Discuss blocking online adsatwww.facebook.com/webusermagazine 7 - 20August 2019 49Block ads everywhere‘Ad blocking’, Ac cept able Ads).
For Safari devotees, paying £4.99 for
iOS app 1Block er X (bit.ly/1blocker481)
is money well spent. It integrates with
Safari’s code, telling it to block ads,
pop-ups and trackers. You’ll needto
enable it via the Settings app first,
under Content Blockers, where you can
enable up to seven rules that include
Block Ad ult Sites, Block Comments and
CustomRules, as well as Block Ad s.
Abolishadsfromapps–
without payingGoogle doesn’ t like apps that block ads
across your Android device, so you
won’t find them in the Play Store. For
example, the excellent Blokada needs to
be downloaded viablokada.org(or
third-party app stor e F-Droid,bit.ly/
blokada4 81 ). To instal l the APK(app file)
you will needto enable ‘unknown
sources’ in your Android settings.
It’s worth the hassle , though. Blokada
usesa VPNto block any ad requests
directed at your device’s hosts file –
from apps, browsers, games, emails,
messag ing services and more – then
bounces them to a blank IP address.
You can whitelist domains that you
don’t mind allowing through the filter.
AdGuard (https://adguard.com) is
similar but less Android-centric, and
has versions for Windows and iOS, too.
You can whitelist apps, customise filters
and cut off certain apps’ internet access
completely.
AdGuard Pro for iOS (£1.99,bit.ly/
adguard481) offers more system-wide
ad blocking than 1Block er X, but thanks
to Apple’s constraints, it won’t cut as
much clut ter as the Android version.Blitz those ‘don’t block’
pop-ups
“It looks like you’re using an adblocker”
simpers the weeping kitten, getting inthe way of th e article you want to read.
Someof th ese ‘o verlay’ messageshave
a ‘c ontinue with ad blocker’ option whil e
others act like officious border guards,
refusing to let you through unlessyou
allow adverts.
The handy extension
BehindTheOverlay (bit.ly/behind481)
lets you fight back with one click. If you
see a ‘please whitelist us’ pop-up, click
the BTO toolba r icon and the pop-up
will disappear. It hasn’t been updated in
a couple of years but we found it
perfectly efficient, acting asextra
muscle for your existing ad blocker.Skip annoyingads
in podcasts
New app Podcast Guru (free for
Android,bit.ly/guru481) describes itself
as ‘A No Ads Player’, but don’t get too
excited – it can’t automatically remove
ads from podcast episodes. The app
itself is, however, ad-free, and it lets you
dodge ads by setting a ‘Skip Intro’ time
for each subscribed podcast. Measur eOne day you’ll sa
Amazon Echo: “A
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denying plans toinclude advertising
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Yet it feelsinevitable. After all,
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even the BBC iPlayer already displayALEXA, STOP TRYING TO SELL ME THINGSthatare
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he next
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advertising battlegroundFend off ads and trackers from Android
apps and games with VPN-based Blokada
BehindTheOverlay will gentlydismiss the
kitten when sites pile on the guiltSet a Skip Intro time of 90 seconds in
Podcast Guru to dodge the intro adsBraveblocks allads and trackers, as well
as scripts, cookies and unencrypted sites