Microsoft Edge browser apps for Android and iOS to boast of Adblock Plus

Software giant Microsoft is apparently building and integrating Adblock Plus directly into its Edge browser app for iOS and Android. The company has rolled out this latest feature, making it available to Microsoft Edge for Android beta users. It is currently being tested on iOS as well.

The new feature is soon anticipated to be rolled out more broadly to all the Edge devices for iOS and Android users. The adblocker does not require a separate add-in to install and download. It can be easily enabled in the Microsoft Edge settings.

The company has partnered with Adblock Plus to build this functionality straight into the browser. It was Google who had pioneered in unveiling its own ad blocking in Chrome for Android. However, it is not as aggressive as Adblock Plus. It has also been observed that most ads are not blocked on the majority of sites using the Chrome application.

Mozilla had also included a form of built-in ad blocking in its Firefox for Android browser. The drawback here is that it is only activated during an in-private tab session. Samsung is nowhere behind as its Android users can also install Adblock extensions to block ads in Samsung’s browser.

As per a report by The Verge, Microsoft Edge for Android has already reached the mark of 5 million installs on the Google Play Store.  This simply means that it still has a way to go to catch up to the 100 million Firefox installs or the default Chrome browser which has more than 1 billion “installs” on Android. It’s not clear how popular the Edge browser is on iOS.