User Guide

Roadblock for iPad

Table of Content

Overview

Roadblock is a high-performance content blocker for Safari that gives you precise control over how web content loads. Browse the web through a clear lens while you:

  • Protect your privacy by blocking trackers.
  • Block unwanted content like ads and pop-ups.
  • Remove annoyances like chat widgets, cookie banners, and subscription overlays.
  • Save data usage and load webpages significantly faster.

Roadblock pre-loads rule-based filters in Safari. These rules determine which content to block, hide, or allow before a webpage fully loads. This is done with minimal overhead and high performance.

Getting Started

To block content in Safari, first enable Roadblock’s extensions. Roadblock includes:

  • Blocker Extensions: Ads, Trackers, Annoyances, Languages, and Custom
  • Utility Extension: Tools

Note

Roadblock uses multiple extensions to bypass iOS rule limits, providing comprehensive protection without slowing down Safari.

To enable the extensions:

  1. Open the Settings App.
  2. Navigate to Apps > Safari.
  3. Tap Extensions.
  4. Toggle on all Roadblock extensions.
  5. Return to Roadblock and enable your preferred settings.

After the extensions and your preferred settings are enabled, you should see unwanted content blocked or hidden as you browse in Safari.

Note

If the toggles are dimmed, web content restrictions in Screen Time may be enabled. Temporarily set it to Unlimited Access and try again.

Built-in Rules

Roadblock includes over 240,000 optimized rules. These rules are updated regularly and are based on widely adopted industry filter lists such as EasyList, EasyPrivacy, Fanboy, Peter Lowe, and others.

Note

To disable blocking on specific websites, use Custom Rules or Safari’s Turn Off Content Blocker option that is accessible from Safari action button.

Ads and Trackers

  • Block Ads: Removes advertisements from websites, including pop-ups and video ads.
  • Block Trackers: Blocks scripts that follow your activity on webpages and across the web.

Annoyances

  • Block Social Widgets: Removes social like and share buttons.
  • Block Chat Widgets: Removes live chat and support boxes.
  • Block AI Widgets: Removes AI overlays on search engines and websites.
  • Block Privacy Banners: Removes cookie consent banners and other privacy prompts on websites.
  • Block Newsletter Banners: Removes newsletter sign-up and subscription pop-ups and overlays.
  • Block Notification Banners: Removes website notification prompts.

Languages

While the rules that are enabled when you turn on the Block Ads setting work on English and non-English websites, Roadblock supports additional rules to block ads specifically tailored to non-English websites in 37 languages spanning the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe, and America.

Custom Rules

Custom Rules provide a powerful way to manage and share your own rules. You can block or allow specific websites, hide webpage elements, strip cookies from web requests, and force secure connections.

Types

Type Description
Block Content Block the loading of specific resources.
Block Websites Add specific websites to a blocklist.
Hide Content Hide specific webpage elements.
Secure Content Force the loading of resources using a secure connection (HTTPS).
Secure Websites Force specific websites to load over a secure connection (HTTPS).
Strip Cookies Remove cookies from web requests.
Allow Content Bypass blocking for specific resources.
Allow Websites Add websites to an allowlist to bypass the blocker entirely.

Fields

Field Description
Name The name of the custom rule.
URL Filter Evaluated against a resource's URL. You can use standard text (Default Format) or Regular Expressions Format.
Selector The CSS selector for the specific element you want to hide on a webpage. Tip: Use the Tools extension to identify elements easily.
Resources Choose from nine types: document (main webpage), font, image, media, pop-up, raw (e.g., XMLHttpRequest), script, style sheet, and SVG.
Loads Choose between first-party (loaded from the site you are visiting) or third-party (loaded from an external site).
Websites Specify which websites the rule applies to. Used together with Use On to target or exclude specific websites.
Use On Apply the rule to all websites, the specified websites, or all websites except specific ones.

URL Filter

Default Format

The easiest way for most users. Roadblock automatically handles special characters for you.

Examples:

  • Match all URLs: Leave the URL Filter empty
  • Match start: Enter https://example.com and select Starts with Filter
  • Match end: Enter badscript.js and select Ends with Filter

Regular Expression Format

For advanced users using standard regular expression (Regex) syntax as described below:

  • Match any character: .
  • Quantifiers: *, +, ?
  • Anchors: Start ^ and Ends $
  • Ranges: []
  • Grouping: ()

Note

Special characters in regular expressions must be escaped (for example, a dot . becomes \.).

Note

Not all regular expressions are accepted by Safari. In some cases, a valid regex may cause the page to fail reloading. If that happens, adjust your regex and try again.

Examples:

  • Match all URLs: .*
  • Match start: ^https://example\.com
  • Match end: badscript.js$
  • Match digits and letters: https://www\.[0-9a-zA-Z]+\.com

Websites

Domain Names

When adding a website to a rule, specify its domain name (e.g., example.com). If you enable Include Subdomains, the rule applies to example.com, www.example.com, images.example.com, etc. If disabled, it only applies to the exact domain entered.

Note

Domain names that use international letters (non-ASCII characters) are accepted and converted appropriately by Roadblock.

Importing Websites

You can import websites stored in text files into Websites if formatted as follows:

website1.com
website2.com
website3.com
www.website4.com

Managing Custom Rules

Navigate to Custom Rules from the main screen to manage your custom rules:

  • Add/Edit: Tap Add a New Custom Rule or select an existing rule and tap Edit.
  • Enable/Disable: Toggle your rules on or off using the toolbar. A green dot indicates an active rule; a red dot means it is disabled.
  • Delete: Swipe left on a rule and select Delete, or select it and tap the trash icon.
  • Bulk Actions: Use the Select button to manage multiple rules at once (Enable, Disable, Delete, Share, or Copy To another profile).
  • Search: Quickly find specific rules by typing keywords (e.g., hide, image, enabled) into the search field.

Import and Export

You can share and save your custom rules using the action button. Custom rules are exported and saved in a .roadblock file that you can save anywhere on your device.

To import custom rules stored in a .roadblock file, tap on the .roadblock file and select Roadblock from the action sheet. This opens Roadblock and asks for your confirmation to import the custom rules into a profile that you choose.

Examples

Roadblock comes with pre-defined examples that you can add from within the app. Below are practical steps for recreating common rules.

Block Websites

Goal: Block the website apple.com and its subdomains (e.g., www.apple.com, developer.apple.com, etc.):

Type: Block Websites
Websites: apple.com
- Include Subdomains: on

Block Content

Block Sign-In with Google Prompts

Goal: Block all sign-in with Google prompts:

Type: Block Content
URL Filter: https://accounts.google.com/gsi/client
Resources: Script
Loads: Third Party

Type: Block Content
URL Filter: ^https://accounts\.google\.com/gsi/client
Resources: Script
Loads: Third Party
Block Third-Party Pop-ups

Goal: Block all third-party pop-ups, except on apple.com and google.com:

Type: Block Content
URL Filter: (Leave empty)
Resources: Pop-up
Loads: Third Party
Websites: apple.com, google.com
- Include Subdomains: on (for both)
Use On: All except the specified websites

Type: Block Content
URL Filter: .*
Resources: Pop-up
Loads: Third Party
Websites: apple.com, google.com
- Include Subdomains: on (for both)
Use On: All except the specified websites
Block AI Domains

Goal: Block all domains ending with .ai: 

Type: Block Content
URL Filter: .ai/

Type: Block Content
URL Filter: ^https?://[^/]*\.ai/

Note

For this rule, the Regex Format is more precise than the Default Format.

Block URLs

Goal: Block TikTok's ads API:

Type: Block Content
URL Filter: https://ads-api.tiktok.com

Type: Block Content
URL Filter: ^https://ads-api\.tiktok\.com

Hide Content

Hide Element

Goal: Hide Webkit's logo on webkit.org:

Type: Hide Content
URL Filter: (Leave empty)
Selector: #logo
Websites: webkit.org

Type: Hide Content
URL Filter: .*
Selector: #logo
Websites: webkit.org

Note

Hiding elements requires the use of CSS selectors. When you use the Visual Tool, the CSS selector for the element is automatically extracted from the webpage.

Goal: Remove .ai links from search results in DuckDuckGo:

Type: Hide Content
URL Filter: (Leave empty)
Selector: .react-results--main > li:has(a[href*=".ai"])
Websites: duckduckgo.com
- Include Subdomains: on

Type: Hide Content
URL Filter: .*
Selector: .react-results--main > li:has(a[href*=".ai"])
Websites: duckduckgo.com
- Include Subdomains: on
Hide Sidebar

Goal: Hide Reddit's sidebar:

Type: Hide Content
URL Filter: (Leave empty)
Selector: #right-sidebar-contents.right-sidebar-contents.flex-auto
Websites: www.reddit.com
- Include Subdomains: off

Type: Hide Content
URL Filter: .*
Selector: #right-sidebar-contents.right-sidebar-contents.flex-auto
Websites: www.reddit.com
- Include Subdomains: off

Allow Websites

Goal: Turn off blocking for the website youtube.com and its subdomains (e.g., m.youtube.com, www.youtube.com, etc.):

Type: Allow Websites
Websites: youtube.com
- Include Subdomains: on

Allow Content

Allow Google Analytics

Goal: Allow the URL google-analytics.com:

Type: Allow Content
URL Filter: https://google-analytics.com

Type: Allow Content
URL Filter: ^[^:]+://+([^:/]+\.)?google-analytics\.com[:/]

Strip Cookies

Goal: Strip third-party cookies:

Type: Strip Cookies
URL Filter: (Leave empty)
Loads: Third Party

Type: Strip Cookies
URL Filter: .*
Loads: Third Party

Secure Websites

Goal: Force the loading of the website accounts.google.com over HTTPS:

Type: Secure Websites
Websites: accounts.google.com
- Include Subdomains: off

Secure Content

Goal: Force all web requests to go through HTTPS:

Type: Secure Content
URL Filter: (Leave empty)

Type: Secure Content
URL Filter: .*

Multiple Rules

Block and Hide

Goal: Block images on Google:

Rule 1:
Type: Block Content
URL Filter: (Leave Empty)
Resources: Image
Websites: google.com
- Include Subdomains: on

Rule 2:
Type: Hide Content
URL Filter: (Leave Empty)
Selector: img
Websites: google.com
- Include Subdomains: on 

Rule 1:
Type: Block Content
URL Filter: .*
Resources: Image
Websites: google.com
- Include Subdomains: on 

Rule 2:
Type: Hide Content
URL Filter: .*
Selector: img
Websites: google.com
- Include Subdomains: on

Blocker Profiles

Profiles allow you to switch contexts easily. For example, you can maintain strict blocking for a Cellular profile and relaxed blocking for a Wi-Fi profile. You can also use different profiles for different devices that you have.

Roadblock includes a default profile called Default Profile, which is active when you first install the app.

Managing Blocker Profiles

Navigate to Manage Profiles from the main screen:

  • Activate: Select a profile and tap Activate. The active profile displays a blue dot and its name appears on the main screen.
  • Add/Duplicate: Create a new profile from scratch, or swipe on an existing profile and tap Duplicate to copy its settings.
  • Rename/Delete: Keep your profiles organized by renaming them, or delete old ones using the swipe menu or toolbar.

Import and Export

You can share and save your profiles using the action button. A profile is exported and saved in a .roadblock file that you can save anywhere on your device. A profile includes your settings in the Ads and Trackers, Annoyances, and Languages sections as well as your custom rules.

To import a profile stored in a .roadblock file, tap on the .roadblock file and select Roadblock from the action sheet. This opens Roadblock and asks for your confirmation to import and add the profile.

iCloud Sync

Roadblock syncs data between your devices using iCloud. Once enabled, profiles and settings are kept up-to-date across all your devices (Mac, iPhone, and iPad).

Tools Extension

The Tools extension provides utility features that you can use directly on websites you visit, such as visually blocking or hiding content and performing website actions like block, secure, or allow.

Once enabled, you can access the Tools extension by selecting the action button in Safari then scrolling down and choosing Roadblock Tools.

Note

The Tools extension provides additional ad blocking on Youtube. Due to YouTube's anti-adblock measures, blocking its video ads requires access to the webpage content. You need to Allow access to youtube.com to take advantage of this feature.

Visual Tool

The Block and Hide Content Visually option lets you select elements on the webpage. Based on what you select, it highlights the element with a colored bounding box:

  • Purple indicates the element will be hidden, which applies to visual page elements.
  • Red indicates the element will be blocked, which applies to images.

There is an overlay with two options: Cancel and Done. Selecting the Done option exits the visual tool and generates custom rules for the highlighted elements.

Website Action

  • Block www.example.com: Adds www.example.com to the Block Websites custom rule
  • Secure www.example.com: Adds www.example.com to the Secure Websites custom rule
  • Allow www.example.com: Adds www.example.com to the Allow Websites custom rule

Last updated: Feb. 27, 2026