Filtr blocks ads across nearly all iPhone and Mac apps

Using an ad blocker isn’t just about decluttering your screen. It’s a critical tool for online security and privacy, one even the FBI recommends to guard against digital threats. Yet for all their browser-based benefits, most ad blockers fail to address the pervasive tracking embedded within apps , until now.

A new feature in iOS 26 and macOS 26 has enabled a developer to build the first device-level ad blocker that works across iPhones, iPads, and Macs, extending far beyond the confines of a web browser. Meet Filtr, a tool created by Kaylee Serena Calderolla, the developer behind the popular Safari ad blocker Wipr.

Wipr stops ads from ever loading in Safari, which means their accompanying tracking code , used by advertisers to follow your online movements , never activates. The result is a cleaner, more private browsing experience. Filtr, an optional paid add-on bundled into Wipr, takes this protection further by blocking ads inside iPhone, iPad, and Mac apps. It achieves this by tapping into a new Apple technology called URL filters, which allows developers to block access to specific websites or domains at the network level, not just in the browser.

I rely on ad blockers across multiple devices daily , even when websites ask me to disable them. Full disclosure: I’ve been a paying Wipr customer for years on my Apple gear. I also use ad blockers on desktop browsers and run a Pi-hole at home, a small server that filters ads from every device on my Wi-Fi network. Still, that setup leaves my devices exposed when I’m away from home, particularly inside apps , including non-Safari browsers , that are stuffed with ads.

So I was eager to test Filtr. What sold me is Calderolla’s privacy policy, which states her apps “do not collect personal data.” Neither her software nor Apple’s URL filter feature requires access to your personal information. For me, it was a no-brainer: all upside, no tradeoff. I paid the $5 annual subscription, added the URL filter to my iPhone, and the relief was instant. Every app I opened loaded without its usual flood of ads. Some ad slots displayed grey placeholder boxes where ads would have appeared.

Calderolla told me Filtr is the first app to leverage the URL filters feature, partly because getting it to work was a “nightmare” , a challenge she detailed in a May blog post. Apple’s documentation on the feature was sparse, she said, forcing her to figure out much of the implementation herself.

The system relies on a blocklist Calderolla maintains. Filtr consults a “pre-filter” list stored on your device, which is kept current through automatic Wipr updates. Most of the time, the pre-filter confirms a website isn’t on the blocklist, and it loads normally. If it suspects a match, it quickly checks against the master list on Calderolla’s servers. These requests are routed through Apple’s servers as a proxy, so app developers never learn who is querying their blocklists. Once set up, Filtr runs in the background with little further thought needed , high praise for a security or privacy tool.

No ad blocker is perfect, and Filtr has a few caveats. It cannot block ads served from the same domain as the app you’re using , meaning you’ll still see ads inside Facebook, Google, and Reddit apps, since blocking their domains would break them. (Lifehacker’s review noted that using mobile websites instead of those apps lets Wipr handle the blocking.) Still, minimizing exposure to ad networks is a major privacy win.

Wipr is a universal app available for $5 on the Apple App Store, working across all your Apple devices. Filtr costs an additional $5 per year, or a one-time $25 lifetime payment, via in-app purchase.