Adblock us’ new Firefox-based browser eradicates ads on Android devices

BY GreenBot Staff

Published 20 May 2015

After being kicked out of ay in 2013, Adblock us has figured out a way to return. Instead of offering an app that blocks ads in your mobile browser, ABis building its own browser based on Firefox for Android with ad-blocking tech built-in.

ABannounced the new effort on dnesday with an open beta that anyone can join. Unfortunately it’s not exactly a hassle-free process, at this writing the browser was still awaiting approval from before appearing in the ay Store.

en it does show up, you can get in on the beta by joining the ABBrowser + community then click the (at this writing, non-existent) Beta Opt-in button under the About section. The button will appear once approves the browser for ay. 

In the meantime, ABis allowing you to download the browser directly from its site via a QR code posted to +. Your Android device will have to allow third-party app installs (found in Android’s security settings) before you can get the non-ay version of the browser to work.

ABsays it decided to build its own browser to solve two fundamental problems with the previous approach to Android. First, since the original app was thrown out of the app store ABsays it was “practically invisible to the vast majority of mobile users.” 

The second problem was that the Adblock us for Android app can only block ads delivered over unencrypted HTTconnections. That meant it was useless over an HTT encrypted connection, which is becoming more popular thanks to the efforts of others.

y this matters: Adblock us is easily the most popular tool for blocking annoying ads on the desktop, but it hasn’t had much success in the mobile arena. There’s no way ABs previous approach would pass muster with Apple on iOS, wasn’t much of a fan of it either. A browser with built-in anti-ad tech from the “name br” ad blocker should be better received. In fact, there’s a good chance ABs browser will make it to iOS one day as Apple already allows ad-blocking browsers in the App Store.

More than just an end to ads

Beyond just getting annoying ads out of your face, ABsays its new browser will have other positive effects. thout ads, webpages should load faster, your device should save some battery life, you’ll be safer from any malware posing as an ad, according to AB

By default, the new browser displays ads from ABs whitelisted providers—a good thing considering most of the sites you visit (including this one) depend on ads for income. But if you really hate ads you can still block them all.

Basic ad blocking is just the first step for the new Firefox-based browser. ABsays it has “big plans for the future” including a more customized UI, more flexible easier ad blocking configuration, syncing between the ABmobile browser your desktop browser.