I can't even read most news websites these days because the ads are so utterly distracting and awful.
Still, it works pretty well. But how I wish it was possible to have uBlock Origin running in mobile Safari (and desktop Safari for that matter)...
But in my experience, it simply does not work compared to other platforms. I still see a lot of ads even with their strictest settings, and it also seems to break a lot of sites without having any toggle switches in the browser UI.
It's gotten to the point where I put the iPhone down and pick up another device if I need to access a website. After a few months, I'd like to just resell the phone. But on the social side of things, having a number with blue chat bubbles is a depressingly effective status symbol, and Apple is better about in-app tracking.
It's getting hard to ignore how harmful the duopoly in phone operating systems is to consumers. Carrying two phones around is not a tenable solution.
I use DNSCloak to block ads in other apps. It’s obv not as good as an element blocker but it’s great for when I need to use chrome or some random store app that inserts ads.
The lack of functioning ad blocking is by far the biggest downside to iOS, and the same reason that I pity the engineers who put all that work on desktop Safari only to have it rendered worthless by their lack of ad blocking.
I don't think this is true. I use 1Blocker and it seems to have tons of element-based rules. You can also create your own element-based rules easily with the Safari share extension. You tap the element you want to remove, tap buttons to go up or down the DOM to make sure you hit the right level, and then add it to your blocklist.
And the answer is, it's not installed by default, but there are a variety of third-party plugins available in the App Store.
There is a firehouse of options in the app store, but you need to sift through conflicting reports about which ones are "still good" - the prevailing recommendations seemed to change every 6 months or so when I researched which ones to try.
When you do find some that seem worthwhile, the paid tiers are often expensive, and they will not work as well as the free browser extensions on every other platform.
And there is no replacement for NoScript at any price.