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On mobile, rooting and using a hosts file to block malicious/ad domains is better anyway.
by Kenji 10y ago
On mobile, rooting and using a hosts file to block malicious/ad domains is better anyway.
- dredmorbius 10y agoRooting isn't supported on many devices. E.g., my Samsung Galaxy Tab A. Fuck Google. Fuck Samsung. Fuck Android.
- optionalparens 10y agoTrue to some degree, but rooting can be a pain on devices that make you do it again after an update. For me, the bigger issue with a hosts file is that it doesn't cover conditional cases. For instance, there are times when I want to read some comments or play a video, or even unblock a single page element, but otherwise I want to block that stuff entirely. Facebook comments is one example. My recommendation is still to do both. Hosts file covers other apps nicely like stupid in-app banner ads, while using Firefox or something with ad-blocking extensions still lets you browse the web without breaking some sites entirely.
- kuschku 10y agoIf you root, you won’t be able to use Android Pay (an advertised feature of the device) anymore due to the recent changes to SafetyNet that now trigger if even the bootloader isn’t locked.
- Kenji 10y agoWell, we have root access. Can't we completely stump and destroy this stupid safety net? This should have a very high priority for anyone who cares about open smartphone systems. There should be a safety net remover that simply strips all safety net API calls off a program and inserts all valid flags by default.
- kuschku 10y agoThe issue is the way it happens. SafetyNet actually sends its results to a Google server, which validates that they’re properly signed, and then sends a message to the backend of the app. The only way to successfully break it is by emulating or replacing SafetyNet on the device, but as part of it runs in TrustZone, that’s not easily possible.
- mordocai 10y agoI haven't ran into this and my phone is rooted. Is this for specific android versions or something?