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Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

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Re: Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

#71

Post by zo1 »

criley2 wrote: post #17

The internet is basically unusable on a phone without an adblocker. This is a bad move from Google and will be on a lot of people's minds when they're thinking about their next flagship. "Hmm, an Android? Ah but Google's #1 goal is to make sure you're staring at terrible internet ads at all times..." Having said that, Kiwi Browser on Android still seems safe. You probably have a different browser anyway, now that Chr…

I had my son on an amazon android tablet the other weekend. Internet access disabled using parental controls. And by the end of that weekend, the tabs that I found opened on the default browser was crazy. All from clicking ads in various apps, auto-play videos, and what not. Ads for viagra, credit cards, home loan applications, other loans, mobile subscription content, etc. Luckily internet access was off so none of them loaded, but I could still see all the failed open tabs.

Tech giants will turn this example around and say "look we need more walled-gardens to protect users". But in reality, as soon as they open the floodgates, there will be solutions that can do the same without giving away more control to Google/Apple. The narrative has to change, and the first step is to give device owners full control.

Re: Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

#73

Post by brnt »

bloopernova wrote: post #5

Firefox for Android with ublock origin makes my mobile web browsing sane again. Highly recommended.

The only downside, and it feels like it's getting larger every year, is speed. You can tell Firefox rendering and js execution is behind on Chromium. On laptops/desktops there is plenty of HW to compensate, but not on phones, is my experience.

Re: Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

#74

Post by therealmarv »

Adguard adblocker for Android works also with an internal device only "VPN" and is not on the Play Store for a while (because of problems with Google Play Store rules). They are amazing and if you use an Android browser without internal adblocking (which I still think is better) such a VPN adblocker is a must for Android devices. I only had to whitelist a few applications like e.g. Google Photos. Have been using the app for some years and it's actively maintained.

https://adguard.com/en/adguard-android/overview.html

Re: Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

#75

Post by criddell »

kd913 wrote: post #48
hashworks wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just software, you can install it on any server. No need to limit yourself to (currently?) overpriced Pis.

Sure, but a pi consumes about 3.5W of energy and can run 24/7/365. There are alternatives, but most other solutions will end up costing more in electricity costs. Especially problematic in say Europe right now.

Are you sure about the 3.5W? That seems high. An iPad at idle with the display on uses less than that.

Re: Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

#76

Post by 2OEH8eoCRo0 »

t0bia_s wrote: post #50

Pi-hole in home network, AdAway on all smartphones, uBlock Origin an all Firefox browsers. I'm shocked when browsing web on different devices. I always recommend to at least install uBlock Origin to users of those devices. Most of them never heard about ad-blocking and they are very, very happy with new web browsing experience. 99% of theme do not want go back. 1% don't care.

Adguard works so well that I forget it's there until I try browsing the web away from home.

Re: Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

#77

Post by danwee »

Larrikin wrote: post #18
bloopernova wrote: post #5

Firefox for Android with ublock origin makes my mobile web browsing sane again. Highly recommended.

The experience is so awful when I browse on my iPad, instead of my Android phone with Firefox+UBlock. I really don't understand how most people can stand to browse with all the ads. The modern web is so much worse than the pop up ads of the old web.

> I really don't understand how most people can stand to browse with all the ads

In my case, I browse a limited number of web sites that offer no ads (or a minimum amount). The moment I visit a web site with tons of ads, I just close it immediately and just ignore my original intention of visiting that website (e.g., this happens sometimes in HN: people link websites of newspapers, but I don't last in them more than 2 seconds)

Re: Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

#79

Post by cyborgx7 »

smusamashah wrote: post #66
Larrikin wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The experience is so awful when I browse on my iPad, instead of my Android phone with Firefox+UBlock. I really don't understand how most people can stand to browse with all the ads. The modern web is so much worse than the pop up ads of the old web.

Use brave instead. It's actually chrome with uBlock built in, kind of.

>kind of

Exactly, kind of. It's actually a Chrome that removes the native ads, inserts their own ads they sell as a middle man and a built-in weird crypto currency.

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