Why I Built a Safari Ad Blocker (And Why Four Extensions Are Better Than One)

If you’ve ever installed an ad blocker on Safari and still seen ads slip through, you’ve run into a limit most people don’t know exists: Apple caps each Safari Content Blocker extension at 150,000 rules.

That sounds like a lot. It isn’t, not anymore.

Modern ad networks, trackers, and malware domains number in the hundreds of thousands. The most comprehensive filter lists combined exceed 400,000 rules. A single extension can’t come close to covering them all, so most blockers have to pick and choose, leaving real gaps in your protection.

The Four-Extension Approach

Canopy Sieve works around this limit by running four coordinated Safari extensions simultaneously, each handling a different threat category:

• Basic: ads and trackers (EasyList, EasyPrivacy, AdGuard Tracking Protection, Peter Lowe’s)
• Annoyances: cookie banners, pop-ups, social widgets (Fanboy Annoyances, AdGuard Annoyances)
• Security: malware domains and phishing sites (URLhaus, Phishing Army, Spam404)
• Social: social media tracking embeds (AdGuard Social Media)

Together they cover over 400,000 rules. The most comprehensive blocking available within Safari’s native extension system.

No VPN. No Proxy. No Data.

Every other approach to mobile ad blocking, VPN-based blockers, DNS-based filters, proxy apps, routes your traffic through an intermediary. That intermediary can see every site you visit.

Safari Content Blockers work differently. The ruleset lives on your device. Safari applies the rules locally before any request leaves your phone. Canopy never sees your browsing, it hands Safari a list and steps back.

The Allowlist

Some sites genuinely need their scripts to function, payment processors, school login portals, government sites. Canopy includes a simple allowlist: enter a root domain and every extension immediately stops blocking it. No re-downloading, no restart required.

What’s Next

The blocklists update automatically in the background, once daily, silently, with no action needed on your part. As new ad networks emerge and new phishing domains appear, Canopy stays current without interrupting you.

If a site you use is broken, the fix is almost always adding it to the allowlist. If you have questions, the best place to start is the Allowlist section inside the app.

Canopy Sieve is free to download. If it saves you from ads every day, there’s a tip jar inside the app.