Samsung Internet for Android 4.0 browser adds content blocking and more

Adblock Plus announced its advertisement filter add-in is now available for some Samsung Galaxy devices running Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Beginning in March, it will also be available for Samsung Internet for Android 4.0, a Web browser based on Google Chrome (see the discussion in Samsung’s User Agent String Format for developers).

The oldest devices Samsung Internet for Android 4.0 works with are the Galaxy S4 and Note 3.

Adblock Plus is not the only content filtering add-in for the Samsung Internet browser. MurphyApps’ Crystal content filter, which first appeared for use with iOS 9 and Apple’s Safari browser, is also available. Both Adblock Plus and Crystal use Samsung Internet for Android 4.0’s API support for third-party Content Blocker extensions. Both extensions support the Acceptable Ads filtering criteria, which allows non-intrusive advertisements to be displayed even with content blocking turned on.

samsung_internet4_contentblocking

Like Apple’s iOS 9 support for content blocker extensions, the option to enable content blockers only becomes visible in settings after you install the first content blocking add-in. You are allowed to install more than one content blocker. However, only one can be selected for use at any given time.

The Samsung Internet for Android 4.0 upgrade includes other enhancements in addition to content blocking. It adds its version of Incognito Mode, which Samsung calls Secret Mode; Content Cards (thumbnail content recommendations); Pop-up video windows, which can stream video separately from web browsing; and Push Notifications. Like the current version 3 release, Samsung Internet for Android 4.0 also supports automatic web-logins using fingerprints on devices with the appropriate scanning hardware.

If you’ve got an older Samsung phone or tablet, or an Android device that’s not made by Samsung, and would like to have content blocking, you might want to learn more about Adblock Browser for Android from the same company that produces the Adblock Plus extension for Samsung: Eyeo. You can read about this browser here: Ad blocking for the masses, part two: Adblock Browser.

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