| Cult of Mac

How to block ads and malware on iOS

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This is the web without content blockers.
This is the web without content blockers.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Way back in iOS 9 days, Apple added “content blocking” to the iPhone and iPad. More commonly known as “ad-blockers,” this tech lets you use third-party apps to block ads, malware, trackers, comments, and more, in Mobile Safari. Apple itself doesn’t do any more than make blocking possible. To actual decide what to block, you need a third-party app.

Enabling ad-blocking is easy, once you know how, and you can set-and-forget it once done. Or you can keep on top of things, adding custom rules, and white-listing trusted websites. Here’s how.

The best iOS apps of 2018 [Year in Review]

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Year in Review Best iOS apps 2018
Don’t miss out on these awesome iOS apps.
Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Cult of Mac Year in Review 2018There are almost 2 million apps available on iOS today, and yet in 2018, 10 years after the App Store opened its doors, developers continue to deliver new and unique titles that blow us away.

We’ve rounded up the very best from the past year right here. We have terrific text editors, fantastic photography apps, amazing utilities, and lots more.

DAW Cassette, 1Blocker X, Bands in Town, and other awesome apps of the week

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Awesome Apps
'Appy weekend.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

This week you can block all kinds of evil internet content with, make your music sound like it was recorded onto a crappy old cassette tape, translate any web-page right inside mobile Safari, and listen to the songs of bands that are playing live in your town. Yes, its time for your favorite Sunday read, the cult of Mac Apps of the Week roundup.

How to stop sites tracking you, and speed up your internet with 1Blocker X

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Steve Jobs’ brief for iPad: A piece of glass for emailing on the toilet
Steve Jobs’ brief for iPad: A piece of glass for emailing on the toilet
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Ever since iOS 9, you’ve been able to block ads, trackers, and other content in Mobile Safari. But as websites fought back, and the content-blocker apps added yet more rules in return, the war escalated. Blocker apps started to hit Apple’s hard limit of 50,000 rules.

Probably the most popular and comprehensive blocker is 1Blocker, which just got superseded by 1Blocker X. The new app splits off itself into seven “extensions,” each of which have 50,000 rules, bringing the total to 350,000 rules.

This doesn’t just allow 1Blocker X to boast in the app store. It also allows whole new categories of content blocking. The new setup works slightly differently, so let’s see how to get things started.