Mozilla finally delivered a built-in ad blocker to Firefox on iOS with version 155, but the feature’s limitations tell a bigger story about Apple’s grip on iPhone browsers.
The new blocking tool relies on Apple’s WebKit content blocker framework paired with the EasyList filter. Users must dig into settings to enable it, since it ships switched off by default. **Firefox iOS ad blocker** functionality arrives years after competitors like Brave, Opera, and Vivaldi introduced similar tools.
However, the blocker cannot touch first-party ads served directly by websites, nor ads embedded in search results. Mozilla also handles its own sponsored shortcuts through separate mechanisms.
This gap stems from WebKit itself. Every iPhone browser renders through Apple’s engine, regardless of the brand on the interface. Firefox on iOS simply wraps WebKit in Mozilla’s design.
European regulators attempted to change that reality. The Digital Markets Act forced Apple to open BrowserEngineKit in March 2024 with iOS 17.4, but only within EU borders. Google and Mozilla both prototyped alternative engines, yet neither shipped one.
Mozilla explained the problem in January 2024. Apple’s framework would require maintaining two separate browsers, a burden Apple itself avoids. Microsoft later quantified the performance penalty, measuring a Blink prototype running 28.6% faster than WebKit on Speedometer 3.1 using identical hardware.
Meanwhile, Open Web Advocacy wants Brussels to push harder. Director Alex Moore pointed out Apple has had over two years to produce a workable solution.
The European Commission hasn’t stayed quiet elsewhere. Apple lost its gatekeeper challenge at the General Court in July. Still, no rival engine has reached a European iPhone. Microsoft hasn’t shipped a Blink-based Edge either.
The ad blocker quietly demonstrates the ceiling Mozilla faces. The team built the strongest tool Apple’s API permits, during the same year Chrome disabled Manifest V2 extensions including uBlock Origin.
