[BUG] Content blocker reload failed (Ads)

[cwindolf]

Describe the bug
After focusing away from wBlock, a notification tells me that there are unapplied changes. After returning to the app and hitting the sync / apply button in the top left, ads are not being blocked. The logs (pasted in full below) indicate that the Ads filter is failing to be loaded, and there are some interesting errors like an SFDomainError when loading Ads (Content blocker reload failed).

To Reproduce

I'm on iOS 18.7.2, and just updated so the issue could be related to this version. To reproduce the error in the logs, I just have to hit the apply / sync button in wBlock.

Expected behavior
The Ads extension should load.

Screenshots
I'll paste full logs at the bottom. Thanks for the nice extension and let me know if I can help debug or reproduce further.

Desktop (please complete the following information):

• OS: iOS 18.7.2
• wBlock Version 1.1
• iPhone 13 mini

Additional context

Logs:

2025-12-09 09:22:55 [INFO] System: Logs cleared

2025-12-09 09:22:58 [INFO] FilterApply: Starting filter application process
  Metadata: platform=iOS

2025-12-09 09:22:59 [INFO] FilterUpdate: Fetched version for filter
  Metadata: filter=Bypass Paywalls Clean Filter, version=

2025-12-09 09:23:00 [INFO] FilterApply: Found and downloading updates before applying
  Metadata: count=2

2025-12-09 09:23:00 [INFO] FilterUpdate: Successfully updated filter
  Metadata: filter=AdGuard Annoyances Filter

2025-12-09 09:23:00 [INFO] FilterUpdate: Successfully updated filter
  Metadata: filter=AdGuard Base Filter

2025-12-09 09:23:00 [DEBUG] FilterApply: Converting large category
  Metadata: sourceLines=18499, category=Security

2025-12-09 09:23:00 [INFO] FilterApply: Converted category rules
  Metadata: advancedRules=1284, safariRules=12861, category=Security

2025-12-09 09:23:01 [DEBUG] FilterApply: Converting large category
  Metadata: category=Ads, sourceLines=167401

2025-12-09 09:23:01 [INFO] FilterApply: Converted category rules
  Metadata: category=Ads, safariRules=144398, advancedRules=8348

2025-12-09 09:23:02 [DEBUG] FilterApply: Converting large category
  Metadata: sourceLines=40262, category=Annoyances

2025-12-09 09:23:02 [INFO] FilterApply: Converted category rules
  Metadata: advancedRules=9793, safariRules=20271, category=Annoyances

2025-12-09 09:23:02 [INFO] FilterApply: All conversions finished
  Metadata: conversionTime=1.62s, totalRules=177530

2025-12-09 09:23:03 [ERROR] FilterApply: Content blocker reload failed
  Metadata: category=Ads, attempt=1, error=The operation couldn’t be completed. (SFErrorDomain error 3.), maxRetries=5

2025-12-09 09:23:05 [ERROR] FilterApply: Content blocker reload failed after all attempts
  Metadata: category=Ads, maxRetries=5, error=The operation couldn’t be completed. (SFErrorDomain error 3.), attempt=5

2025-12-09 09:23:08 [WARNING] FilterApply: Some content blocker reloads failed after retries, continuing with advanced rules processing

2025-12-09 09:23:08 [INFO] FilterApply: Building filter engine
  Metadata: targetCount=3, totalLines=19425

2025-12-09 09:23:09 [ERROR] FilterApply: Process completed with errors
  Metadata: status=Failed to reload Ads extension after 5 attempts.

[cwindolf]

One interesting detail is that the Ads category warns that there are 144k rules in that category, but the only group in there is the AdGuard Base Filter which says that it has 44k rules. Does that seem problematic?

The app does successfully reload and apply filters if I disable the Ads category.

[0xCUB3]

Yeah, this is an issue with bucketing. I am rebucketing filter lists for the next release, so this problem should no longer be an issue once that's out. For now, I recommend disabling everything except adguard base, and then enabling the lists that are essential to you one by one.

[cwindolf]

That's great, thank you!

[dwight1989-coder]

Yeah, this is an issue with bucketing. I am rebucketing filter lists for the next release, so this problem should no longer be an issue once that's out. For now, I recommend disabling everything except adguard base, and then enabling the lists that are essential to you one by one.

When should we be expecting the next release?👍 thank you for the hard work!

[0xCUB3]

I'm hoping to release by Christmas, if not the end of the calendar year.

[dwight1989-coder]

Your awesome! out of curiousity are you planning on making any future releases Beta program?

[0xCUB3]

I have a testflight again, but this one is invite-only, only for technical users. I had lots of issues with people complaining about things breaking in the last testflight, but the whole point of an alpha is that things sometimes break in favor of progress...