AdGuard v4.0.4 for iOS: DNS-over-QUIC and Swift Safari Converter

Meet AdGuard v4.0.4 for iOS! This release is mainly focused on bug fixes and minor improvements. Yet, it has a feature that one can’t ignore — DNS-over-QUIC support!

DNS-over-QUIC support (AdGuard DNS)

The first thing you should know about DNS-over-QUIC (DoQ) is that it's a new encryption protocol. Not as new as a concept, but very new in terms of practical application. In fact, AdGuard introduced the very first public DNS servers that support DoQ! The feature is still experimental — AdGuard for iOS is one of the first open-source implementations of DNS-over-QUIC — but it's perfectly functioning and we encourage you to try it.

The most common DNS encryption protocols are DNS-over-HTTPS and DNS-over-TLS (DoH and DoT correspondingly). What makes DoQ special? A bunch of things: out-of-the-box encryption, reduced connection times, and better performance in cases of lost data packets. We do encourage you to try it! And if you wish to learn more about DoQ, here is a separate article about it where we sliced and diced everything.

How to use DoQ in AdGuard for iOS

• Open the app, switch to the Protection tab
• Enable DNS protection and open its menu

• Under DNS server choose any of the available AdGuard DNS servers
• Select DNS-over-QUIC (experimental) from among the available protocols

Swift Safari Converter

We got through a big chunk of work doing this task. The bottomline is that we have completely rewritten the code that converts AdGuard filters to a format that Safari can 'read'. Now everything works faster, better, and filter updates require fewer resources. It was well worth it.

And there we have it. If you're in the mood to geek out a bit, dive into the complete list of changes on GitHub. And remember that we're always looking forward to your feedback. Share it with us in the comments or on social media, if you'd like :)