Ad Blocking in Unite Pro

Ad Blocking

Unite apps have a built-in ad and tracker blocker that works at the network level — no browser extension needed. It's enabled by default for all new apps.

How It Works

Unite's ad blocker uses WKContentRuleList, Apple's native content blocking API for WebKit. This means blocking happens before content is downloaded, so blocked requests consume no bandwidth and don't slow down page loads.

The blocking rules are based on Brave's block-ads list, a well-maintained open-source list that covers ads, trackers, analytics scripts, fingerprinting, and other privacy-invading resources across tens of thousands of domains.

Enabling or Disabling Ad Blocking

Per-app toggle:

Go to Settings → General in your Unite app and toggle Block ads and trackers.

Quick Settings:

Click the Quick Settings button in the toolbar (⌘⇧Q) and use the ad blocker toggle for an even faster way to turn it on or off without opening the full settings panel.

Changes take effect on the next page load or after a manual reload (⌘R).

What Gets Blocked

The ad blocker targets:

Banner ads and display advertising
Video pre-roll and overlay ads (on sites like YouTube)
Third-party trackers and analytics (Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, etc.)
Fingerprinting scripts
Cryptocurrency miners
Annoying redirect scripts

What Doesn't Get Blocked

First-party content (the site's own resources are never blocked)
Paywalls, subscription walls, or anti-adblock scripts (those are the site's own code)
Popups generated by the site's own JavaScript (use Site Customizer in Site Customization to hide those)

If a Site Breaks with Ad Blocking On

Some sites display a warning when ad blocking is detected, or certain features may stop working. If this happens:

Disable ad blocking via Quick Settings (⌘⇧Q) for that app.
Reload the page (⌘R).

You can leave ad blocking off for specific apps while keeping it enabled in others — the setting is per-app.

Rule Updates

Unite periodically refreshes the blocking rules list in the background. You don't need to manually update anything. If you want to force a refresh, quit and relaunch the Unite app.