Products at a Glance
How we picked the best ad blockers for Android
Downloading a separate ad-blocking application on your Android mobile device might leave you feeling a little worried about its legitimacy. For this reason, we have looked into each of the ad blockers chosen with your safety at the forefront of our minds.
We have also taken into account the fact that many adverts seen on Android devices will have been paid for and therefore not able to be blocked with an ad blocker. We have chosen the five below applications depending on their effectiveness, ease of use (user interface), and capability to block as many adverts as possible.
Price is another factor that we’ve looked into, as well as ease of use and other features that they offer the user. We’ve considered the storage space they require on your device as well as reviews from previous users to make sure that you’re getting the best.
Interest in more Android content? We also have the best antivirus for Android available for you to check out.
Product Reviews
- Can block ads on all different platforms
- Customize your blacklist and whitelist
- Free to download
- Cannot be downloaded from the Google Play store
First on our list, and the best ad blocker for Android, is AdAway. This is a free app, but don’t let that take away from the legitimacy of the ad block for Android. AdAway can effectively remove ads across your Android device, no matter whether they’re found on videos, games, or web pages.
You cannot download AdAway on the Google Play Store, which might concern some people worried about the legitimacy of the ad blocker. However, it is open-source software and therefore has a code for safety that can easily be found by users.
The developers are also always on the lookout for bugs, and you can report these as well. They will then quickly fix the bug and offer an update to stop them from disturbing your usage.
You can customize your sources and rules with AdAway, with your blacklist and whitelist to add sites to. These allow you to determine whether there are any sites that you want to allow ads on.
AdAway is simple enough to download without taking too much storage on GitHub or F-Droid.
This ad blocker does not need to be constantly running in the background of your phone to work, which is ideal for older phones that can slow down from background apps. Your battery life also won’t suffer from AdAway taking all of your juice.
- Well-known and reliable ad blocker
- Preserves battery life
- Speeds up your device’s ability to load webpages and videos
- Fake ad blockers on the market have been designed to trick you into downloading their malware
AdBlock Plus was one of the first ad blockers on the market and many other developers took the original makeup and used it for their ad blockers. If so many new ad blockers have been created on the back of AdBlock Plus, then it must be worth mentioning here!
AdBlock Plus removes advertisements from videos and web pages, including flashing ads, banners, and pop-ups. The removal of these ads can increase the speed of your Android device, improving your overall user experience.
AdBlock Plus prevents tracking and malware from being allowed into your phone. This is a highly reliable ad blocker that has a positive reputation for being safe and protective of your devices. It can also block tracking companies from being able to see your online activity.
This ad blocker is available on Google Play and it is free to download, making many people more willing to try AdBlock Plus out. Google Play vets all its apps in terms of security, giving people peace of mind that this ad blocker can be used safely. The customer reviews are overwhelmingly positive with many people enjoying the effectiveness of the ad-blocking technology as well as how it sped up their devices and preserved battery life.
One thing to note is that, as AdBlock Plus was one of the first ad blockers to hit the market, it is very popular and well-known. Due to this, there are more unsafe developers hiding malware behind similar names and logos for their ad blockers. When downloading AdBlock Plus, make sure that it is the correct and safe software rather than a fake copy.
- Keeps your private information safe
- Can be used in VPN mode unlike many other ad blockers
- Customize as many or as few settings as you desire
- Not available on the Google Play store
AdGuard is a unique ad blocker that requires no root which can still remove ads in both your browser and apps. There are plenty of ad filters working alongside your device with AdGuard, ensuring that the best filtering quality possible is used.
AdGuard has stated that protecting their users’ privacy is of the utmost importance to them, ensuring that all sensitive information and data remains where it is on your device without the worry that others can get their hands on it. Many people don’t realize that advertisements can use the traffic that you pay for. By using AdGuard and blocking more ads daily, fewer ads will be able to use your traffic and save you money in the long run.
There are plenty of settings that you can use on AdGuard to tailor your experience as much or as little as you want. You can block ads from certain websites as well as allow ads from others. There is also the option of using the recommended settings if you don’t want to tailor them at all, leaving this ad blocker much more convenient for you.
AdGuard is available on GitHub but not on the Google Play store. We have looked into it; however, and can see that there is an ad blocker on the Play Store with a similar logo and the same name. This is not the same AdGuard we are looking at, so be careful of hackers hiding behind fake ad blockers.
- You can turn Block This on and off whenever you want
- Experience the web without censorship
- Free to download from GitHub
- The installation process is quite lengthy and technical
Last but not least, when looking for the best ad blocker app for Android, Block This is an open-source ad blocker that works throughout your device to keep you from seeing ads anywhere. It also offers protection from malware, reduction of your data traffic, as well as increasing your device’s speed.
This ad block for Android is, again, not available on the Google Play store and therefore needs to be downloaded from GitHub. Due to the effectiveness of Block This, they have estimated that their ad blocker can save you up to 35% of your data plan due to the lack of ads taking up your traffic. That’s a great saving and will add up in the long run!
Block This also offers a no-censorship guarantee to ensure that you have full control over your internet access. You can bypass your internet provider’s censorship and visit areas of the internet that you previously haven’t been able to access.
Use the easy-to-navigate settings to control your internet access. Turn on as many or as few features as you want so that you don’t feel too controlled by your ad blocker. Tell this software exactly what you want it to achieve and watch the magic unfold.
Things to consider for the best ad blockers for Android
Before you jump into downloading an ad blocker for your Android device, there are a few things to consider before you do so. As some of the above apps are free to download you might not see the harm in jumping into one of them, but the free ad blockers tend to be more dangerous for your device than others.
So, use this section to help you understand what you should be looking for with an ad blocker for your Android.
Choose a trusted app
Unfortunately, there are a considerable number of malicious apps out there on the app store. These can download dangerous software onto your device and allow hackers to access your files, sometimes without your knowledge.
Once a hacker has entered your device, it can be difficult to kick them out again. For this reason, you can never be too careful when it comes to choosing trusted apps to download on your Android device.
There are a few ways that you can choose a trusted app to reduce the likelihood of you getting hacked. The first and easiest way is to read the description carefully. Too many people only read the title before downloading, when the description could be housing lots of red flags in it.
For example, spelling mistakes in the description are a red flag to indicate that the app might not be legitimate. You should also look at the app’s permissions. Does it require permission to view your camera, text messages, etc when it doesn’t need to?
Another way to determine whether an app is trusted or not is to use the help of previous downloaders. Check the reviews and see whether anyone has found anything suspicious with the app. If the number of downloads is also low, the app might not be trusted.
Ultimately, you need to be careful when downloading an app. We have checked the legitimacy of all of the apps above, but others on the Play Store could very well be dangerous to you and your device.
Price
On the Play Store, there are thousands of both free and paid apps available. Free alternatives are always more attractive to the average Android user because why pay for something when you can get it for nothing?
This is the same for ad blockers – there are free versions available as well as premium alternatives. However, free apps should be treated with caution. Of course, there are plenty of free apps out there that are perfectly safe.
However, some free apps on the Play Market are just a front for hackers to get into your device. Hackers are more likely to hide behind free apps rather than paid apps as they know that they’ll get more downloads from a free app.
To make sure that you don’t get swindled by a free app, make sure that you look for trusted free apps only. That being said, paid apps can also be dangerous and therefore should still be treated with some caution.
It’s worth noting that a lot of adverts on Android devices have been paid for by advertisers and therefore will not be blocked with an ad blocker. Game developers and website owners can block ad blockers from working to ensure that you keep seeing the ads.
Due to this, you might not want to pay higher prices when you don’t know how effective the ad blocker is going to be. So, a free trusted ad blocker might be the best way to go.
Effectiveness
As we just mentioned, it is unlikely that your ad blocker for Android will stop you from seeing every single app that your device encounters. This is because website and game owners can block your ad blocker from working on their site. Therefore, you may see different types of ads popping up.
They do this to ensure that their advertisers are happy with the number of people seeing their ads every month. If everyone were to successfully use an ad blocker, no one would see the ad and therefore the website wouldn’t be able to charge as much for their advert spaces.
Another reason why ad blockers might not be as effective on Android devices is that games and other apps have video advertisements that can be more difficult to block.
With that being said, the ad blockers that we have looked at above all state that they are effective enough to block video ads, and the majority of ads found across an Android device.
When looking at another ad blocker; however, you need to consider its effectiveness. A good way to do this is to read the description of what the developer is claiming the ad blocker can do, as well as check the customer reviews to back up these claims.
Storage required
Ad blockers don’t tend to take up too much space on your device, although some require more than others. In general, the more complex the ad blocker, the more space it will take up. It can be irritating to realize that all of your essential apps are taking up all of your memory rather than the enjoyable ones you want on your phone.
So, you should look for an ad blocker that falls nicely between being effective with lots of functionality and not taking too much storage space from your Android device.
Customer reviews
As we mentioned before, customer reviews can be very important when it comes to choosing your ad blocker. The reviews from previous customers allow you to see how effective the app is without purchasing it first, ensuring that it is not dangerous to your device or data and whether it’s worth your time.
You should never download an app without checking the previous reviews first. This can allow you to bypass a lot of stress and unnecessary issues from an untrusted app.
What is the best ad blocker for Android?
While we place a large emphasis on consumer choice and decide based on your wants and needs, we do recommend AdAway. This is a free app that can effectively remove ads across your Android device, no matter whether they’re found on videos, games, or web pages.
Our Verdict
So, we have successfully looked into the best ad blockers for Android. With these options, you should have an ad-free browsing experience. Downloading a separate ad-blocking application on your Android device might leave you feeling a little worried about its legitimacy. For this reason, we have looked into each of the ad blockers chosen with your safety at the forefront of our minds.
We have also taken into account the fact that many adverts seen on Android devices will have been paid for and therefore not able to be blocked with an ad blocker. With these choices, you’ll never have to worry again when it comes to picking the best ad blockers for Android.