Bestselling Ad-Blocking App Will Soon Show Ads
Despite promising to block all ads, developer Dean Murphy will be paid a monthly fee to allow some adverts through his filter.
12:06, Friday 25 September 2015
By blocking adverts the app promises faster browsing
The top-selling advert-blocking software on Apple's App Store will soon let companies pay to show you ads.
Apple recently updated its software to allow developers to release apps to block adverts within the Safari mobile web browser.
Crystal quickly topped the App Store charts, with more than 100,000 people downloading the 79p app.
However developer Dean Murphy has now entered into an agreement with a company called Eyeo GmbH which will allow some companies to pay so their ads get through Crystal's filter.
Mr Murphy will receive a flat monthly fee from Eyeo on top of his App Store earnings.
Many of the people who'd downloaded the app said they were disappointed by the move.
One Reddit user called Wackywabbit wrote: "So it's not actually an ad block? Sellouts."
Another said: "I've deleted Crystal and left them a one-star review."
Mr Murphy hit back in a blog post, saying that only adverts which are not "annoying or disruptive" would appear.
He said: "Blocking all advertising with brute-force doesn't promote a healthy mobile web that is sustainable and allows publishers to make a living from the free content they provide."
He added that the 'whitelist' of permitted adverts could be turned off, however it is likely to be on by default.
