Blokada - An Android Based AdBlocker That Works Flawlessly

Ads come in all sizes and some are annoying and intrusive as hell; especially the ones that occupy a sizable portion of a 5-inch screen. But not all ads or in-app ads are bad. For instance, ads that run on the IMDB app aren't obnoxious and in your face. In fact, they can be manually dismissed.

Unfortunately, not all in-app ads are designed and coded the same way. Some apps feature pop-up ads (the most annoying) which you can swiftly close while others stick on for a good minute before they can be removed. Both are equally painful to see.

Another concerning issue are tracking cookies and browser based ads. And they are like a plague, profiling and tracking your every move. Trying to sell you the next best thing. Almost feels like we are actually living in a cleverly controlled Matrix. Ugh!

To know more about tracking cookies and web based ads please head over to Tom Maddox's blog. He explains it pretty darn well.

BLOKADA - The Finest of The Lot

If you are struggling to find a solution to block ads in general then I suggest you look no further. Blokada is one of the finest ad-blockers I have used in a long time. And it works flawlessly on an Android device. In fact it is meant exactly for users who are not okay with rooting their device. At least I wasn't after switching from the OnePlus One to the Asus Zenfone Max M2.

Blokada is not available on the Play Store due to Google's business policy, but it can be downloaded from

Blokada.org

F-Droid

XDA -Developers

As far as the overall user-experience is concerned, the app is beautifully designed. The developer(s) did a seriously good job with Blokada. The interface is clean, has a default dark mode and it's super easy to configure.

On opening the app, you are greeted with an array of information such as updates, total number of blocked ads and the total number of ad domains /tracking scripts currently listed in the host file. There is also an Advanced Settings button, a Notifications toggle switch and a simple Power On / Power Off button that sits at the bottom of the screen.

Rooted / Non-Rooted, it really doesn't matter. It just works!

In addition, there is Blacklist menu that provides a list of pre-configured host files to choose from. And it's got some of my favorite ad-blocking parameters that make use of StevenBlack's Unified Host File (which I use on Windows) and Energized Blu (used on my rooted OnePlus One).

There is also an option to whitelist apps and websites and they can be added by clicking the '+' sign placed towards the top and bottom of the screen.

Blokada features an array of fast and secure predefined DNS servers, Cloudfare being my personal favorite. The app is also capable of updating all applied filers seamlessly in the background. Meaning, you won't need to open the app to update it but you might just access it from time to time to keep up with the score. After a 48-hour period, Blokada has managed to block over 4500+ ads and trackers across the Android OS. And I am sure those figures are going to touch 10K in the next couple of days.

Speaking of updates, you will need to manually update the app whenever the developer releases a new build. But that aspect can easily be taken care of if you have F-Droid installed. You can also join their Telegram group and follow them on Twitter to stay abreast with the latest news /updates and for general help.

All in all, this app rocks and it has managed to block not only browser based ads but also in-app ads. It is one of THE best free ad-blockers out there at the moment and I recommend it to anyone who owns an Android device.

It's fast, it's free and it effectively blocks most ads and trackers

However, some promoted ads on Twitter and YouTube are difficult to block due to system and app constraints. For YouTube, a better alternative would be YouTube Vanced. So far, it is the best modded version of the official app. It displays zero ads, allows you to download videos and unlike the official Google app, you can stream videos even when the app is minimized.

Note: Only download apps from their official site and from reputable App stores. Installing it from any other source is a risk I wouldn't recommend taking.