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Comment by bsaul | Hacker News Reader

9 seconds of page load for ads is unacceptable. Mobile browsing has become a pita because of all those poor ads network, and i think once again (after the flash controversy) apple is going to save the web by making radical decisions like this one.

It may very well be that mobile web content browsing becomes even more pleasant than using native apps thanks to that, since they too seem to fall for the trend of putting the maximum number of ads possible. Only with native you'll never be able to block anything easily.

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Apple isn't doing this to save the web, they are doing this so developers will be forced to create a native app to show ads and make some money.

Easiest way to show ads in a native app on iOS... oh wouldn't that be iAd service in which Apple gets a cut of the profit?

Don't know why you got downvoted, as it's a valid counterpoint. You may be right, and that's maybe what some people at Apple may think. But i don't think it's right. Ad-supported business model is ubiquituous, and there are loads of companies who have a vital interest into finding new ways to put ads in web content.

What i think is that by making it harder to put ads in mobile web content, they'll make it more expensive as well, and thus push toward higher quality ad networks ( better targeting, better speed, better content).

Just like the end of flash saw an increase of quality SPA HTML5 frameworks.

And I'm fine with that, at least iAD doesn't make an app load a page 9 seconds slower...

I think Apple is doing this more as a shot at Google than for revenue. Specifically, Steve Jobs was enraged that Google entered the smartphone market, ever since Apple has been positioning products to erode Google's position. E.g. Apple Maps, removal of the youtube app, iAds, now the ability to block ads.

Apple is probably doing it first and foremost to improve browser performance, battery life, and user experience. That's how they make money. If users like their products they buy more products. No conspiracy theory needed.

I really don't get your point, with a native app the developer has full control of what is being shown, if anything ad ad-blocker would steer users more towards a clean web browers than an ad infested native app.

As a real world example, the (otherwise excellent) Twitch app on iOs serves unskippable minute long video ads with an annoying frequency, so much that I often prefer using the service through an ad-blocking web browser (which btw DO exist on the App Store, and have been for a while already).

I think neor (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9776826)'s point is the intended impact on developers, not on users. I believe that the contention is that Apple hopes to coerce developers—or, rather, content providers—into taking down public-facing web portals that are out of Apple's control, where their ad revenue will plummet, and creating instead an app that is to some extent under Apple's control, because that will become the only effective way to get ad revenue. Your choice as a user will then go away; there are already some, though fortunately not yet many, sites that must be accessed through apps (for example, my bank accepts deposits only through their app).

(I'm not endorsing this point of view myself, although it sounds more than a bit plausible to me; it's just, I think, what was being said.)

I think this fits in very well with Apple's recent push on its pro-privacy stance.

The WWDC session for this feature specifically highlights a major privacy issue this can help solve: blocking privacy-invading tracking scripts.

It's completely possible to show ads without tracking every move the user makes across the web.

Let's pretend the problem of linking to content inside another app will be solved without using a webview (so: native app to native app). You still can't beat the ease of tapping a link and getting to a new site you never heard about. Having to go through the store first to install a native app you don't have yet will be such a bad experience that could kill mobile content. I can't believe Apple is really willing to head into that direction until they keep selling devices to access mobile content. Furthermore do we really have space for an app for every site out there? Probably Apple really prefers to please its customers with faster load times. Some of them are content producers but they are so many more content consumers.

If Apple wanted to, they could let the content blockers work for native apps as well. All in-app ads that I have seen are loaded over the same HTTP mechanisms. I guess they have chosen not to do so.

I'd be amazed if the SDK's UIWebView (whatever it's called these days) didn't have access to this in some future release.

I doubt they'd apply it to generic HTTP calls on apps though - it would ruin the ad-supported app ecosystem and Apple aren't that daft.

SFSafariViewController (the new API for presenting a Safari-like browser inside your app) already does support content blocking.

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