Unobstruct vs Banish
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Unobstruct
This app enhances your web browsing experience by automatically removing intrusive floating toolbars from various websites. It also offers an on-demand feature to hide any remaining obstructions, ensuring a cleaner and more focused reading environment on your mobile device.
- Automatic content blocking for Safari
- Removes floating social media toolbars
- On-demand hiding of page obstructions
- Supports numerous popular websites
- Action button integration in Safari
- Option to reload pages with blockers disabled
Read full descriptionHide full description
You’re already reading web pages on a pretty small screen. Don’t let floating social media sharing toolbars and the like get in your way. Unobstruct includes a content blocker for Safari that will remove these bars automatically from several web pages. Just go into Safari’s settings and enable it under Content Blockers. If a page still has floating bars covering it which aren’t removed by Unobstruct’s content blocker, you can hide these on demand. Do so by tapping the Unobstruct Page item in the Action button in Safari’s toolbar (which can be enabled under the More icon). If you need to get these hidden bars back, simply reload the web page (or long-press reload to load the page with content blockers disabled if you want them all). Auto-blocking is available on many web sites, including: • Medium • TechCrunch • The Verge • Recode • Polygon • Vox and other Vox-run sites • Wired • Mashable • And many others — see the entire list in the in-app settings Note that on some sites, the top bar remains since removing it would make the site fail to function fully. But you can use the Unobstruct Page action to remove it.
Banish
This Safari extension blocks intrusive "Open in App" popups and other website annoyances on your iPhone and iPad. Enjoy a cleaner browsing experience without unwanted interruptions or dark patterns.
- Blocks 'Open in App' popups
- Removes website dark patterns
- One-time purchase
- Private and data-free
- Simple to enable
- Fast and efficient
Read full descriptionHide full description
BANISH. The #1 Safari Extension to block annoying 'Open in App' popups & other dark patterns on the web. “Banish does one thing and does it well: it nukes dickpanels in Safari on iPhone and iPad” — John Gruber, Daring Fireball "The app proved incredibly useful. For instance, when on Quora, clicking a link to another Quora page would normally pop up a blocker that requires you to log in to continue navigating the website. With Banish, this pop-up was gone and you could use the site normally" — Sarah Perez, TechCrunch PRIVATE Banish does not collect or store any of your data - nothing leaves your device. BUY ONCE Just a one-time purchase and Banish is yours. No subscriptions, no in-app purchases, no ads, no nonsense. FAST The app performs the minimal, necessary changes to block popups and free up screen space. SIMPLE It's as easy as downloading the app and enabling it in Safari settings. No maintenance needed. MODERN Banish is written in Apple's latest programming paradigm Swift UI and Safari Extension functionality. --- NOTE: Even with Banish, Smart Banners can still appear at the top for apps you have installed. They can't be removed because they're built into Safari. Need Help? Contact us at BanishForSafari@gmail.com
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Unobstruct at 85% against Banish's 39%. Unobstruct also leads on rating (4.8 vs 3.8) and price ($0.99 vs $2.99). Banish's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). On ratings volume, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Unobstruct costs $0.99 and Banish $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Unobstruct holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 304 and 263 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 85% of Unobstruct's written reviews are positive against 39% of Banish's.
Unobstruct ships an update every 2 months, Banish every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Unobstruct | Banish |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.99 — better | $2.99 |
| Rating | 4.8 (304 ratings) — better | 3.8 (263 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 85.4% of reviews — better | 39.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 304 — better | 263 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 10.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 10 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | InfinitApps | Big Pineapple LLC |
Customer experience
Unobstruct
Banish
User reviews
Unobstruct
From 304 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Improves web browsing experience
- 💰 Great value for money
- ✨ Makes reading articles easier
- 🚀 Efficiently removes annoyances
- 👍 Essential everyday tool
Room to improve
- 🐛 Doesn't always work
- 🐛 Stopped working recently
- 🐛 Requires manual activation
- 🐛 No automatic blocking
- 🐛 Not working on all sites
Banish
From 263 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Works great
- 🚀 Blocks annoying popups
- 💡 Useful for blocking 'open in app' prompts
- 👍 Simple and effective
Room to improve
- 🐛 Doesn't work on certain websites
- 🐛 Breaks functionality on some sites
- 🐛 Inconsistent performance
- 🐛 Doesn't block all 'open in app' banners
Bugs and requests
Unobstruct
Reported bugs
4 issues- Stopped showing in Safari share menu
- No longer blocks top of page toolbars on certain sites
- Floating social media icons not removed
- Latest update fails on specific devices/OS
Requested features
5 requests- Remember choices/permanent rules for sites
- Automatic removal of annoyances
- Toggle for automatic blocking
- Open source blacklist for community expansion
- Notification to site owners when used
Banish
Reported bugs
3 issues- Breaks Twitter functionality
- Causes issues with Reddit and other sites
- Doesn't work on YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn
Requested features
3 requests- More granular control/whitelisting
- Statistics/logging feature
- Improved compatibility with more websites
In-app purchases
Unobstruct
No in-app purchases
Banish
No in-app purchases







