Everyday use
How to Block Ads on an iPhone Without Separate Blockers: iOS and Safari Settings, and a Filter in the VPN
In short: part of the ads and tracking on an iPhone goes away with the built-in iOS and Safari settings — free: pop-ups, Apple's personalised ads, apps asking to track you. Banners on sites and in apps cannot be removed that way; they need a filter. If you already have a VPN, you do not need a separate blocker: ProxysVPN has the filter built in — the “Block ads and trackers” switch and a blocker for Safari.
What removes what
| What | With what | What is left |
|---|---|---|
| Pop-ups in Safari | The Safari setting “Block Pop-ups” | Ads inside the page |
| Sites following you from site to site | The Safari setting “Prevent Cross-Site Tracking” | The ads themselves on the sites |
| Apps asking to track you | “Allow Apps to Request to Track” — turn it off | Non-personalised ads in apps |
| Apple's personalised ads in the App Store and its other apps | “Personalized Ads” — turn it off | Ordinary Apple ads |
| Banners and trackers in apps and browsers | The ProxysVPN filter “Block ads and trackers” | Ads in video and in search |
| Ads on sites in Safari, including ads served from the site's own address | The ProxysVPN blocker for Safari | Ads in other browsers |
Step 1. The built-in iOS settings
- 1Settings → Apps → Safari (on iOS 17: Settings → Safari): turn on “Block Pop-ups” and “Prevent Cross-Site Tracking”. These labels may be named differently in another system language.
- 2Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking: turn off “Allow Apps to Request to Track”. Apps can no longer ask permission to follow you across other apps.
- 3In the same “Privacy & Security” → “Apple Advertising”, turn off “Personalized Ads”.
- 4For long articles Safari has Reader: the icon at the left of the address bar. The page keeps its text and pictures, without banners.
Step 2. A filter in the VPN instead of a separate blocker
Many ad blockers that work across all apps run on an iPhone through a VPN profile of their own, and iOS keeps only one VPN on, so such a blocker does not get along with another VPN. In ProxysVPN the filter is built into the tunnel itself, so you do not need a second app.
- 1Open ProxysVPN → More → “Protection” and turn on “Block ads and trackers”.
- 2A counter appears under the switch: “Connections refused: … today, … this month”. It counts connections, not banners: one banner is often several connections.
- 3For Safari, turn on the blocker: Settings → Apps → Safari → Extensions → ProxysVPN (on iOS 17: Settings → Safari → Extensions). The row in the app changes to “Safari: blocker on”; until then it reads “Safari: blocker not turned on”.
Why ads in YouTube and social networks stay
Ads in a video arrive from the same addresses as the videos themselves, and in social networks from the same ones as the feed. Closing them by address means closing the video too. So address-based filters — ours and DNS filters alike — do not remove ads inside YouTube, Instagram or search. That is the honest limit of the method, not a setting we forgot to turn on.
What it costs
The built-in iOS settings are free. The app itself is free; what you pay for is the subscription: $1.50 per device per month, taken from your balance, with nothing charged to your card automatically. Top-ups start at $5. An account opened on the Russian site is priced in roubles instead: an account keeps the currency it was opened in, whatever card tops it up. The filter and the Safari blocker are part of the app.
Can I block ads on an iPhone with no apps at all?
Partly: pop-ups, Apple's personalised ads and tracking requests, yes, with the settings of the first step. Banners on sites and in apps cannot be removed with iOS's own tools; you need a filter.
Does the Safari blocker work without the VPN?
Yes. It is built into Safari as an extension and works even when the VPN is off. The “Block ads and trackers” filter for all apps works only while the VPN is on.
A site or an app stopped working after I turned the filter on. What do I do?
Sometimes a site will not open without its own counter or ad address. Switch the filter off in the app, or the blocker off in Safari's settings, and tell support which site it was.
Does the filter remove ads in YouTube?
No: ads in a video come from the same addresses as the videos. Other address-based filters do not remove them either.
Is there such a filter on Android and on a computer?
Yes: on Mac, Windows and Linux, and on Android in the version from our site; the version from Google Play has no such switch. All the versions are on the apps page.
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