Ad-blocking is an essential experience for many people. Bad ads can ruin experiences left and right, especially while browsing the web, playing games, and watching video content. Of course, there is a necessary sinister side to the whole thing, but people still use ad blockers anyway. There are several ways to block ads on your Android device in at least some capacity. It exclusively requires root access or the installation of third-party apps.
There are no system level ad blockers in the Google Play Store. You can read here to find out why. Hence, most of the apps on the list require third-party download and installation. We had no problems doing this, but you might be a little concerned. Also, more and more sites and services allow payment instead of ads. We recommend doing this instead of blocking ads because it allows the creators of the content you enjoy to continue doing so while also making a living. just an idea.
Best ad blocking apps for Android
Ad blocking ethics
The ethics of ad blocking is a bit tricky. For starters, capture 22 is a situation with contradictory rules. Ads help creators like us here at Android Authority pay the bills, keep the lights on, and make sure we have roofs over our heads. I may be a little biased because I do this work for a living, but there are actual, real benefits to advertising. It keeps my work free for you, reader, while still giving me enough money to pay my bills.
A lot of people want to know if blocking ads takes money from independent creators. The answer to that question is yes. Android Authority is an independent website, and our budget would definitely be better if ad blocking wasn’t there. We acknowledge that ads eat up CPU cycles and data, but without them, we wouldn’t exist.
However, there is a lot that people do not understand about ads. For example, most websites do not choose which ads are shown on their sites. The site chooses the space the ad goes to, and the third-party ad service places the ads there. This is how a reputable site can end up with malicious ads.
Because things like that can go wrong, we have this list. We’d certainly appreciate it if you saw more ads here at Android Authority, but we understand if you don’t want to. Here’s how to prevent them.
AdAway (root only)
price: free
Indian Joe / Android Salad
AdAway is a simple ad blocker app. It uses a modified hosts file to send all ad requests to 12.0.0.1. In other words, the request doesn’t go anywhere, and you don’t see any ads. The application supports modified or custom host files, or you can download a basic one from the application itself. Host files are stored in a read-only part of the Android system. This means that root is required for this one. You can donate if you’d like, but the entire app is free to operate. The only two downsides are that you have to download them from F-Droid, not the Play Store and that you need root access. Root users can always change the host files themselves without an app if they want to.
Adblocker Plus is the most popular ad blocker app on the list. It works on both rooted and non-rooted devices, though non-rooted users have some extra work to do. The app runs in the background and filters web traffic almost exactly like its web browser extension. You open it once, set it up, and then it runs on its own in the background. That’s about it, really. Hit the button to go to the official website with instructions on installing and setting up Adblock Plus on both non-rooted devices.
edward
price: Free / $24.99 per year
AdGuard is kind of a wild card. We hadn’t heard much about it before writing this article, but it seems to work quite well for us. The app blocks ads in the same way as Adblock Plus. AdGuard runs as a background service and filters web traffic. It works without root but requires a little extra setup. It also keeps tabs on all of your web traffic, similar to apps like GlassWire. You also get a good looking Material Design UI to bring everything together. The free version only blocks ads in web browsers. The premium version runs for $24.99 per month, but you also get the premium version of AdGuard for your Windows PC or Mac computer.
blokada
price: Free / $5.99 per month / $59.99 per year
Blokada is a different kind of ad blocker app. The free version blocks trackers and ads with a nice little counter so you can see it’s working. It is also open source so you can see that the developers are not stealing any data. There is also a paid version which is basically a VPN. A VPN adds another level of privacy, has no logs and no bandwidth restrictions. There is a variant on the Play Store as well.
There is a bit of a rub, though. We actually recommend installing Blokada 5 because it’s the free version. Blokada 6, which is available on the Play Store, requires a subscription. Use the version that works best for you, but just know that the free version requires you to sideload it while the subscription version is on the Play Store.
Browsers with ad blocking
price: free (usually)
There are a bunch of browsers with ad blocking. These browsers filter most ad traffic or at least the most offensive ad traffic. Google Chrome has an ad-blocking feature, but it still displays ads that are less offensive to the viewer while leaving a few out so that sites can make money. Firefox as well. Additionally, browsers like Firefox have plugin support with options like uBlock for plugin blocking.
We recommend this as a happy broker (for obvious reasons). Some other examples of web browsers that have ad blocks include Brave Browser, Kiwi Browser, Samsung Browser, and a few others that have ad blocking add-ons like Dolphin Browser. Choose the one you think will do the best for you.
Change your DNS
price: free
Indian Joe / Android Salad
Changing your DNS can block ads before they reach your phone. The nice part about this is that there are free DNS companies that also block ads by default, so your work is pretty easy here. Simply go to your Wi-Fi settings, find the Private DNS setting, and change it from Automatic to Private DNS. For the hostname, most people use “dns.adguard.com” without the quotes. There are others, but AdGuard’s DNS is about as good as it gets. The method may change depending on how your phone is OEM, but it should be the setting on every modern Android phone. We do not have a download link for this one because it is a setting in your phone, not an app.
Indian Joe / Android Salad
If the above option is not working for you, then DNS66 can help. It creates a VPN connection and uses that to filter out ads and trackers from things that are directed at you. The app maintains a blacklist and nothing blacklisted can access your phone. This means that some ads may work, but only because they are not blacklisted yet. The app also allows you to use dedicated DNS servers if you prefer. This one is downloadable on F-Droid, which requires you to sideload it. However, we do trust F-Droid, so this is an easy recommendation.
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