Several VPN-based ad blockers on the iOS App Store will no longer receive updates after Apple decided to enforce guideline rules. The developer behind Adblock and Weblock stated that Apple has begun rejecting updates to the apps because they violate the App Store Developer Guidelines. According to Apple, the blocked updates aren’t the result of a new policy but an existing one.
Apple’s Developer Guidelines read:
“Apps should use APIs and frameworks for their intended purposes and indicate that integration in their app description. For example, the HomeKit framework should provide home automation services; and HealthKit should be used for health and fitness purposes and integrate with the Health app.”
It’s a little unclear why Apple has only just now decided to start blocking the affected apps but some suggest that part of the reason for the block is because Apple displays ads in iOS 11’s Apple News app and these were being blocked by the ad blocking apps.
Now that Apple is working to stop VPN-based ad blockers, the only type of acceptable ad blocker will be those which use the Safari Content Blocker (SCB). The SCB only blocks ads that appear within the Safari app, rather than across other apps, like the VPN-based clients do.
Source: ZDNet
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