Adblock Plus has announced a beta version of a browser for Android that by default blocks advertisements on websites, except for some non-intrusive ads. The Adblock Browser should make it easier to block advertisements on the Android platform.
The browser is based on the mobile version of Firefox 37 in which the Adblock Plus extension is integrated. The Adblock Plus browser also comes with Mozilla's Sync functionality disabled and the possibility to install other add-ons in the browser is also removed. By default the advertising filter blocks URLs from the so called "EasyList", some non-intrusive advertisements from the "Acceptable Ads" list are allowed. This feature can also be disabled resulting in pretty much all advertisements blocked.
Adblock Plus already released an application which blocks advertisements in Android apps, but the app requires changes to the proxy settings of the connected Wifi network. There's also an Adblock Plus extension for the mobile version of Firefox but this has to be manually installed and customized to work correctly.
With its own mobile browser the company behind Adblock Plus, Eyeo, tries to make it easier for Android users to block advertisements. The developers also hope that Google, which removed Adblock Plus from the Play Store in 2013, will allow the Adblock Plus browser in the app store because it only blocks advertisements in its own browser environment.
According to Till Faida, co-founder of Eyeo, the adblock feature for a mobile operating system makes sense due to the fact that advertisers have destroyed the user experience by mindlessly displaying advertisements to smartphone and tablet users. The advertising networks serving the ads are, according to Faida, also unsafe and contain security leaks. Faida also claims that websites load faster with the Adblock Browser, that the browser consumes less data and that the Android device will run longer on a single battery charge when using the browser.
The beta version is currently only available for users who signup through Google+. The developers hope to release a final version in July or August of this year and also hope to release the browser on other mobile operating systems.
