple starting to block system-wide ad-blockers

In a press release, an Apple developer stated that system-wide ad-blocking is not allowed for VPN apps.

It seems that system-wide VPN based ad-blockers are no longer allowed on iOS. Apple no longer endorses services that block specific site requests. This is often accomplished by changing the DNS settings or establishing a local proxy server that sorts out requests going servers known to serve ads or track people. Isn’t it our right to choose which ad-blockers we want?

Apple rejected the recent update of AdGuard Pro, a paid ad-blocker that works on the whole iOS system with a VPN connection. Koperski, the CTO from Future Mind that produced AdGuard Pro, was personally informed of the decision, citing that the reason that the app was using “a VPN profile or root certificate to block third-party content”. This apparently violates the recently updated and enforced App Store Review Guidelines 4.2. The same happened to the company Malwarebytes and their latest update, too. Both companies will change their applications accordingly to comply with Apple’s guidelines.

Third-party ad-blockers only for Safari

Apple makes it notoriously hard for alternative browsers to Safari. First of all, it is not possible to switch the default browser on iOS. Since the introduction of Safari Content Blockers in iOS 9, Apple seems intended to weed out ad-blockers that are not Safari based, limiting ad-blockers only to the ones that work in Safari. With this new guideline, Apple looks to be trying harder to make people stick to their built-in Safari.

This may seem controversial to the announcements in WWDC 2017 where Apple introduced intelligent tracking prevention and autoplay video ad blocking to fight intrusive advertisements.

SnowHaze Browser and VPN not affected

Fortunately, these recent changes in Apple’s review policy do not affect us. Since our ad- and tracking script blockers are built into SnowHaze Browser, you can still rely on SnowHaze to protect you from invasive and personalized ads and trackers. As we do not block ads through our Zero-Knowledge VPN, our VPN service is not affected, and you can continue to rely on us to protect your data.