The most popular download from the App Store right now is... an ad-blocker?

2 months ago

There was a very subtle, yet potentially seismic shift in the landscape of mobile internet when iOS 9 was launched earlier this week.

In among the new apps, fonts, software tweaks and everything else the download offers there was an application program interface (API) – essentially a piece of code – that enables developers to block adverts that appear on sites within Apple’s web browser, Safari.

This has sparked a huge debate about ad-blocking and the ethics around it – some say it should exist as part of customer choice, while others argue that it threatens the revenue stream of most news sites and online publishers. It’s a big debate, but it’s had another surprising branch it to as well.

Ad-blocking apps – not necessarily the sexiest or most exciting of downloads, have now rocketed to the top of the charts on the App Store. In fact right now, two of the top three are ad-blockers, and this is not the free downloads chart either, these are apps you have to pay for.

Suddenly this largely unspoken of or confronted part of the digital world is very mainstream, and the numbers of people who are downloading apps such as Peace and Crystal shows just how users feel about online ads in general.

Mind you, there have also been those pointing out the irony of paying to block ads, which effectively pay for and make free content possible.

Be warned, the debate is something of a rabbit hole, but clearly plenty of people are already embracing their new-found ad-blocking power.