Blocking ads on a desktop is as simple as installing an ad-blocking add-on or extension to your web browser, but things get significantly more tricky when you’re browsing the web on a mobile device. That’s why the developers behind Adblock Plus, which has tens of millions of users across the globe, has launched its own mobile web browser with ad-blocking software built-in on Android and iOS. It’s worth noting that the web browser has actually been available on Android for a while, but the developers were only just recently able to convince Google to allow the app to come back to the Play Store.
Popular desktop ad-blocking software Adblock Plus, which has some 50 million+ monthly active users worldwide, has finally launched an iOS app. It’s also managed to convince Google to allow its ad-blocking browser for Android back in the Play Store, noting that this is the first time since March 2013 it’s been allowed in the Google-controlled Android app store. Speaking to TechCrunch back in July, ABP’s head of ops, Ben Williams, said the company was planning to launch an Adblock Plus browser for iOS in “early fall/late summer”. So they’re spot on in their timing. Clearly the company was eager to get its app live before the widespread availability of iOS 9 — which introduces a content blocking feature to the platform that will enable developers to more easily create ad blockers and other content blockers for the platform, spawning more competition for Adblock Plus. While ABP has built a successful business on the desktop, the switch to mobile computing is more of an implementation challenge. In the case of its approach with these browser apps, it’s having to rely on users downloading and using a dedicated browser for ad-blocking — rather than being able to work as an extension on the native browsers (a route that’s blocked to it for now).
