Todo: add a feature plan for the app.

Probably some security feature they put in. Test device: K40 Pro Plus Redmi (Xiaomi). It has a "VPN Always On" setting under VPNs but before you login, it's not available.

Why not make a root app version? That would overcome any issues whatsoever. Like AdAway never turns off, but BlockThis allows more traffic through (like Google Adserver advertisements in browsers, but not in Apps). I think BlockThis! is better other than this little hickup.

Just want to throw out a few ideas for the app icon..

Potential areas that could use another look:

• The Icon-to-Background size ratio is a bit off. The key is way too big. At a quick glance it almost doesn't even look like a key, but rather some abstract shape.
• There should either be a shadow or not. Right now, there's a hint of a shadow which is only visible when you look very closely. If we're gonna go down that road (having a shadow), it should be well defined. Or not at all, nothing wrong with a flat icon. Going either way would be better than the current icon.
• The color is nice. Down the line, we'd want to reinforce the same color throughout the app. I think the current color (#c55b5b) used in the logo will make a good primary color when we hopefully move to using material design.

Threw together some rough ideas:

Solid Shadow:

Fading Shadow:

No Shadow:

What do you think?

Why has Google removed your app from its directory?

Twitch is on an active war with adblockers forcing 30sec ads down every viewers throat, these ads have zero context to the streamer and some even violate COPPA.

I switched it on and after sometime it switches off itself ambd the page I'm looking says error. Can you guys fix it since the forum is also not working

Wireless Android Auto cannot be found in the list of applications, to be whitelisted.
Can it be hardcoded? There is no real reason to block the Wireless Android Auto Wi-Fi connection.

● http://waptricks.sextgem.com (ads and redirecting)

● http://maango.info (ads and redirecting)

● https://dropapk.com/munh0ciu8h89 (ads , redirecting , vibration and pop up)

● http://ul.to/9mfxlw6x (ads , redirecting , vibration and pop up)

● https://dailyuploads.net/ifsksrv94c1r (ads , redirecting , vibration and pop up)

● https://filescdn.com/fwy5vrgsysq7 (ads , redirecting , vibration and pop up)

● https://uplod.ws/ny5w868j53k7 (ads , redirecting , vibration and pop up)

● https://userscloud.com/7ww5ltgaf6kt (ads , redirecting , vibration and pop up)

● http://hugefiles.net/4o2sy9b5gxnx (ads , redirecting , vibration and pop up)

Adding ON/OFF Toggle Widget will help users to quickly switch ON and OFF adblocking. Then you might think why switching OFF adblocking , the answer is some applications won't work when vpn is enabled example 'shareit' : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lenovo.anyshare.gps

So we are forced to turn OFF vpn to use that apps. At this point toggle widget will be helpful.

@ggsava Chat features connect just fine without Block This! running. I have added Messages to the white list but it still will not connect.

I restarted Block This! after adding Messages to the white list also.

I noticed an odd interplay between Firefox Focus (FFF) (or Firefox Klar in some regions) and Block This. When the latter is enabled, FFF loads pages incredibly slowly. They do load eventually, but it's a far cry compared to when Block This is disabled. I haven't noticed anything odd about other mobile browsers with Block This running.

Hi

The main thing I would want out of this app is to block youtube's video ads. Is this possible? I know most desktop PC browser adblockers successfully do it, but maybe it's not possible on an unrooted android.

Hi there, firstly, this really looks great! Thanks for sharing it.

I had a few questions around the DNS implementation that I wondered if you could help with:

1. Is there a reason why the DNS servers have to be remote? Would it not be possible to have the DNS server running as part of the app?
2. If not, would you be interested in changes to Block This to make the DNS servers configurable in the app? So users could point them to ones they manage themselves?
3. Related to the above, are you able to share how you implemented the ad-blocking DNS server? I'm quite interested in testing Pi-hole as a self-hosted DNS ad blocker, perhaps running on a VPS. Have you looked into it? Any pros/cons compared to your solution?

Thanks again,

Keyvan

It took me a while to find out that a particular service was not down but blocked by the DNS filter of this app. Is there a place where we can see the back-end DNS filter list?

Just curious: for what does an AdBlocker need the READ_PHONE_STATE permission? This makes the app suspicious to especially privacy-aware people (I got that response when recommending your app).

If it's for the "usual purpose" (i.e. to "background" on incoming calls, which the "official developer documentation" mentions it for): I don't see how that should make sense. An AdBlocker should work in the background anyway, and configuration/settings pages make no sound and play no video. So there's nothing to interfere with phone calls. And even if there were, there are other solutions available.

TL;DR: Would you consider removing that permission requirement?

Where is the block-this blacklist located?

I tried searching for the blacklist in the source tree, but I didn't find it. A cursory search for URLs from where the addresses are fetched also fails to turn up anything.

When Block This gets closed for any reason whatsoever, could you add a sound notice so I will know when this happens?

Thanks.

https://forum.block-this.com/ returns 502 Bad Gateway

So many things...

Java:

• Use butterknife to remove findViewById bloat. Will need to change all activities a little bit
• Use LeakCanary to make sure there are no leaks. (This just needs one method call in the Application class.)
• Use Hugo for automatic logging
• Use Timber as a better alternative to Log.v(...) .No need to define our own custom TAGs and we shouldn't be calling logging methods in the release build.

The above are just developer candy, no change will be perceived by the users.

And then there's the UI:

• The app uses holo theme. Oh my god. Need to upgrade to material.
• Use Material Dialogs
• No need to go back to TeaserActivity in onBackPressed(). User has already seen it so there's no need to show it again. The best scenario would be just one screen, where we can turn the blocker on/off, along with a button that shows a dialog (that's automatically shown only on the first time. This is where your teaserActivity stuff will go)
• Actually following material design would mean a complete redesign of the entire app from the ground up.

And we need to update gradle version, targetSdk, library versions etc. And there's so much more. My point is, there's a lot to be done and I'd like to get started on all of these.

I'll do the Java things first since it'll be quicker, then I'll work on the UI. Hopefully I'll be back with some screenies in a few hours.

Your connection is not private
Attackers might be trying to steal your information from forum.block-this.com (for example, passwords, messages, or credit cards). Learn more
NET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALID
?

A fresh installation of Google Daydream gets stuck on the "Downloading VR Components" screen. Disabling Block This! lets Daydream complete this downloading step.

Forums seem to be down

Since the update to 3.1 i have had a few apps that stop to function when block-this! is enabled.
I have tried this on 5 different devices, Sony - Samsung and Mercer - all have the same symptoms.

1. Some apps load, but then just hang.
2. Some apps load but sections of the info is left blank - Bored Panda for instance some images don't load.
3. YouTube for kids don't load any more until you disable Block-This!
4. You Tube on my android 10 phone - Note 10+ now show ads again where it did not with the old version.

Any idea how to resolve this?

It's just quite cumbersome every time I want to turn it on or off for a brief moment. Thank you very much.

Long time no commit – are you still maintaining this app, @ggsava? If so, I wonder if removing Crashlytics would be an option for you? Looks somehow strange if an app that should improve privacy itself comes with a tracker.

I've discovered that when I have Block-This installed I can't enable my Verizon hotspot functionality on my phone. When I uninstall Block-This, then reboot, the hotspot fires right up. Is there any way to exclude system functionality like the hotspot/tethering stuff (whitelist them)?
Thanks.

See this similar issue with AdGuard Android for more details on the issue: AdguardTeam/AdguardForAndroid#1587

For me, this issue is affecting Google Photos on my Nokia 7Plus running Android 8.1.

Interestingly enough, OneDrive's sync features seem to work fine :-/

Does the author alter the binary with a malware or there is another good reason why it is not published via github and\or f-droid? I've read news about removal from playstore, but there is a plenty of other apps left based on the same idea (fake VPN connection), so it raises concerns if there was another good reason for the removal, except that was because of the fact it was an adblock.

F-Droid is an FOSS alternative to the Play Store, having your application in their should help people install it on their devices and stay up to date. Here is the link to the submission-queue

Greetings,

What's the reason behind these lines? Wouldn't the first one work?

.addAddress("10.0.2.15", 24)
.addAddress("10.0.2.16", 24)
.addAddress("10.0.2.17", 24)
.addAddress("10.0.2.18", 24)

Hi,

@ggsava

Will there continue to update the filtering rules so far?

I can't install any apps from the play store unless I switch this off.

Since last week, I noticed ads started appearing where I didn't have them before. In web pages, in apps, etc.

I tried stopping and restarting the app and my mobile without success. Sadly, it seems something has changed, and Block this is not effective anymore.

Do others have the same issue?

https://www.virustotal.com/#/file/2673e0cc87fa122e45eb1b2c03aefedcc2281a1c926e2bcc395914ca198e02b8/detection

Since localhost takes some time than 0.0.0.0 (which is termed as invalid address), the apps/browsers can render it immediately.

It could increase the performance.

It would be nice if you can add features like Noroot firewall in it. Actually i wanted to block apps from connecting network.

First I want to thank you for this great app. But I have a problem within my local network.
I have a local DNS server in my network which resolves local device addresses. My local devices have no publich addresses. With block-this running, I can't connect to these devices anymore, because all DNS requests were sent to your servers.

Is it possible to exclude local addresses from beeing filtered by block-this? Maybe a list to exclude (whitelist) domains would be great.

The opposite of the whitelist, just block what you need and forget the rest.

As per title since when I moved to the Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Exynos version with Oreo ITV firmware) as soon as I setup the pairing between a Gear S3 Frontier and the smartphone the Gear S plugin APK starts crashing all the time causing almost full time watch disconnection and being impossible ie. to download and install watchfaces!

It's not enough to whitelist APKs or disable the VPN.
It is MANDATORY to uninstall Block-This to stop the loop crash.

Please fix. :(

Hello friends,

the auto boot feature does not work (anymore?) - any idea how to fix it? I am willing to fix it when someone tells me where to look in the code 👍

kind regards

Is it possible to make it seem to the application that the ad successfully played? For example, if a game offers a reward for watching an ad, can you get the reward without the ad?

Add filter subscription which can be customized, since some people might wanted to blocks domestic ads, or whitelisting some ads.