I'm not aware if you can do it the way you mention, but you can used NextDNS and it pretty much cleans most of the ads (I actually haven't seen an ad in a very long time).

If it ever interests you: https://nextdns.io/?from=d6jchbnv (my affiliate link).

DNS based content blocking is trivially bypassed: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30411049

I am pretty active in the blocklist community, co-maintain a FOSS network monitor and firewall for Android, was a contributor to AOSP, and run a public DoH/DoT resolver; to me, the writing has been on the wall for the past few years. Plugins like uBlockOrigin, alt web-based front-ends like Invidious, and reverse-engineered apps like YouTube ReVanced will most likely be the only options left in the not so distant future.

Eeeh, kinda. A local DNS server is the only way I’ve found, and that causes problems on apps that block the “VPN” status and completely breaks cellular data.

It also doesn’t always work, particularly if the app isn’t covered in your blocklist (which it isn’t always possible to add them in any easy way, because “think different”)/the app hosts ad content directly.

The question I have is, why would I ever use an app that has ads? If an app has ads and I can’t pay to get rid of them, I delete it.

Apple's App Store has ads: https://searchads.apple.com/

If you really do refuse to use apps with promoted content then I guess you don't install anything to your iPhone.

You’re actually not too far off. I use to browse the App Store regularly to see what was new and interesting.

The App Store is such a shit show now, I only go there when someone links to an interesting app from a website or podcast notes.

It's probably the biggest problem in the ecosystem, for all the papercuts I piss and moan over. The existence of an F-Droid style store on iOS would go such a long ways in stimulating competition. Even if Apple defends their right to tax platform payments, the mere existence of no-cost ad-free software would force other ecosystem players to do better. It's a win for FOSS fanatics and paid software stalwarts alike.

Now, if Apple unlocked the bootloader and promised no more ownership shenanigans, I'd never badmouth Tim or his company's software ever again. This website has my word on that.

Well, the Google Play store does have alternatives and it’s just as much of a shit show if not more so and monetizes worse.

To a first approximation, no one cares about open source app stores on Android.

Epic tried to bypass the Play Store and it was a disaster for them.