First ad blockers come out for Samsung’s Android browser

Samsung recently made an api for adblockers available on its site, which allows third parties to develop such extensions for browsers from version 4.0. The first ad blockers using this api are now available.

Both Adblock Fast and Crystal are available to block ads in the browser supplied by Samsung as standard. Adblock Fast is available for Android 5.0 Lollipop and above, but is also working on support for Android 4.0. According to the developer, Crystal can be used in the latest version of the browser included in Android 6.0, but the minimum requirement is Android 4.2 on Google Play. The developers of Adblock Fast claim that using their adblocker reduces web page loading times by an average of 51 percent. With the latest update to the browser, support has been added in devices with Android 5.0 or higher, according to Samsung. The company itself says that this gives users the option to surf the internet without unnecessary content filling their screens. Samsung made the Content Blocker extension API available on January 22. In June 2015, Apple already announced to allow ad blockers in its own browser in iOS 9. This was followed by a major spike in popularity of ad blockers in the App Store. In Android, it was less easy to install an adblocker extension. In order not to see ads, for example, independent browsers were needed, such as the browser from AdBlock Plus.