AdGuard For Mac Updates & Release Notes

We are presenting our latest release — AdGuard for Mac v2.19! This version offers an assortment of updates and reworkings, aimed in two main directions: security and usability.

We’ve implemented a new protection mechanism: AdGuard for Mac now uses cryptography to protect UserDefaults settings and userscripts. UserDefaults are encrypted with AES-GCM. Other types of data, including userscripts and filters, are protected by SHA256 checksums cryptography, with keys stored in the macOS Keychain. If a third-party app attempts to modify the configuration, AdGuard will detect it and alert you immediately.

Another security-focused feature is that AdGuard can now detect when a userscript compromises a website’s security. If that is the case, you will get a specific warning while trying to install it. This became possible after an important update to CoreLibs.

Concerning usability: we reworked the onboarding process for new users. We added new screens and details to create a smoother flow, making the app easier to understand and navigate.

We updated Scriptlets, DnsLibs, and UserscriptsWrapper as well, and fixed bugs for an overall better app performance.

Great news! Version 2.18 brings a noticeable step forward in performance, stability, and compatibility.

One of the main highlights is support for three new AI-powered browsers: ChatGPT Atlas, Perplexity Comet, and Dia. Now you can enjoy clean, ad-free browsing there as well.

We’ve also updated the system requirements:

AdGuard for Mac now supports macOS 12 and later.

Alongside that, we refreshed the Filter List Manager, polished many internal processes, and fixed a number of issues to make everyday app use smoother and more reliable.

New blocking pages

“In this release, we’ve made AdGuard more helpful by updating interactive blocking pages and stronger by adding post-quantum encryption — it’s a win-win.”

“Access blocked”: You may have already seen one of these screens if you’ve visited a phishing website or if a rule restricted access to a website. If you haven’t seen it yet, now is the time to get familiar with it and see what you can do on these screens.

If AdGuard blocks a website due to phishing concerns, but you’re sure it’s safe, you can let us know directly from the blocked page. You can also access our security check tool to get more details about the website.

A website blocked by a filtering rule? Just click Add this website to the allowlist and an unblocking rule will be generated automatically and added to User rules.

Post-quantum cryptography

When it comes to HTTPS filtering, it’s crucial that AdGuard encrypts your traffic just as securely as the app it’s filtering. That’s why we always stay up to date and keep pace with modern apps and browsers.

This time, we’ve added support for post-quantum cryptography. If the filtered app or browser uses the latest encryption methods, AdGuard will do the same, ensuring that even a quantum computer won’t be able to decrypt your traffic.

Updates for better filtering

No new release would be complete without updates to our filtering engines — DnsLibs and CoreLibs. And here’s a nice touch: language-specific filters now activate automatically based on your keyboard layout.

Changelog

Improvements

• Added the confirmation window after pressing Reset
• Added Orion browser to the list of applications filtered by default
• Enabled automatic selection of language-specific filters based on active keyboard layouts

Fixes

• AdGuard icon in the Dock is still active after closing the certificate info in AdGuard Assistant
• After updating or importing settings, the filters with empty metadata have empty titles
• Network extension consumes more than 100% CPU on v2.17.0.1955 nightly
• Userscript or userstyle not enabled after creation
• Enabling Automatically filter applications causes a crash
• Enabling Hide menu bar icon causes UI to disappear on macOS 15 after reopening the app

CoreLibs (Filtering engine)

CoreLibs updated to v1.17.157

Improvements

• Removed trust in GlobalTrust certificates
• Enable post-quantum cryptography when it’s used by the filtered app
• Implemented new blocking pages
• Provided the ability to add userscripts without specifying a resource
• Allowed HTTPS filtering with trusted self-signed certs

Fixes

• “##+js(rmnt, #text, [...])” rule with non-ASCII UTF-8 characters is not converted
• Error in content-script when $jsinject exception is applied
• $network,app= rules with a large number of apps don’t work
• The “Proceed anyway” button doesn’t work when a website is blocked by a rule with the $all modifier
• Content script is not injected on www.huya.com
• On certain websites, media playback is broken
• Network filtering service does not start correctly
• CoreLibs v1.17 blocks access to ota.googlezip.net
• Access to function “GM_getValue” is not allowed
• Upload speed is low
• On reddit.com, URL parameters with %24 are not removed
• Naver Smartstore instances cannot be accessed properly
• Some React-based sites aren’t loaded correctly due to a Minified React error

DnsLibs (DNS filtering engine)

DnsLibs updated to v2.6.6

Improvements

• Added a public method for detecting upstream protocol

Fixes

• _matter._tcp.default.service.arpa request is not resolved locally

Scriptlets (JavaScript enhancement for filtering rules) updated to v2.1.7

Improvements

• prevent-addEventListener — added ability to match specific element
• trusted-click-element — check for containsText of all matched selectors
• Added new scriptlet prevent-canvas
• href-sanitizer — added ability to modify the value
• href-sanitizer — added base64 support
• prevent-fetch — set response.ok to false if response.type is opaque

Fixes

• trusted-set-constant cannot determine string values correctly
• Incorrect selector validation for single-letter HTML tags
• prevent-element-src-loading — TrustedScriptURL is not defined in Firefox
• trusted-replace-node-text — some quotes are escaped incorrectly

UserscriptsWrapper updated to v2.0.1

There are two major changes in AdGuard v2.16 for Mac. The first one is the differential filters update. The second is the userstyles support. Let’s take a closer look at each of them and find out how these new features can be useful for you.

Faster filter lists update

Filter lists are what make ad blockers work. Before, even small changes to a list forced the app to re-download the whole rule set, which was slow and inefficient. Now AdGuard for Mac uses differential updates, downloading only the changes that were made since the last update. This reduces server load and speeds up the process. With more frequent updates, you’ll always have the most effective ad blocking.

Customized browsing

Our new feature will help you add more color to your browsing experience. Userstyles make it possible to modify websites’ appearance without altering its content by applying custom CSS. They work like userscripts but focus on styling. Upload or create your own userstyles directly in the app to personalize your browsing experience.

To add a userstyle, go to Settings → Extensions → Add → Import from file or URL. You can find ready-to-use userstyles online or create your own by clicking Add → Create userstyle.

We’ve also updated the filtering engines (DnsLibs and CoreLibs), JavaScript enhancement for filtering rules (scriplets) and fixed a few bugs. Update your app to the latest version now and experience all the improvements for yourself.

Changelog

Improvements

• Added support for userstyles
• Implemented differential updates for filter lists
• Added support for the Floorp browser (Firefox fork)

Fixes

• Incorrect Network Extension permission path on macOS Sequoia
• Unable to complete installation of AdGuard v2.15 on macOS Catalina
• Ads are not blocked in Safari on macOS Sequoia with iCloud Private Relay enabled

DnsLibs (DNS filtering engine)

DnsLibs updated to v2.5.51

• Block RFC9462 (_dns.resolver.arpa) queries
• Use pretty_str() in errors reported in DnsRequestProcessedEvent

CoreLibs (Filtering engine)

CoreLibs updated to v1.16.45

Improvements

• Support redirection to destination without using tracking services as intermediaries
• GM_xmlhttpRequest now supports the Referer header

Fixes

• sony.de — login is broken in Firefox
• AdGuard "content script" is blocked by CSP on uber.com
• The "K" string is removed

Scriptlets (JavaScript enhancement for filtering rules)

Scriptlets updated to v1.11.27

Improvements

• Added support for allowed and denied values in set-local-storage-item
• Support line number for inlineScript and injectedScript
• Added support for checked and unchecked values in set cookie
• Added new scriptlet — trusted-replace-argument
• href-sanitizer now supports uBO arguments

Fixes

• trusted-set-constant cannot determine string values correctly
• Incorrect selector validation for single-letter HTML tags
• prevent-element-src-loading — TrustedScriptURL is not defined in Firefox
• trusted-replace-node-text — some quotes are escaped incorrectly

UserscriptsWrapper

Updated UserscriptsWrapper to v2.0.1

Have you ever shared your settings? This feature comes in handy when you don't want to reconfigure everything on a new device, or when you want to report missed ads. In the new version, sharing settings has become even easier: to export settings, simply go to Settings → Advanced → Share settings…, and to import them, open the resulting link in your browser and click Import.

There have also been updates to the CoreLibs filtering engine, so there will be fewer crashes and more modifiers: $xmlprune and $urltransform. Now even more distracting page elements will be blocked.

Changelog

Improvements

• Implemented Configuration import via URL for macOS

Fixes

• Open settings button text is missing for Safari Assistant on macOS Big Sur

CoreLibs (filtering engine)

CoreLibs updated to v1.15.64

Improvements

• Added $urltransform (trusted) modifier support
• Added $xmlprune modifier support
• Added mobile browsers to the list of user agents that natively support ':has()'.
• Allowed ECDSA ciphers on local side
• Set up Sec-Fetch-Dest: fencedframe
• Added support for the uBO /regex/ format (cosmetic rules)

Fixes

• AdGuard filtering stops working after VPN is enabled
• Adblock syntax rules with FQDN do not work
• AdGuard and FTP connection error
• Userscript XHR errors
• $all modifier does not work with non-domain URL part
• URL blocking rules do not work correctly with the $generichide modifier

UserscriptsWrapper

UserscriptsWrapper updated to v1.2.24

Fixes

• vk-metabot.user.js does not work with AdGuard

ContentScript

ContentScript updated to v2.0.6

Fixes

• Element-hiding rules ## and #$# do not apply to tv.rambler.ru

DnsLibs (DNS filtering engine)

DnsLibs updated to v2.5.34