14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is currently testing native ad blocking in Microsoft Edge on mobile platforms, and the most recent beta build for Android brings this feature to a limited set of users.
The ad blocking experience is powered by AdBlock Plus and can be manually enabled from Settings > Block Content. This menu does not exist on devices not running this latest beta build. As reported by MSPU, this beta version is 42.0.02055.
Vishnu Nath, Head of Program Management, Microsoft Mobility Experiences, says this feature is also coming to iOS devices and is currently in the works. No other specifics were provided.
Microsoft Edge on Android
Microsoft Edge might be trailing behind its rivals on the desktop, where Google Chrome is the preferred choice for most users, but on mobile devices, the app is rapidly gaining traction.
On Android, Microsoft Edge has already reached 5 million installs, according to the Google Play Store listing of the stable version, and many other users run the beta build of the browser.
Microsoft uses this browser as a way to bring mobile platforms and Windows 10 closer together, as it offers synchronization features that make it possible to start browsing on one device and continue from where you left off on another device.
Edge reviews on the Google Play store have been mostly positive, with the browser currently being rated 4.3 out of a maximum of 5.
There’s still no ETA as to when the new ad blocking experience could become available to users, but the beta build is now gradually rolling out across the world and should go live for all testers in just a few days. The stable build is typically updated a few weeks after the beta launches new features, so July is probably a safe target for the public debut of the ad blocker.