In a recent episode of Mac Geek Gab (1134 at 00:23:40), Adam shared a tip about a way to eliminate in-game ads. Some game apps feed ads to users overwhelmingly and make gameplay tedious and unexciting. There may be an opportunity to pay a little to eliminate the ads, but that can also be problematic.
For example, I love playing Scrabble and the current mobile app, licensed by U.S. trademark holder Hasbro, is Scrabble GO. For Classic Scrabble gameplay, it’s ad-supported and the fee to eliminate them is steep.
I’ve sent feedback in the past encouraging the developer to lessen the fee and make the game more affordable but to no avail. I’m really annoyed by the incessant in-game ads that are otherwise played after many of my turns.
I commonly have at least seven active Scrabble games at a time with various friends and family. The tedium of force quitting and reloading the game every time an ad displays isn’t my cup of tea. So, I was glad to find a workaround that’s more reliable yet leaves me reachable by phone if needed.
Client Notes
This past weekend, I spent a whole afternoon and evening with Adrianne & Craig (my in-laws) to help with migration to a new Mac, assessing old storage volumes, and starting to declutter their technology from the past two decades. After we finish the project in the coming weeks, I’ll have another load of e-waste to recycle and will welcome your contribution.
Other recent sessions included restoring Janet’s Mac that a repair shop botched, preparing Dean to drop Xfinity and its steep fees, and getting Heidi’s recently acquired iMac in sync with her iPhone and iPad. Additionally, I coded a new email signature for Leslie, which we will soon implant in Apple Mail.
Context for Ad-Supported Games
Generally, I support the idea of kicking a few bucks to an app developer so they continue working on their creative and beneficial projects. Also, if ad-blocking for an app I use regularly is offered with a reasonable annual subscription, I’m probably more likely to opt in.
In the case of Scrabble GO, which was released in March 2020, I started paying for an ad-free experience in April 2021. The cost: $8 for 90 days at a time, which is a whopping $32 per year!
Coincidentally, I learned this tip just three days before my then current ad-free subscription expired. No more!
To Load or Not to Load In-Game Ads
The only way in-game ads can appear is with an active Internet connection, whether over Wi-Fi or Cellular Data. The logical approach that Adam’s wife discovered is to toggle Airplane Mode. However, I prefer to remain reachable by phone or text during my gaming experiences and Airplane Mode disables that option.
Additionally, in Scrabble GO, an Internet connection is required to load the app and show available games. Once I select a game, I can play one turn in each game while offline.
Bye-Bye In-Game Ads
To cleverly block in-game ads in Scrabble GO, I built the following automation that disables my Wi-Fi and Cellular Data connections. Here’s my setup:
- Open Shortcuts, select Automation, and create a new one
- Choose App and specify the app that will trigger the automation when you open it, such as Scrabble GO
- Let the automation run immediately without confirmation
- On the next screen, create a new shortcut and structure it as shown above.
The Wait command at the beginning gives time for the app to load and for me to open a game. And the If statement ensures the app is still open before toggling connections. For example, if there are no turns to play, I may close the app before the disconnection occurs, thus preventing it.
Get Back Online Temporarily
Besides loading newly available turns, which occurs in the background when the device is online, there are a few game features that require me to go back online temporarily: (1) start a new game, such as a rematch after a game ends, (2) swap tiles or pass my turn, and (3) look up words in the dictionary.
If I want to perform any of these actions during gameplay, I go to Control Center and toggle Cellular Data. In Control Center, I’ve found it easiest to tap 
to open the Connectivity section. This saves a tap when exiting Control Center. After the online action, I toggle Cellular Data off again.
Why not toggle Wi-Fi? Because the Wi-Fi button in Control Center has a different effect. Rather than turning Wi-Fi off completely, it simply disconnects from the current networks, which permits features like AirDrop, AirPlay, and Location Services to continue working, as they can use ad-hoc wireless networks.
As a result, when I later restore all connectivity, I might end up switching Wi-Fi off instead of on. Unfortunately, the disconnect/reconnect action isn’t available in Shortcuts.
Return Connectivity to Normal
I created a second shortcut to toggle Wi-Fi and Cellular Data back on. For recognizability, I assigned in the same connectivity glyph. To call it conveniently, I gave it a button in Control Center. After I’ve played all my turns, I tap the control so they sync and then I close Scrabble GO.
To add a custom control, which is supported in iOS 18 and later:
- Open Control Center and long-press in the empty space
- Tap Add a Control and choose the type of control, such as Run Shortcut
- Configure the action, such as by selecting the shortcut to run
- Tap outside the panel to close it. You’ll see the button carries the same icon as assigned to the shortcut.
- If you wish, resize the control by dragging the handle in its bottom-right edge
How much have you experimented with Shortcuts and Automation? If you’re curious to go down this rabbit hole, you might want to peruse RoutineHub, which features a wealth of Apple Shortcuts you can add to your collection and use as templates or inspiration for more your own creations.
If you want help navigating Shortcuts and expanding your efficiency repertoire, you know where to find me. And if you want to share your discoveries in this landscape for the benefit of others, feel free to post in the comments…
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