5 ms·

What ad blocking for Android to would recommend?

martin_a 7y ago
Pi-hole or alike. Works very well for me, although I'm experiencing some problems with it. I'm a bad system administrator, though.
- dwighttk 7y ago
  does that work when you are away from home wifi? (not sure what all pi-hole does)
  - Godel_unicode 7y ago
    It does if you also run a VPN, although that has battery life implications.
  - jki275 7y ago
    You could set up a vpn to your home network to use it I suppose, otherwise no, it doesn't. pihole is nothing more than a dns blocker for your home network.
  - yegle 7y ago
    Run a DNS-over-TLS server on top of pihole and use the Private DNS feature available in Android P. https://github.com/yegle/your-dns https://github.com/yegle/your-dns
  - martin_a 7y ago
    Set up a VPN for that with Vultr. $5 a month, that's okay for me.
curiousgal 7y ago
Adaway and Afwall+ for blocking apps that shouldn't need internet to function.
evandena 7y ago
Adguard (paid) or Blokada (free) if you don't want to root.
- Forbo 7y ago
  You can use AdGuard's DNS servers for free. They also have the added benefit of supporting DoT and DoH. Click on "DNS Privacy" for their instructions: https://adguard.com/en/adguard-dns/overview.html#instruction https://adguard.com/en/adguard-dns/overview.html#instruction
ce4 7y ago
Firefox mobile + uBlockOrigin or uMatrix
- e40 7y ago
  Not rooted, and this is the best option. Tried Blokada and it was just frustrating to use.
  - ce4 7y ago
    You're absolutely right, thanks for catching this. Firefox' addon system is a real boon and the solution that works if you can't/don't want to root. Before that I was getting frustrated by filtering pseudo-VPN apps and rooting is not an option anymore (sec-wise and because of Google SafetyNet).
- CristianMezei 7y ago
  Another vote for uBlockOrigin here
- css 7y ago
  Firefox Mobile is dropping extension support for awhile: https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/issues/574 https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/issues/574
  - lol768 7y ago
    Firefox Mobile will continue to be Fennec in the short-term. >when exactly is fenix supposed to replace fennec as Firefox for Android? Once the MVP is done, or when it reaches feature parity? >We are currently finalizing the transition plan, however we know that Fennec will not be replaced for the MVP, we will make sure our existing users will get the experience they expect later in the year. If they choose to use an experimental MVP which doesn't yet have feature parity, then sure - they won't have Web Extensions.
  - NikolaeVarius 7y ago
    Fenix is not the currently supported mainline Firefox Mobile browser, nor will it be for a bit.
robbyt 7y ago
Firefox with uBlock
- kgwxd 7y ago
  uBlock Origin
vuln 7y ago
AdGuard also has a great beta program if you’re into the bleeding edge sort of thing.
chaosite 7y ago
Firefox keeps getting better on mobile. I've been using it for several years now, and it's always been usable, but it's been hard recommending it to other people as it was significantly slower than Chrome. This is no longer true. Chrome does do touch better, clicking things (like "x" buttons to close in page pop-ups) works better on Chrome, Mobile Firefox tends to switch to text select.
circular_logic 7y ago
DNS66, Works without root by creating a local VNM that it then runs its own DNS (with blocklists) on. End results are all the banner adds on most apps will not show up etc. https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.jak_linux.dns66/ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.jak_linux.dns66/
- will4274 7y ago
  I'm not sure this is necessary anymore now that Google added DNS over TLS ("Private DNS") in Android 9. Just choose a DNS server with your preferred blacklist built in and configure it with native Android. Much better perf than using a fake VPN like DNS66.
danmg 7y ago
Brave + Blokada
jorvi 7y ago
If you don't have root: set your DNS server to AdGuard's. It will block most ads and they have a strict no-logging policy. Otherwise you need to use a local VPN, but that will prevent you from protecting your privacy with an actual VPN. If you're rooted, just use AdAway.
marcod 7y ago
Funny thing was that I was reading this in an ad-blocking browser and phys.org was complaining about that (in a very restrained way) "It appears that you are currently using Ad Blocking software. What are the consequences?"

Pi-hole or alike. Works very well for me, although I'm experiencing some problems with it. I'm a bad system administrator, though.

dwighttk 7y ago
does that work when you are away from home wifi? (not sure what all pi-hole does)
- Godel_unicode 7y ago
  It does if you also run a VPN, although that has battery life implications.
- jki275 7y ago
  You could set up a vpn to your home network to use it I suppose, otherwise no, it doesn't. pihole is nothing more than a dns blocker for your home network.
- yegle 7y ago
  Run a DNS-over-TLS server on top of pihole and use the Private DNS feature available in Android P. https://github.com/yegle/your-dns https://github.com/yegle/your-dns
- martin_a 7y ago
  Set up a VPN for that with Vultr. $5 a month, that's okay for me.

curiousgal 7y ago

Adaway and Afwall+ for blocking apps that shouldn't need internet to function.

evandena 7y ago

Adguard (paid) or Blokada (free) if you don't want to root.

Forbo 7y ago
You can use AdGuard's DNS servers for free. They also have the added benefit of supporting DoT and DoH. Click on "DNS Privacy" for their instructions: https://adguard.com/en/adguard-dns/overview.html#instruction https://adguard.com/en/adguard-dns/overview.html#instruction

ce4 7y ago

Firefox mobile + uBlockOrigin or uMatrix

e40 7y ago
Not rooted, and this is the best option. Tried Blokada and it was just frustrating to use.
- ce4 7y ago
  You're absolutely right, thanks for catching this. Firefox' addon system is a real boon and the solution that works if you can't/don't want to root. Before that I was getting frustrated by filtering pseudo-VPN apps and rooting is not an option anymore (sec-wise and because of Google SafetyNet).
CristianMezei 7y ago
Another vote for uBlockOrigin here
css 7y ago
Firefox Mobile is dropping extension support for awhile: https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/issues/574 https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/issues/574
- lol768 7y ago
  Firefox Mobile will continue to be Fennec in the short-term. >when exactly is fenix supposed to replace fennec as Firefox for Android? Once the MVP is done, or when it reaches feature parity? >We are currently finalizing the transition plan, however we know that Fennec will not be replaced for the MVP, we will make sure our existing users will get the experience they expect later in the year. If they choose to use an experimental MVP which doesn't yet have feature parity, then sure - they won't have Web Extensions.
- NikolaeVarius 7y ago
  Fenix is not the currently supported mainline Firefox Mobile browser, nor will it be for a bit.

robbyt 7y ago

Firefox with uBlock

kgwxd 7y ago
uBlock Origin

vuln 7y ago

AdGuard also has a great beta program if you’re into the bleeding edge sort of thing.

chaosite 7y ago

Firefox keeps getting better on mobile. I've been using it for several years now, and it's always been usable, but it's been hard recommending it to other people as it was significantly slower than Chrome. This is no longer true. Chrome does do touch better, clicking things (like "x" buttons to close in page pop-ups) works better on Chrome, Mobile Firefox tends to switch to text select.

circular_logic 7y ago

DNS66, Works without root by creating a local VNM that it then runs its own DNS (with blocklists) on. End results are all the banner adds on most apps will not show up etc. https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.jak_linux.dns66/ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.jak_linux.dns66/

will4274 7y ago
I'm not sure this is necessary anymore now that Google added DNS over TLS ("Private DNS") in Android 9. Just choose a DNS server with your preferred blacklist built in and configure it with native Android. Much better perf than using a fake VPN like DNS66.

danmg 7y ago

Brave + Blokada

jorvi 7y ago

If you don't have root: set your DNS server to AdGuard's. It will block most ads and they have a strict no-logging policy. Otherwise you need to use a local VPN, but that will prevent you from protecting your privacy with an actual VPN. If you're rooted, just use AdAway.

marcod 7y ago

Funny thing was that I was reading this in an ad-blocking browser and phys.org was complaining about that (in a very restrained way) "It appears that you are currently using Ad Blocking software. What are the consequences?"