App: iAntiSpy
Developer: iBoostUp Pty Ltd
Genres: Utilities, Productivity

Make your web browsing fast, safe and ad-free with iAntiSpy!

Tired of being followed around by the same retargeted ads on various websites?  You need iAntiSpy. 
Frustrated by a simple news site taking ages to load?  You need iAntiSpy. 
Worried about your browsing habits being collected, collated and resold in bulk?  You need iAntiSpy! 

iAntiSpy is the best way to get rid of irritating ads, stop online tracking and protect your Mac from downloading malware.
The web is infested with annoying and intrusive ads, distributed tracking servers and other nasties. 

iAntiSpy blocks these and more, regardless of whether you use Safari, Chrome, Firefox or any other app to access the Internet.

How does iAntiSpy work?
iAntiSpy installs a system extension that scans domain lookups before they leave your computer. If a request is to a known tracking, malware of phishing server's domain, iAntiSpy will respond that the domain does not even exist. This causes requests to fail quickly, silently and gracefully. All of this is done locally on your Mac before a lookup occurs over the network. Your information is safe, iAntiSpy does not actually know which domain you are requesting - all of our databases and the request itself is transformed using a one-way cryptographic hash function before processing. The only place the actual requested domain is stored is temporarily in memory, and only for the purpose of displaying the blocked alert & in the table that allows you to add it to the ignore list.
 
Will iAntiSpy speed up my browsing?
Yes! For example, by simply visiting the Sydney Morning Herald's website in Safari iAntiSpy processed 82 requests and blocked 25*.
So just on that one site, we blocked about 30.5% percent of the usual DNS lookups, had the DNS lookups not been blocked, those servers would have responded with various bundles of tracking and analytics javascript, further slowing the browsing experience.
* tested with the 7 Dec 22 iAntiSpy databases.

Why don't you make browser extensions?
By using a system extension, we are able to protect every single application on your Mac. Any version of any browser and also any program or app you run. Did you know many apps now connect to various analytics servers and send data about your usage and your Mac every time you open them? Most malware connects to a control or update server to install other payloads and keep itself up-to-date. Browser extensions cannot protect you against these.

Does iAntiSpy work if I have a VPN?
Yes, iAntiSpy will scan all lookups before they leave your computer.
We've most recently tested with a WireGuard based VPN (Proton) and found iAntiSpy to co-exist and work correctly with it.

Notes about VPNs
Connecting via a VPN adds extra latency and minimal benefit apart from in specific use cases, so have a think about why you're using the VPN.
Often by using a VPN you're simply moving the opportunity for metadata collection, traffic analysis and so on from your ISP to the VPN provider.
Most of the web is now encrypted and attackers aren't able to passively see the content of your browsing.
In most cases on the modern web, you will get good coverage and be better served by simply enabling the "Encrypt DNS traffic"* setting in iAntiSpy. 
This will prevent snooping and tampering of your DNS traffic (which is the last main protocol that still operates in plaintext), without sending all data through a VPN. 

You are welcome to use iAntiSpy completely free to block the most common ads and annoyances, but hope that you'll upgrade! (we don't nag)
So, why should I upgrade to the paid version?
The paid version supports further development and allows you to enable ehanced protection.

Enhanced protection has several benefits:
- Daily Database updates
- Phishing / identity theft Protection updated daily
- Encrypt DNS & block more malicious content
- Priority Customer Support

* option available to users who have upgraded to enhanced protection

Release notes:
- Updated databases
- Bugfix