I have been using the hosts file based ad blocker AdAway for at least two years. It runs on my smartphones and tablet, all rooted, thus I can run a VPN simultaneously. Since it has always worked flawlessly, I never really took the time to compare it to other similar apps.
But as of today, there hasn’t been an update since 2024.
I am asking for alternatives and the reason you think they’re better.
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There’s a magisk module for this.
You mean
systemless hostsworks without being called/used by an app? Do you know the systemless hosts file path?I think it had a configurable path? Or at least it told you. But sure, automatic updates is another matter. I don’t think it can do that.
Can’t you just point AdAway to Stevenblack’s hosts or something?
I think we’ve got off track. Stevenblack’s is already shipped with AdAway. AdAway works perfectly fine with Magisk’s systemless hosts. I have no other reason for wanting to change to another app than the fact that it hasn’t been updated since 2024.
I would tbh recommend to just switch to DNS-based blocking by changing your DNS provider in the Android settings (“Private DNS”).
That’s a great idea for the ad blocking, which is what I am writing about in the OP, but I also would like to be able to block specific hosts and IP addresses on a hosts file level, in order to stop system apps from connecting.
I’ve used a VPN based ad filter for years.
It was called dns66, but has been replaced by DNSnet on F-Droid.
It creates a loopback VPN connection and forwards all traffic through it, when can then be filtered.
Use Mullvad’s dns servers https://mullvad.net/en/help/dns-over-https-and-dns-over-tls#android. Their vpn also has dns blocking capabilities.
This is all I do. It works pretty well. I sometimes have to turn it off briefly to log in to airplane wifi or such.
Thanks! For this, I am using Mullvad’s ad blocking DNS. 😊 I want to be able to block specific hosts and IP addresses on a hosts file level in order to block certain system apps from connecting.
On fdroid Dnsnet and Blockads are nice, i also used and help translate Athena.
Sweet! Thank you for your contribution! :D
Don’t know about your specific use case but blockads is quite good
