Firefox for iPhone now gets native ad blocking

Firefox for iPhone and iPad got a new feature today: native ad blocking. Mozilla’s iOS browser now lets users turn it on worldwide, though you have to enable it yourself in Settings > Browsing > Ad Blocker. You can also see whether it’s active from the site menu. Mozilla ships it turned off by default, which sets it apart from some browsers that lean harder into privacy out of the box.

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Mozilla says the blocker only works inside Firefox itself. It won’t block ads across the rest of your iPhone or inside other apps. The feature relies on EasyList, and it’s meant to stop third-party ad networks and exchanges, a lot of third-party ads at the network level, ad-related trackers, plus pop-ups and overlays.

Still, don’t expect every ad to vanish. Search ads on Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGo will still show up. Sponsored content on Firefox Home and the New Tab page also remains, and some ads are likely to get through anyway. EasyList is popular and widely used, but both user reports and academic research have questioned how well it performs on some international or non-English sites, and whether every filtering rule actually makes browsing better in day-to-day use.

If Firefox is your regular browser on iOS, this is probably an update you’ll want. Mozilla is playing catch-up here with Brave and DuckDuckGo, both of which already pushed harder on privacy for iPhone users. Apple’s App Tracking Transparency has already changed the shape of that race.

The update is live in the App Store. If you want broader blocking, though, you’ll still need iOS content filters or an app like Wipr 2.