AdAway for Android
app review and description by AppSeaTop

AdAway: The Free, Open-Source Ad-Blocker That Keeps Android Ads At Bay

As someone who spends a ton of time on my Android phone, few things are as annoying as being constantly interrupted by intrusive ads. Whether I'm browsing the web, using apps, or just trying to get stuff done, it feels like ads are everywhere these days. That's why I was really interested to try out AdAway, the free and open-source ad-blocker for Android.

For those not familiar with it, AdAway is essentially a systemwide ad-blocker that works its magic by modifying the hosts file on your Android device. By adding a list of known advertiser and tracker domains to the hosts file and redirecting them to an invalid IP address, AdAway prevents ads and trackers from loading in the first place across your entire device.

One of the biggest advantages of AdAway over other ad-blockers is that it is open-source software. This means the code is freely available for anyone to inspect, modify, and build upon. It's developed by a community of volunteers on GitHub, where there have been over 700 commits across multiple branches from 20 different contributors. Being open-source makes AdAway more transparent and trustworthy than closed-source, for-profit ad-blockers.

Getting AdAway set up is pretty straightforward, though it does require a few extra steps compared to other apps. This is because AdAway needs elevated permissions to modify the hosts file, which means your device has to be rooted. If you're not familiar with the rooting process, it involves exploiting security vulnerabilities to gain full admin control over your Android's operating system. It's a bit technical, but there are plenty of good online guides.

Once I had my device rooted, I downloaded the latest AdAway version from their website or the F-Droid repository (Google removed it from the Play Store a while back for containing "non-Google approved components"). The setup process walked me through downloading some pre-populated host files containing huge lists of known ad/tracker domains to add to my hosts file.

Then with just a couple taps, AdAway blocked all those domains and...wow. The difference was like night and day. Suddenly, ads and pop-ups were just gone across websites, apps, games - everything. Pages loaded faster without all the ad bloat, and my browsing experience was so much cleaner. I couldn't believe how many ads I had been putting up with for so long.

Of course, there are a few downsides to using a heavy-duty system ad-blocker like AdAway. Some apps and websites rely on ads for their business model, so blocking them outright could potentially cause crashes or prevent content from loading properly. AdAway does let you manually whitelist apps and domains, but it requires a bit of tinkering. There's also the nuclear option of just uninstalling apps that are too ad-dependent and replacing them.

Another potential drawback is that rooting your Android device to use AdAway can potentially void the warranty and cause conflicts with certain security features. It's a relatively low risk, but something to be aware of. AdAway also only works on Android 8.0 Oreo and above in its latest version 5 release (older Android versions have to use the legacy version 4).

Those are fairly minor trade-offs in my opinion for such an effective ad-blocker, especially one that is totally free and open-source. In the few weeks I've been using AdAway, it has completely changed my smartphone experience for the better. The constant bombardment of ads is just...gone. Suddenly, my device feels so much snappier and more usable without all those ad scripts and tracking calls bogging it down.

I can't recommend AdAway enough for any Android user fed up with the sheer amount of advertising on their device these days. It's free, it's open-source, and it just works incredibly well at blocking ads across your entire system. Just be prepared for a little technical setup to get it installed and running properly. But trust me, it's worth the hassle to take back your smartphone experience from all the advertisers and data trackers out there.

The Technical Rundown:

App Name: AdAway
Platform: Android 8.0+
Cost: Free
Developer: Open-source community on GitHub
Language: English and others
Latest Version: Varies by device, frequently updated
Requirements: Rooted Android device (root not required in local VPN mode)
Download From: AdAway website, F-Droid, or preview builds on XDA

So if you value your smartphone privacy and want to enjoy an ad-free experience without any sketchy paid ad-blockers, I can't recommend AdAway enough. It's one of the best open-source Android utilities out there. Just root that phone, install AdAway, sync up some quality host files, and get ready to say goodbye to disruptive advertising forever.