BlockAds is a free and open-source Android application that blocks advertisements and trackers across apps and web browsers without requiring root access.
The app uses local DNS-based filtering to identify and block connections to known advertising, tracking, and malicious domains. The filtering happens locally on the device rather than through a remote VPN server.
BlockAds offers two system-wide routing options.
Its VPN mode uses Android’s local VPN service and does not require root access. The app routes DNS requests through a local tunnel, compares them with its active filtering lists, and blocks matching domains.
Users with rooted Android devices can instead use Root Proxy Mode, which redirects DNS traffic through iptables .
The app supports WireGuard profile imports, allowing users to add and manage WireGuard configurations from within BlockAds.
Users can import, edit, and switch between multiple WireGuard profiles without configuring them separately through another application.
BlockAds also offers HTTPS filtering through a user-space networking system.
The feature can perform per-app man-in-the-middle filtering for selected browsers. This allows the application to apply cosmetic CSS rules and JavaScript scriptlets that remove advertisements and other unwanted page elements that DNS filtering alone may not hide.
HTTPS inspection can create problems for applications that use certificate pinning, including banking, government and payment services.
To reduce these compatibility issues, BlockAds includes a curated passthrough list containing 284 domains. Connections to these domains bypass HTTPS inspection so supported sensitive applications can continue working normally.
Users can also exclude selected applications from filtering through the app’s per-app controls.
BlockAds provides real-time DNS query logs showing the domains requested by applications on the device.
Users can search these logs and filter the results by application. The feature can help identify which apps are contacting advertising, tracking or other external domains.
BlockAds is licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3. Its source code is publicly available, allowing users and developers to inspect, modify and distribute the software under the licence terms.
The application is also available through F-Droid and supports Android 7.0 or newer.
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