Wipr + Filtr.
I wanna tell you about what I’ve been working on since June! It’s a new Wipr feature called Filtr.
What It Does
Filtr extends Wipr’s blocking to all apps on your device. It acts at the network level, but it can access none of your data.
It’s based on new technology that shipped with iOS/iPadOS/macOS 26, and will require them.
I’ve never felt like tackling this problem before, because so far the only way to do so was to create a VPN, which would have access to all of the device’s network traffic; this is obviously horrible for privacy. With this new technology (which Apple calls URL Filtering), Wipr can just instruct the system on what to block and never has to see any traffic at all; this is very similar to how Wipr’s blocklist extensions work. Complete privacy and excellent performance.
Filtr couldn’t be simpler to use: all you have to to is turn it on with a single button.
Business Model
Filtr will be available as an in-app purchase inside Wipr 2. This is both to balance out the fact that Wipr 2 is underpriced, and to cover the server costs that this feature might have. It was also a ton of work!
No charge will be required for beta testers, of course.
Caveats
Because of the design of the technologies Filtr is based upon, there are a few things to keep in mind:
- Browsers other than Safari will be affected; however, blocking at the network level is a blunt instrument. Wipr does a lot more than blocking requests, it also hides visual elements in webpages, and performs dozens other kinds of interventions through Extra. Because of this, I recommend browsing with Safari even when Filtr is enabled.
- Apps that serve their own ads (think of anything owned by Google or Meta etc., and yes, that includes that famous video site) will most likely not be affected by Filtr – their normal request can’t be cleanly separated by the ad stuff, and because of that, blocking them would render the apps unusable. Their tracking and data collection, however, should be blocked just fine. I recommend using the web versions of these services instead.
Beta Testing
I’m trying to learn from my past mistakes, so I’m changing the beta rules this time: the beta will only be open to existing Wipr 2 users, and there will be no anonymous signup link. Sadly this means I’ll need the testers’ email addresses, but I hope by now I’ve proven I can be trusted with your data!
If you’re running iOS/iPadOS/macOS 26, you can sign up for the beta right now! To do so:
On iPhone and iPad:
First, choose an app with ads or tracking you’d like Filtr to block. Then touch and hold the icon of that app, tap Share App, and select Wipr in the share sheet. Let me know you’d like to join the beta in the Issue Description field, and provide your email address, which will be used for the beta invite.
On Mac:
First, choose an app with ads or tracking you’d like Filtr to block. Please navigate to any page which uniquely identifies that app (ideally its App Store page) in Safari, click Share, and select Wipr. Let me know you’d like to join the beta in the Issue Description field, and provide your email address, which will be used for the beta invite.
I’m sure there’s a lot of low hanging fruit in this new feature, so I’d love it if you could help me by reporting apps where it doesn’t work yet – this way we can make it very robust before it ships.
The beta is now running on TestFlight, however it doesn’t contain Filtr yet. Apple hasn’t updated their backend to support this new kind of extension, so I can’t even upload it for now (and neither can anyone else). I’ve provided them with all the info they’ve requested, now we wait!
What’s Next
I hope to see you either in the beta or at launch! But I have no idea when this feature will launch, it’s not really up to me at this point. In the meantime, please hit me up if you have any questions.