"Achieving this much success with Peace just doesn’t feel good, which I didn’t anticipate," Arment wrote in a post explaining the shift. "I know pulling Peace from the store after just two days is going to be an immensely unpopular move, and subject me to a torrent of unpleasantness. But that’ll end soon enough, and that’s better than how I’d feel if I kept going." Users who have already downloaded the app can continue to use it, but Arment will not update or maintain it, and has offered a refund to anyone who purchased the app since its launch earlier this week.

Arment had previously defended the ethics of ad-blocking, comparing intrusive mobile ads to pop-up ad banners in the days of the early web. In today's post, he reiterated that point, saying that while he believes in the broader fight against intrusive ads, he no longer sees apps like Peace as the best way to get there. "This approach is too blunt, and Ghostery and I have both decided that it doesn’t serve our goals or beliefs well enough," Arment wrote. "If we’re going to effect positive change overall, a more nuanced, complex approach is required than what I can bring in a simple iOS app."