Ad-blocking apps top Apples' App Store chart

10:38 - 19 September 2015

Some of the ad-blocking apps popping up and taking over the Apple App Store

One of the apps, Peace, which launched yesterday at a price of $2.99, is presently at the top spot, followed by Crystal ($0.99) at number two

Just a few days after the release of iOS 9, ad-blocking apps have surged dramatically to the top of Apple’s paid iPhone app chart in the US.

Ad-blocking apps accounted for three of the top five paid apps as at Friday morning, and four of the top 20.

One of the apps, Peace, which launched yesterday at a price of $2.99, is presently at the top spot, followed by Crystal ($0.99) at number two, with Purify Blocker ($3.99) at number four.

READ: Two men try to sell their kidneys to buy the new iPhone 6s

There has been a lot of debate about the ethics of ad-blocking recently, especially after the release of the WebKit Content Blocker API in iOS 9, which allows for developers to block ads in Apple Safari mobile browser.

Supporters of the software posit the issue as a matter of consumer choice, while others say that ad-blocking could be a threat to the revenue model for most news sites and online publishers.