Link: ‘Introduction to Webkit Content Blockers’

The official Webkit and Safari blog breaks down the details of content blockers, a new addition to iOS 9.

Notably absent: “ad”, “adblock”, “advertisement” – any mention whatsoever of blocking banners or ads. Instead, Apple entirely plays up the privacy and performance angle.

They aren’t wrong. Tracking javascript files, in addition to being morally questionable, do slow down the performance of websites. But I don’t think for a second that blocking ads isn’t a factor here. Contrary to what some think, the type of hosts blocking used by iOS 9 is more than capable of blocking advertisements. Not to the level of a dedicated extension, but enough to block the vast majority of ads – without the performance hit of an extension.

If you hate ads, value your privacy, and like it when pages load quickly, iOS 9 is going to be a big deal for you.