www.magiclasso.co/insights/tragedy-of-safari/
Magic Lasso Adblock v3.1 - Safari ad blocker with full YouTube ad blocking released
Hey everyone, I recently released v3.1 of my Safari ad blocking app, Magic Lasso Adblock. This release includes a number of new features that you might find useful:
- Full YouTube ad blocking to block over 10 types of YouTube ads including all in-video ads
- Annoyance blocking that removes annoying and unnecessary cookie prompts and privacy notices in Safari
- Support for the latest Apple OS releases including iOS 15 and macOS Catalina
I’m building Magic Lasso Adblock to be one of the fastest, most efficient Safari ad blockers available. Over 200,000+ users rely on the app to:
- Browse common websites 2.0x faster
- Improve their privacy and security by removing ad trackers
- Double battery life during heavy web browsing
- Lower data usage when on the go
If you’re interested, you can download the app for free via the app’s website, the App Store and the Mac App Store.
Thanks for the support!
Agree.
Here in Sydney, the Weather app constantly says that there is no rain and that it won't rain at all during the day and I'm standing here wet. This is less than 5kms from the centre of the city.
It's a running joke in our household how bad Apple Weather has become.
It all started once they changed their weather data source a couple of years ago. What makes it more galling is the fact in Australia they could just use the direct feed from the Bureau of Meteorology which provides accurate & comprehensive weather data for the whole country.
Instead, they've decided to do some weird predictive algorithm which is bad at predicting and bad at understanding true locations. It's been going of for a few years now so it's about time they fixed it.
The Apple TV+ EffectDiscussion
There’s been a lot of discussion in the streaming media about the Netflix effect – Netflix’s ability to take an otherwise obscure TV show or movie and catapult it into the world’s collective consciousness.
This is due to both Netflix’s scale but also the power of their recommendations engine which can push a particular tv series to their homepage and large subscriber base: making content successful that may otherwise be ignored or lost in a mass of media options.
I believe that Apple is starting to test the power of their marketing and effectiveness of owned channels for Apple TV+.
Case in point: Drops of God.
This well regarded, but fairly obscure series was launched on Apple TV+ in April 2023. At its launch, it didn’t get much attention and from memory, didn’t even hit the Top Chart of Apple TV+ content. However, what has become apparent in the last few weeks is that is has been given a second-life push by Apple this month.
First it was renewed for a second series. Now, at least in Australia, Apple has given it both the first slot in the Apple TV app carousel at the top of the Home, along with first position on the “Now on Apple TV+” recommendation list.
The result: Drops of God is currently the 3rd most popular piece of Apple TV+ content on the Top Chart, just behind Dark Matter (an in-progress new release) and Ted Lasso. This is for based on Australian data, but it also looks applicable worldwide.
What this shows is that Apple has the ability, and should start to re-promote older series and give them a renewed marketing push.
Activating promotions for a show ‘mid-cycle’ will help new subscribers discover older, lesser known, content but also re-engage existing subscribers with shows they may have missed.
It helps to give Apple less reliance on constantly releasing new content and also helps to prime existing shows with a new audience ready to consume subsequent seasons once they are available.
It’s also more cost-effective promoting an older show than launching a completely new show!
What Apple TV+ content do you think Apple should start to promote once again, those that may have been missed, have more potential or were ignored when first launched?
Do you agree that this is a pivot in Apple TV+ marketing strategy and tactics from Apple?
Or is this just a once-off bump for Drops of God?
Magic Lasso Adblock v4.5.1 released – big updates to the Safari ad, tracker and annoyance blocker
I’ve recently released a lot of great new features in my Safari ad blocking app Magic Lasso Adblock.
This includes v4.5 which is a complete redesign of the user-friendly, privacy aware and platform-native Safari ad blocker for the iPhone, iPad and Mac.
Version 4.5 delivers a "powerfully simple ad blocking experience" with simplified ad, tracker and annoyance blocking. The redesign better surfaces all of the app’s features and I’ve also focused on making advanced features, like Custom Rule creation and YouTube ad blocking more accessible.
Version 4.5.1 also includes these great features from recent releases:
- Performance Insights – see the difference ad blocking makes and visualise ad blocking speed, energy efficiency and data savings for any site
- Tap to Block – Simply tap any element on a web page and watch it disappear from your view, ensuring it never disturbs your browsing again
- Custom Rules – Craft your own ad blocking rules to block media, cookies, and JavaScript
- Family Sharing – Share your Magic Lasso subscription with all your family members via Family Sharing
Thanks for the feedback! Re:
I‘d check contrasts: the white on blue might not be accessible. Gray on gray as well.
Yes I have used the white on teal sparingly, it's currently only at the top of the Overview on iPhone. The teal is the general company colour so may have to make it a different/darker tone for better contrast when used in this way.
The menu needs more top padding
Which menu are you referring to?
the whole thing could benefit from a small splash of color somewhere, maybe in the welcome section.
I thought that too. On the Mac version, the red and yellow icons in the left sidebar help to add a bit of variety. May try to spread those colours onto the iPhone version somehow too.
But hahaha, this is cleaner than what most entry level designers dish out.
Thank you, am always unsure how this would be received.
As a non-designer, I recently redesigned my ad blocking app, looking for feedback & critiques
Magic Lasso Redesigned
Overview screen
Rules screen
Custom Rules screen
Settings and misc screen
1/5
Magic Lasso Adblock v4.5 released – a redesign of the Safari ad, tracker and annoyance blocker
I recently released a full UX redesign of my app Magic Lasso Adblock.
Magic Lasso Adblock v4.5 is a complete redesign of the user-friendly, privacy aware and platform-native Safari ad blocker for the iPhone, iPad and Mac.
Version 4.5 delivers a "powerfully simple ad blocking experience" with simplified ad, tracker and annoyance blocking. The redesign better surfaces all of the app’s features and I’ve also focused on making advanced features, like Custom Rule creation and YouTube ad blocking more accessible.
Full details are in the announcement post:
https://www.magiclasso.co/insights/magic-lasso-redesigned/
Version 4.5 also includes these great features from recent releases:
- Performance Insights – see the difference ad blocking makes and visualise ad blocking speed, energy efficiency and data savings for any site
- Tap to Block – Simply tap any element on a web page and watch it disappear from your view, ensuring it never disturbs your browsing again
- Custom Rules – Craft your own ad blocking rules to block media, cookies, and JavaScript
Based upon this data, Masters of the Air had 210 millions minutes viewed, which means that it was possibly just out of the top 10 for the week for Streaming originals where the number 10 original (Percy Jackson & the Olympians) had 227 million minutes viewed.
If Apple were to release a series such as Masters of the Air all at once, the available minutes to view would be higher and therefore they'd likely break into the highly publicised top 10 more frequently – though at the cost of retaining subscriptions for a shorter period of time.
So is this now telling us that Apple Originals are not actually Apple TV+ exclusives after a certain time window has passed? Very strange, especially as some of them mentioned, such as See still seem to get high viewing figures based on the Apple TV+ charts.
They are only being sold for linear TV broadcast on a region-by-region basis. However wouldn't be surprising if they end of being re-sold to other streamers as well in the future.
Remembering the Neilson rankings when that season premiered: if I remember correctly it was one of the first times Apple TV+ originals ranked highly consistently.
No sourcing of the figures so expect they are coming from Apple PR. Also note that it says "in its first season".
Based upon this caveat I'm guessing it didn't exceed the season 3 launch of Ted Lasso, but good nonetheless.
The fact that it was 3.5 hours long would have really helped push up the minutes viewed!
Apple hasn't had many recent movies hit the chart so it's a good achievement.
Interesting though that, at least in Australia, KOTFM seems to have quickly dropped to number 6 or 7 most popular originals in the Apple TV+ list. I think it only lasted about 1 week at the top of the list.
Magic Lasso Adblock - Safari ad blocker updated with Adblock Performance Insights
Hey everyone, I recently released v4.1 of my Safari ad blocking app, Magic Lasso Adblock for the Mac which introduces Adblock Performance Insights.
Performance Insights enables you to see the difference ad blocking makes by visualising the speed, energy efficiency and data savings on any website. Full details are in the blog post:
https://www.magiclasso.co/insights/adblock-performance-insights/
If you’re interested, you can download the app and use a 30 day free trial via the Magic Lasso website, the App Store and the Mac App Store.
The app blocks all ads, trackers and annoyances in Safari on the iPhone, iPad and Mac including all YouTube ads.
Thanks for the support and I'm happy to answer any questions!
Yawn. iPhone changes have become so iterative.
Even when you don't upgrade annually, the biggest quality of life difference when upgrading is that you get a new phone with battery life that is still healthy. If Apple provided a simple, cheap way to replace an iPhone battery and provided longer term OS-support than they currently do, then it would be easy for most normal users to keep the same device for many more years.
Of course they won't do that as it would impact their upgrade revenue too much.
Revealed: Complete iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max Dimensions
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