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Comment by happybuy | Hacker News Reader

I make a Safari ad blocker app for iOS and macOS - Magic Lasso Adblock - https://www.magiclasso.co/

It's free to use and download with an optional Pro subscription that includes additional features and makes > $500/month.

Key things that have helped the revenue in 2021:

- Released a major new version 3.0 which blocks all YouTube ads and has kicked along sales and improved the conversion rate considerably

- Apple's small business program began this year that only takes a 15% cut instead of 30%

- After a long time developing and updating the app, it now includes most features requested by users, so it's achieved a 4+ star rating on the App Stores

- Downloads were originally weighted heavily towards the macOS version but it is now getting more usage on iOS which is growing the overall sales volume

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How much is the Pro subscription please? I can't see it listed on the homepage, and if I go to the App Store page, the "yearly subscription" is listed multiple times at $30 or $15.

The optional Pro subscription is $US30 p/a (with differing prices in other regions).

There's also the free version of the app which includes ad blocking along with a 1 month free trial of the Pro version available in-app to see if it's useful for you before committing to a full year.

Wait, it's possible to have an ad locker on iOS safari? I thought this thing is impossible and unlock etc don't exist on iOS.

Content blockers and extensions are supported on iOS.

https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/get-extensions-iphab0...

Yes it's possible to build ad blockers on Safari using the Apple content blocker API. Support was also added for Web extensions in iOS 15 and macOS Monterey.

The web extension support is what enabled us to deploy complete YouTube ad blocking on iOS in Safari – previously it wasn't possible to do this reliably just with the content blocker API.

Since iOS 12 or 13.

The GP comment is an app for macOS. Do you know of any good, reputable blockers for iOS?

The GP’s comment is for macOS and iOS.

On iOS, Firefox Focus (a single tab browser) comes with a content blocker. Hush is another good content blocker. Of course, Magic Lasso (free or paid).

I've only experienced the dictatorial context of Chrome on Android, so would never have fathomed something like this would ever pass policy. Hence I didn't quite pay proper attention to the copy on the website, which does note that it works on iOS. Thanks.

And wow.

Magic Lasso is what enabled me to finally stop using Chrome on my personal devices and just use Safari. I’ve been a happy (and paying) Magic Lasso user for over a year since I heard you advertise on some Mac podcasts.

Thank you for building this awesome product

Glad that you are enjoying using Magic Lasso and thanks so much for the support – it helps us to continue developing, updating and improving the app.

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