Open, auditable content blocking rules used by De-Ad — a minimal, anti-surveillance Safari ad blocker for iOS.
De-Ad blocks ads without ever looking at what you browse.
Most ad blockers inspect the active page to apply complex cosmetic fixes. De-Ad refuses to do this.
- No Safari App Extension: We do not have permission to read your URL or page content.
- No Automatic Reloads: We do not perform background actions.
- Zero-Knowledge Architecture: If a site breaks, you decide to whitelist it using manual tools. The app never makes decisions for you.
Safari caps each content blocker at 50,000 rules, but loads every enabled blocker at once. De-Ad ships four categorized blockers (ads, trackers, annoyances, extra) so the budgets stack — ~148,000 rules total instead of one capped list.
- Each blocker is generated as its own list (
blockerList_<category>.json). - Safari's WebKit engine compiles these rules into bytecode.
- Ads and trackers are blocked at the network level before they load.
- Whitelisted domains are injected per-blocker via local App Groups on your device, keeping the bundled lists intact.
- ✅ ~148,000 Rules Across 4 Blockers: ads, trackers, annoyances and an extended domain list, each under Safari's per-blocker cap.
- ✅ Domain + Path Blocking: whole-domain rules plus converted path/URL rules (e.g.
/pagead/) and fetch/XHR beacon blocking. - ✅ Smart Consolidation: Blocks ad networks (e.g.,
doubleclick.net) while protecting shared content hosts. - ✅ Curated Sources: Peter Lowe, AdAway, EasyList, EasyPrivacy, Fanboy and HaGeZi Pro (see RULES.md).
- ✅ 100% Offline: No telemetry, no "cloud" lookups.
- ❌ App source code (app is proprietary, rules are open)
- ❌ User data collection
- ❌ "Acceptable Ads" (we don't take money to let ads through)
- ❌ Remote execution
dead-rules/
├── blockerList.json # Ads list (alias, for the primary extension)
├── blockerList_ads.json # Ads blocker
├── blockerList_trackers.json # Trackers blocker
├── blockerList_annoyances.json # Annoyances blocker (incl. cosmetic rules)
├── blockerList_extra.json # Extended domain blocker
├── RuleMeta.json # Aggregate + per-blocker rule counts
├── RULES.md # Detailed source attribution
├── SOURCES.md # Full upstream attribution
├── CHANGELOG.md # Version history
└── LICENSE # MIT License
Rules are regenerated weekly and shipped with every App Store update.
Every domain blocked by De-Ad is visible in the blockerList_*.json files.
No hidden rules. No secret exceptions. No paid whitelists.
- App Store: apps.apple.com/us/app/de-ad/id6756549794
- Website: dro1d.org/dead.html
- Privacy Policy: dro1d.org/dead-privacy.html
MIT License - See LICENSE for details.
Questions? Email: dead@dro1d.org
Made by dro1d labs
Privacy-first software for iOS & macOS