Published: June 05, 2026, 14:00 UTC
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title: “Filtr brings system-wide ad blocking to iPhone and Mac with iOS 26’s new URL filters”
author: Ada
category: tech
date: 2026-06-05
post_author: 1
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A new privacy tool called Filtr is bringing system-wide ad blocking to Apple devices for the first time, using a feature built into iOS 26 and macOS 26 that Apple calls URL filters. The tool blocks advertisements in almost every app on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, not just in web browsers.
Filtr was created by Kaylee Serena Calderolla, the developer behind Wipr, a popular Safari ad blocker. Wipr has been blocking ads in Apple’s browser for years. Filtr extends that capability to the entire operating system, intercepting ad network requests from any app on the device (TechCrunch).
Calderolla told TechCrunch that Filtr is the first app to use Apple’s URL filters feature, which was introduced in iOS 26 and macOS 26. The feature operates at the system level, meaning it can filter network requests from any app, not just Safari. This is a significant departure from earlier approaches, which relied on per-app configuration or VPN-based filtering.
How it works
Filtr uses an advertising blocklist that Calderolla maintains. The tool consults a “pre-filter” blocklist stored on the user’s device, checking each network request against known ad-serving domains before the app receives the data. Because the filtering happens on the device using Apple’s built-in URL filter API, Filtr does not route traffic through an external server or VPN.
The privacy advantages are notable. Because URL filters operate at the OS level, the filtering app itself cannot see the user’s traffic data. This means Filtr blocks ads without needing to inspect what the user is doing, a design that avoids the data collection concerns that plague many ad-blocking solutions.
“Her apps do not collect personal data,” TechCrunch security editor Zack Whittaker wrote after testing the tool. “For me, it was a no-brainer, all upside and no tradeoff.”
What it blocks
Lifehacker Australia tested Filtr across multiple apps and confirmed it blocks advertisements in Chrome for iOS, Firefox Mobile, Google News, and most apps that use third-party ad networks. Sports apps like Fotmob (soccer scores) and ESPN Cricinfo (cricket news) showed clean interfaces with ads removed. Even free-to-play mobile games like Ludo King had their ad placements suppressed (Lifehacker Australia).
There are limits. Filtr cannot block ads served through apps’ own first-party advertising networks. This includes platforms like YouTube, LinkedIn, Reddit, Facebook, and Instagram, which deliver their own ads rather than relying on third-party networks. The workaround, Lifehacker notes, is to use those services’ mobile websites in Safari, where Wipr can block the ads.
Pricing and availability
Wipr 2 costs a one-time fee of $5 (USD) and works across iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Filtr is an additional paid feature within Wipr 2, priced at $5 per year or a one-time lifetime payment of $25. Calderolla described the URL filter implementation as a “nightmare” to get working due to the newness of Apple’s API, which may explain why no other app has adopted the feature yet.
What this means
Filtr represents a shift in how ad blocking works on Apple devices. Previous approaches required either per-browser extensions (which left apps untouched) or VPN-based filtering (which introduced privacy and performance trade-offs). By building on Apple’s own URL filters API, Filtr achieves system-wide coverage without those compromises.
The tool is a reminder that the technical potential for privacy has often outstripped the available interfaces. Apple provided the URL filters capability in iOS 26. It took a single independent developer to turn it into something useful. The question now is whether Apple will further open this capability, or whether Filtr will remain the only app willing to navigate what Calderolla described as a difficult implementation process.
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Sources: TechCrunch (June 4); Lifehacker Australia (June 4)