BLUF: I have used 1Blocker for about six years and bought the lifetime version years ago. When I recently checked its statistics on my Mac, I discovered that it had blocked 41,831 ads, trackers, and other unwanted requests. That is on one device. For me, that pretty much answers whether the software has been worth keeping around.
I am not interested in turning this into a giant comparison of every ad blocker available. This is simply one of those rare “here is a tool I actually bought and still use” posts.
I primarily browse with Safari, and 1Blocker has been running on my Apple devices for roughly six years. I paid for the lifetime version years ago, installed it on each new device, and mostly stopped thinking about it.
Then I opened the statistics on my Mac.
The all-time number was 41,831 blocked requests.
In the most recent seven-day period alone, it blocked 855 requests.
That caught my attention.
What Does 41,831 Actually Mean?
It does not mean 1Blocker removed 41,831 giant banner ads from my screen. The number includes ads, trackers, and other unwanted resources that websites attempted to load while I was browsing.
That distinction matters. I do not want to turn a useful statistic into a bigger claim than it really supports.
What the number does show is how much background activity can accumulate during ordinary web use. Most of it is invisible. I am not sitting there counting tracking scripts or watching every blocked network request. I simply browse, while 1Blocker and Safari do the filtering in the background.
According to 1Blocker, its Safari content blocker supplies filtering rules to Safari so the browser can stop unwanted material before loading it. On the Mac, its Blocking History uses a privacy-focused Safari mechanism and stores the statistics locally on the device.
That quiet, local approach is a big part of why I continue using it.
My iPhone Experience Is a Little Different
I also use 1Blocker on my iPhone and iPad. The standard content-blocking features work with Safari, while 1Blocker offers a separate local-VPN filter on iOS for blocking known in-app trackers.
That does not guarantee that every visual advertisement inside every application will disappear. 1Blocker itself says its in-app filter is primarily intended to stop trackers, although it can sometimes block ads that depend on those tracking requests.
I see the tradeoff most often in games. Sometimes an advertisement fails to load and I end up looking at a black screen instead. That is not exactly elegant, but I would still rather close and restart the game than sit through a 30- to 60-second advertisement.
That is my preference. Someone else may find the restart more annoying than the ad.
Why I Still Keep It Installed
1Blocker is not magic, and no blocker catches everything. Websites change, advertising systems change, and Safari places limits on what extensions can do.
But I judge software by what it does for me over time.
I bought 1Blocker years ago. It works across my iPhone, iPad, and Mac. It receives updated filter rules, works naturally with Safari, and generally stays out of my way. I do not have to manage it every day or constantly wonder whether it is doing anything.
Now I have a number: 41,831 blocked requests on this Mac alone.
That does not tell everyone else what to buy. It does tell me that the software I paid for has continued doing real work long after the purchase stopped feeling new.
For a utility, that may be the best recommendation I can give.
Sources and Further Reading
- 1Blocker: How 1Blocker protects you
- 1Blocker: Blocking Stats
- 1Blocker: Supported apps and devices
- 1Blocker: Going Premium
- 1Blocker on the App Store
