The best ad blocker out there now works on Safari. You can download uBlock Origin Lite from the App Store on Mac, iPhone, and iPad right now.
The new ad blocker, from uBlock Origin developer Raymond Hill, blocks ads on YouTube without any difficulty, something that many Safari ad blockers have struggled with lately. It also runs efficiently in my testing, which I did on my iPhone SE from 2022—browsing was noticeably snappier.
To get started, simply download the application from the App Store and open it. Then you will need to enable the extension in Safari.
On the Mac, this means opening Safari, clicking Safari > Settings in the menu bar, then heading to the Extensions tab and making sure uBlock Origin Lite is enabled. I also recommend enabling it in Private Browsing.
On an iPhone or iPad, this means opening the Settings app, going to Apps > Safari > Extensions, then making sure uBlock Origin Lite is turned on. Then go back to Safari, scroll down to and tap Content Blockers, and ensure that the Other Websites option is checked on.
After doing this, you can just browse the web with fewer ads. You can click the extension icon on the Mac toolbar to configure how strictly the blocking should apply on the current website. You can also access the settings from here, allowing you to choose a default filtering mode, decide whether pages should reload after changing the filtering mode, and whether the number of blocked requests should show up in the toolbar.
Credit: Justin Pot
You can also choose which filter lists should be applied to your web browsing. Some of the best known lists for blocking ads are enabled by default—you can optionally turn on lists for things like cookie pop-ups and social media widgets.
For the most part, though, you can just install this extension and never think about it again, which is how any good ad blocker should work—giving you the power to block ads without much thought while also making it possible for power users to tweak things. If you’re a dedicated Safari user, but want the best ad blockers out there, uBlock Origin Lite is a strong choice.
