First iOS 9 and watchOS 2 apps begin hitting App Store

Now iOS 9 is out, and within hours of its launch yesterday, a new ad blocker called “Peace” became the most popular paid app.

While Apple aficionados race to hit the download button, digital advertisers and paid search professionals are keeping a close eye on the update and its impact on them. Now, that won’t be the case with iOS 9 and you will be able to use Apple CarPlay without having to plug in your iPhone.

A variety of third-party browsers with the ability to block ads for iOS have been around for a while, but now Apple has integrated the feature directly into Safari.

A search was performed through Google.co.uk for “red shoes” before and after the content blocker was enabled and no text or shopping ads were blocked from the results, which was an initial concern as the message from Apple has been so vague.

Blocking ads benefits users by speeding up Web performance and keeping ads from cluttering the screen. However, for those that do, it will have an effect on advertiser’s mobile paid strategy. I realize I’m in a lonely camp, but I recognize that the people behind those Web pages using ads are doing so in order to make some semblance of a living.

Multiple blockers can be enabled simultaneously. Meanwhile, just one day after Apple released iOS 9 to the public on Wednesday, several ad blocker plug-ins have indeed shot up the charts in Apple’s iOS App Store. It only requires 1.3GB whereas iOS 8 took up as much as 5GB which caused quite a stir with users last year.

The scheme allows AdBlock partners to serve white list ads that the AdBlock Plus plug-in, by default, will not block on computers or mobile devices even while the plug-in is running. When not in offline mode, music-streaming apps take up way less space than the Music app.

Arment has expressed his hope that blocking bad ads will lead to publishers being forced to adopt “better monetisation methods”, from selling adverts directly (and so cutting out the data-collecting middlemen) to collecting direct payments from readers. However, the big worry is that, with Apple taking the stance on enabling ad blockers, this could now open the way for other browsers and mobile providers to follow suit.

“You’ll be amazed how fast websites will load again”, user macdaddy5000 wrote in a review for Peace. As he explained when announcing the app on Wednesday, Peace presently supports a number of exclusive features that aren’t found in other blockers yet. We thought we would try out the process ourselves. You’ll need to make changes both in the Google Apps Admin console and on each connected iOS device. If you don’t use an app often, you can delete and re-download when it’s necessary. It sells for $2.99 in Apple’s app store. Switch off the “available offline” mode on your albums and playlists, and you’ll free up space in no time. Once downloaded, launch the Settings app and navigate to Safari Content Blockers and toggle on your preferred content blocker.