Popular browser Brave may be exploring a new way to block ads and trackers, particularly on iPhone. Right now, Brave uses two separate lists to block unwanted content, the Slim List and the Filter List. The Slim List is specific to the Brave for iOS, while the Filter List is used by both the desktop and mobile versions of the browser.
The developers at Brave are now considering dropping the Slim List altogether, as per an internal discussion seen by The Mac Observer which appears to be a part of the development process before anything official. The developers seemingly note to use the existing Filter List on iOS as well. The plan is to integrate the Filter List to work with iOS’s built-in content blocker features. Brave might use iOS Content Restrictions to block ads, though iOS lacks system-wide ad blocking natively. The only workaround is to install third party ad-blockers from the App Store.
“We want to drop the Slim List and use the Filter List as content blockers. There is nothing stopping us from doing this right now except for combining the iOS-only list with the default list,” Brave’s developers stated.
Note that the change is still under development, so no scheduled rollout is attached to it. But, when this change happens it could simply be the code maintenance for Brave, as the browser would only need to manage one list instead of two. Furthermore, it could lead to more effective ad and tracker blocking on iPhones if Brave can successfully push the iOS content blocker features with the Filter List.
Like always, there are some concerns attached. If the new system doesn’t block ads and trackers as effectively as the Slim List did, users could end up seeing more unwanted content. However, personally, I’d very much want Brave to use Filter List across platforms and integrate it with iOS-native content blockers, because of several factors, including the less risky sensitive data exposure. It’s a win-win for developers as well, as they can focus on maintaining and updating a single list.