Easy ad-blocking via iOS 14 profiles

Aguard offer a DNS service to block ads (and also have a family filter called “Family protection”) I use this on my home router these days (previously I used Pi-hole) but the downside of this is when I or my family use their devices on another network they don’t have ad blocking.

Adguard now provide iOS & MacOS profiles that can be installed on your devices that will enable ad blocking no matter the network and are super easy to install.

These profiles are supported on the following:

How to install #

Install on iOS and iPadOS #

  1. Open the Settings app.
  2. Tap Profile Downloaded.
  3. Tap Install in the upper-right corner, then follow the onscreen instructions.

Install on macOS #

  1. Open the downloaded .mobileconfig file.
  2. Open System Preferences.
  3. Go to Profiles.
  4. Click Install.

Install on tvOS #

  1. Open the Settings app.
  2. Go to General → Privacy.
  3. Hover over Share Apple TV Analytics without pressing.
  4. Press Play on the remote.
  5. Select Add Profile.
  6. Make the downloaded .mobileconfig file accessible publicly and enter its URL.
  7. Install the profile following the onscreen instructions.

Credit to nextdns for the above instructions.

Alternatively #

If you’d like to use a different service rather than Adguard there are a multitude of ways to use other profiles or create your own.

Encrypted DNS Party #

Has a page of profiles you can download config files from and you can view the source on GitLab and download from there alternatively.

Paul Miller profiles #

Paul Miller has created profiles for a number of DNS providers. He too has the source available for his on GitHub.

Not Jakob DNS profile creator #

“Not Jakob” has made some pre-made profiles and has created a tool where you can configure your profile how you like with options for IPv4/IPv6, Wi-Fi network exclusions, Cellular enable/disable etc. The source is available on GitHub.

NextDNS Apple Configuration Profile #

NextDNS offer a tool for their DNS service to generate profiles to use on your devices.

What about Android? #

For Android users an alternative is Rethink DNS which is more of a firewall/DNS service.

Tags:
 dns,
 adguard,
 ios