RiffBlock

Start with Safari’s own blockers

RiffBlock starts with native Safari content blockers. Known advertising and tracking requests can be blocked before the page loads them. Those rules keep working when the main app is closed. Advertising, privacy and appearance are handled as three separate categories.

An optional Safari extension adds assistance where pages load content dynamically. I am working on conservative detection, local selection rules and extra logic for certain video and social websites. Normal posts, forms and essential controls should stay intact.

A website should be repairable

I want the main difference to be in how the tool behaves. The setup assistant checks the actual effect of all three native filters on an allowed Safari page. A saved switch is not enough. The Safari popup lets me relax protection for the current website, pause it or return to the default.

Custom selection rules have a preview and an undo action. Settings, language choices, exceptions and repairs can be backed up locally. Deliberately created issue reports stay on the device in the current version; there is no connected public reporting service.

Language choices stay on the device

Alongside the international filters, additional packages cover German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch. They can follow device languages or be selected manually. Small, precompiled website additions cover a limited selection of other language profiles.

Neither language choices nor visited websites are sent to me. Regular filter updates connect to public filter sources, whose operators receive the network information needed for those requests. The current basic protection does not require an account, VPN or proxy.

What I can show, and what remains

RiffBlock has been on my list for a while. I am now sharing internal test version 1.0.0, build 2. The native interface is in German and English, with iOS and iPadOS 17 and macOS 14 or later as the supported starting points. The images are genuine simulator captures from development.

Extra video detection is not a promise to remove every advertisement. Ads inserted into a stream can remain. A recognised ad break in a supported player state can be covered and temporarily muted; that does not shorten the waiting time. Protection applies to Safari websites, rather than other native apps.

Further Safari and physical-device checks are needed before public release. I am also considering an optional extra analysis feature through my own API later. No such service is active in the current product, and there is no settled price or release date.