Advertising and trackers have gotten out of hand on many sites. Pages load slowly wasting your time, draining your battery, and using up your mobile data. Even worse, ads sometimes serve up malware to unsuspecting users. To take back control, you need 1Blocker.

1Blocker fights back by putting fine-grained controls in the hands of its users. The app has rules that block tens of thousands of common ads, trackers, social buttons, and other junk. The ad blocking category alone includes over 40,000 rules. On top of that, there are eight other categories with thousands of additional rules that will make you more productive online by reducing distractions. In the unlikely event that 1Blocker doesn’t have a rule you need, you can add your own too.

You can even hide individual elements on a webpage with 1Blocker’s powerful action extension on iOS. All you have to do is invoke the extension, tap what you want to hide, and then save. It’s incredibly simple and effective for page elements that aren’t already blocked by 1Blocker’s extensive built-in rules.

1Blocker is available on macOS too and syncs with the iOS version via iCloud to keep your blocking rules up-to-date across both platforms. Head on over to 1Blocker’s website for more information about how it can make your browsing better.

Our thanks to 1Blocker for sponsoring MacStories this week.

No one has ever said ‘I want to spend more time on my email.’ Staying on top of important messages is critical, but managing your inbox can quickly become an unproductive time sink. Mailbutler is a productivity tool that supercharges your email client so you can get through your email messages quickly and efficiently.

Just because you are catching up on email messages at 1:00 AM doesn’t mean you want your message to hit someone’s inbox at that hour. With Mailbutler, you can schedule your emails to be sent during normal working hours and then track whether the recipient opened your message. Mailbutler also helps you put your best foot forward with beautifully-designed, professional message templates and signature management.

Mailbutler is just as effective at managing messages you receive. When you need to focus on your work, you can pause your inbox until you are ready to deal with it. Mailbutler also makes unsubscribing from unwanted email much faster than hunting for that tiny ‘unsubscribe’ link buried at the bottom of a message. As you process messages, Mailbutler can even turn them into tasks or Evernote or OneNote notes, which is a more effective way to handle actionable and reference items than letting them sit in your inbox.

Everyone could use help with email. Mailbutler has already conquered Apple Mail and is working on even more tools to help you tame your inbox. Try Mailbutler for free today.

Our thanks to Mailbutler for sponsoring MacStories this week.

What if you had someone who would sort through your email and find only the important messages? That is exactly what SaneBox does. After you set it up, SaneBox leaves your important messages in your inbox and moves the rest to a SaneLater folder for reviewing later. That initial inbox purge is powerful because it reduces your inbox to a manageable number of messages. With additional training to tell SaneBox what’s important to you, it only gets better at dealing with the daily deluge of messages.

There’s much more to SaneBox than shuffling unimportant messages into a designated folder, though. If there’s something you never want to see ever again, send it to the SaneBlackHole, which is much easier than unsubscribing to unwanted messages.

You can also set up SaneReminders by sending messages to an address that sends a reminder to you at a later date if the recipient of your message hasn’t responded after a certain amount of time. Or forward messages to SaneReminders to have it pop back into your inbox at a later date when you are ready to deal with it.

SaneBox works on top of your existing email setup. There’s no app to download or new email account to set up. It all works server-side so you can use any email client you want.

Sign up today for a free 14-day SaneBox trial to take back control of your email. MacStories readers can receive a special $25 credit automatically by using this link to sign up.

Our thanks to SaneBox for sponsoring MacStories this week.

Screens by Edovia makes it easy to control any computer from a Mac or iOS device no matter where you are in the world. Whether you left an important file on your home computer that you need while you’re at work, or have a relative thousands of miles away who needs tech support, Edovia’s Screens app for Mac and iOS has you covered.

Screens is as secure, fast, and reliable as it is easy to set up and use. Not only is the connection to your remote computer secured end-to-end, but Screens includes Curtain Mode, which obscures the screen of your remote computer so no one walking by it while you’re connected can see what’s on your screen. Screens can also handle multiple displays attached to your remote computer, showing them all at once or just the ones you choose to view. If you provide tech support for friends and family, Screens makes that process simpler too by offering a free download that anyone you are helping can use so you can take control of their computer as you troubleshoot their problems.

Edovia has a great limited-time deal for MacStories readers. Use the coupon code MACSTORIES at checkout to save 20% off on the macOS version of Screens. You can also go to http://edovia.com/macstories to have the coupon code automatically applied to your purchase.

Our thanks to Edovia for sponsoring MacStories this week.

V for Wikipedia is a beautifully-designed reader for Wikipedia. The app, which has won awards for its design and was declared an Editors’ Choice by Apple, emphasizes typography and mapping to make exploring Wikipedia a delight.

V for Wikipedia features a four-tab interface with a search box that is always available at the top of the main interface. The first tab features the most popular Wikipedia articles in an attractive two column layout. There are also search history and bookmark tabs for easily finding recently browsed or saved articles.

But where V for Wikipedia really shines is its location tab. The app marks locations around you that have Wikipedia entries with colorful markers that have lines that gracefully curve to a row of articles that scrolls horizontally across the bottom of the screen. The design is attractive, but also functional, like an interactive travel guide or encyclopedia.

Another highlight of V for Wikipedia is its attention to each article’s layout, imagery, and typography. From the signature map view, to the the careful design of the articles, V for Wikipedia transforms Wikipedia into a stylish reading experience that sets it apart from other Wikipedia readers. Chosen by Apple as one of the best apps of 2016, V for Wikipedia is the best choice for travelers, students, researchers, and anyone else who uses Wikipedia regularly.

V for Wikipedia is available on the App Store as a Universal app for the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Learn more about V for Wikipedia here.

Our thanks to Raureif for sponsoring MacStories this week.

Traveling isn’t easy. FlightLogger is designed to take the pain out of air travel by making it simple to search and save your flights, get up-to-date notifications on any changes, share your travel plans with friends and family, and much more.

Too many flight tracking apps are a cluttered mess. FlightLogger takes a clean, minimalist approach that reduces the number of taps and information you have to input. Combined with a clear, easy-to-read interface, FlightLogger is the perfect companion for your next trip.

FlightLogger features:

• Real-time, ad-free tracking of departure and arrival times, delays, cancellations, and gate and baggage claim information.
• Flight status notifications.
• Apple Watch syncing.
• Data for around 37,000 airports worldwide.
• Push notifications that can be set for 2 hours before the flight, 1 hour before, the time of departure, the time of arrival, and if there are delays.
• Optional automatic deletion of flights an hour after you land.
• An innovative timeline view that reduces screen clutter and provides simple glanceable information about your flights.

If that isn’t enough, you can get even more by subscribing to FlightLogger’s premium features like offline-mode for when you don’t have a data connection, enhanced alerts, unlimited flights tracked per month, sharing of location and flight status with family and friends, and syncing with your calendar. Head on over to FlightLogger’s website to learn more.

Our thanks to FlightLogger for sponsoring MacStories this week.

What if you had someone to go through your email and find just the important messages? SaneBox does exactly that. Once set up, it leaves your important messages in your inbox and moves the rest to a SaneLater folder for reviewing later. That initial inbox purge is powerful because it reduces your inbox to a manageable number of messages. With additional training to tell SaneBox what’s important to you, it only gets better at dealing with your daily deluge of messages.

There’s much more to SaneBox than shuffling unimportant messages into a designated folder, though. If there’s something you never want to see ever again, send it to the SaneBlackHole, which is much easier than unsubscribing to unwanted messages.

You can also set up SaneReminders by sending messages to an address that sends a reminder to you at a later date if the recipient of your message hasn’t responded after a certain amount of time. Or forward a message to SaneReminders to have it pop back into your inbox at a later date when you are ready to deal with it.

SaneBox works on top of your existing email setup. There’s no particular app to download or new email account to set up. It all works server-side so you can use any email client you want.

Sign up today for a free 14-day SaneBox trial to take back control of your email. MacStories readers can receive a special $25 credit automatically by using this link to sign up.

No one has ever said ‘I want to spend more time on my email.’ Staying on top of important messages is critical, but managing your inbox can quickly become an unproductive time sink. MailButler is a series of Apple Mail add-ons that supercharge it so you can get through your email messages quickly and efficiently.

Just because you are catching up on email messages at 1:00 AM doesn’t mean you want your message to hit someone’s inbox at that hour. With MailButler, you can schedule your emails to be sent during normal working hours and then track whether the recipient opened your message. MailButler also helps you put your best foot forward with beautifully-designed, professional message templates and signature management.

MailButler is just as effective at managing messages you receive. When you need to focus on your work, you can pause your inbox until you are ready to deal with it. MailButler also makes unsubscribing from unwanted email much faster than hunting for that tiny ‘unsubscribe’ link buried at the bottom of a message. As you process messages, MailButler can even turn them into tasks or Evernote or OneNote notes, which is a more effective way to handle actionable and reference items than letting them sit in your inbox.

Everyone could use help with email. MailButler is the assistant you need to take back control of your inbox. Try MailButler for free today.

Backing up your data is critical. CloudBerry Backup is a cross-platform backup solution for saving files and folders to the cloud storage service or your choice. With CloudBerry, you can backup to a wide array of cloud services, including Amazon S3 and Glacier, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, Rackspace, and many more.

However, CloudBerry Backup isn’t just about choice among cloud storage providers. The app includes sophisticated backup tools too. You can create flexible backup schedules, reduce storage overhead and speed up backups with compression, and limit backups to new and modified files after your initial backup. Data is sent securely to cloud storage providers using SSL security protocols and backups can be encrypted at their source with strong 256-bit keys. Retention policies are also available to ensure that you are preserving only the files you want to back up. You can even use CloudBerry Backup for backups to local or network attached storage.

Just last month, CloudBerry released version 2.0 of Backup for macOS, which adds multi-threaded upload support for faster file uploads. The update also added advanced file filtering, which provides greater flexibility in specifying which files get backed up.

Cloudberry Backup is available in freeware and Pro versions with a 15-day trial. The Pro version includes data encryption and compression for just $29.99.

Our thanks to CloudBerry Lab for sponsoring MacStories this week.