Best (Browser & VPN based) Ad blocker for Android – No Root
Intrusive ads are pain in the a**. It feels like their main purpose is not to promote or sell but to not let you read the content. Ads are bread and butter for bloggers but it should never be intrusive like giving no space for the content. Ads should be placed appropriately and making sure that it doesn’t divert or irritate the readers. This is the reason why active installs of many ad blockers are increasing every year. Now, let’s hunt for the best ad blocker for Android without rooting.
Few days back we also published a blog on best ad blockers for chrome and other major browsers. Recently in the chrome update, Google now blocks all intrusive ads but allow non-intrusive ads to show. This was done to make browsing experience better on chrome as more people have started using ad blockers. So, they included this decent ad blocking feature in the chrome which only allows those ads which don’t obscure the content. Of course they can’t completely ban the ads as Google’s majority of the revenue comes from ads.
But if you still want a totally ad free experience on your Android device then you have two options. There are two types of ad blockers for Android with no root:
Browser based ad blocker for Android : Browser based ad blocker, blocks all types of ads on all websites opened through the dedicated ad blocker browser. While ads inside apps or on device level are not affected. This is where VPN based ad blocker comes into action.
VPN based ad blocker for Android : VPN based ad blockers block ads on DNS level which simply means that the VPN blocks the ad request which your phone sends. No ad request reaches the server so no ads you are served. This method basically makes your android phone ad free which is kinda cool in its own way.
Now let’s list some best ad blockers of each type and see which one you should use.
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4 FREE Browser based Ad blockers for Android without Root
Opera browser has been around for quite a long time now and it comes with an inbuilt ad blocker. In our test the Opera mini browser effectively removed all types of ads giving an ad free and a high speed performance. This feature is on by default and in case you ever want to disable this feature, you can by going to browser’s homepage and tap on Opera logo at bottom right then tap on ad blocking to disable it.
This browser is a dream browser for privacy lovers and is probably the best ad blocker for Android, let me glorify its features. The very first and expected feature is that it comes with an inbuilt ad blocker. What makes it different from other browser? Well, you can set a password on the setting page so nobody can mess up with the settings. Now we come to my favorite feature of this browser that is you can password protect your browsing history! Nobody will ever know your dark secrets ever. Apart from this other standard features are also available.
This browser is owned by cheetahmobile which is a Chinese company, just letting you know in case you have trust issues with Chinese organizations.
The major competition of Chrome and other browsers, Firefox is used by millions around the globe. Though Firefox doesn’t have an inbuilt ad-blocking feature but is available by ad-ons. You need to install an ad blocker ad-on in the Firefox browser itself and it is very simple.
Tap on the Options button (3 vertical dots at top right)> Ad-ons> Browse Firefox’s recommended extensions. Now search for the adblock plus or any other ad blocker you know and tap on Add to Firefox to install it in Firefox. Now you won’t see a single ad unit on any websites.
Samsung Internet Browser: For everyone
Samsung made its browser available for every Android phone couple of years ago and it comes with a preloaded adblock feature (powered by adblock plus). Basically this is not built-in feature but managed through extensions. This browser is perfect for those who read a lot.
These are our top picks for browser based ad blockers for Android. As mentioned earlier these ad blocker browsers won’t remove ads from apps because they are not meant for this. Now let’s talk about the VPN based ad blockers.
Best VPN based ad blockers for Android
DNS66
This VPN based ad blocker is among the most popular ad blockers and is probably the first choice of every Android user. It’s simple, clean and user friendly and blocks ads effectively without any hiccups.
I won’t lie but I spent couple of hours with two VPN based ad blockers, first is DNS66 and other I used was Blokada. Let me first tell you what changes I noticed after setting up the ad blockers. Firstly I noticed improvement in battery life and internet browsing was quick and websites were loading promptly. I also checked if it blocked app ads or not and I was kinda disappointed a bit.
Initial setup of DNS66 and Blokada worked 50-50. After tweaking the settings, I found that it actually blocked almost all ads in apps though some ads slipped in anyhow. I also checked the YouTube app and spent some time on it watching random videos continuously. I only saw the starting part to see if ads were showing or not. And I won’t say it completely eradicated the ads but the frequency of ads was drastically reduced. After continuously playing videos one after another for more than 30 mins I saw ads only two times.
I clearly noticed fewer ads on YouTube during my test. But both the VPN based ad blockers were able to block all types of ads from other apps which I tested. Though it left the ad area blank on apps as well as websites which they should have simply backspace that. My conclusion is, though none of them completely made the phone ad free but it does improved my battery life and the browsing speed was blazing fast compared to ads on.
With that being said let’s see how you can implement the DNS66 ad blocker for your Android device to improve overall performance of your device.
Setting up DNS66
- Download and Install the DNS66 app from here.
- Open the app and tap on Hosts
- Now tap on Adway hosts file and set action to Allow.
- Repeat the above process for all the options under Host tab
- Now go to Start tab and tap on start to activate the app and allow the permissions it asks.
That’s it! Now enjoy a seamless internet experience and improved performance of your device. if you face any problem in DNS66 then you can download Blokada which is extremely simple to launch.
Steps to setup Blokada: Download the app from here and install it. Now just open the app and tap on the power button at bottom center to activate it. Now sit back and enjoy the internet without any interruptions.
Final words
Every other site claimed it completely removed the ads but it didn’t worked 100% at least in our case even after tweaking the setting many times. It does improve the performance of the device and yes battery performance was noticeably improved. I personally never mind if couple of ads make through the filter. In a nutshell I was satisfied with the performance of the VPN based ad blocker for Android.
If you get stuck anywhere or want to ask me anything, ask me through the comment section below. That was all about the best ad blocker for Android (No root).
