This is straightforward with browser addons like uBlock Origin where you can add and choose blocklists, but I did searches for doing so system wide and using a VPN but didn’t find clear answers. I could use a DNS service that provides blocklists but isn’t it best practice to leave DNS to the VPN provider? I looked up blocklists and VPNs but didn’t find relevant results.

On Android, I didn’t find any apps that let you filter blocklists and using your own VPN other than Rethink, but the blocklists feature requires using Rethink’s DNS.

So what’s the best way to filter ads and trackers on both 3rd party apps and on OS’s like Android (specific Samsung phones) while still using a VPN?

@N0x0n@lemmy.ml
link
fedilink
English
32M

On Android, I didn’t find any apps that let you filter blocklists and using your own VPN other than Rethink, but the blocklists feature requires using Rethink’s DNS.

You probably missed it but you can totally use rethink’s block list without rethink’s DNS (system DNS or Wireguard).

It’s called On-device blocklist

@TheTwelveYearOld@lemmy.world
creator
link
fedilink
English
32M

I installed the app from FDroid and it does in fact have on-device blocklists.

I did a search and found this comment, https://reddit.com/r/rethinkdns/comments/1f7ydjo/git_vs_fdroid_google_play_app_version/

After v055b, we hit numerous bugs (and unbelievably difficult ones) in our WireGuard integration. Released v055c and subsequent versions to fix the most annoying bugs among them.

We paused Play Store builds at v055e because each new version since has had its own glaringly annoying bugs (that were of course fixed in the subsequent versions). Why? Play Store brings in the most number of Rethink users (per our estimate), and we decided to halt publishing there until we can figure out how to stablize Rethink’s feature-set affected by WireGuard.

Pausing roll-out like this is a one-off.

Typically, you can expect all flavours (GitHub / Website / Play Store & F-Droid) to be at the same version.

If you’re feeling particularly adventurous: You can temporairly seamlessly update (without having to reinstall) to the GitHub / Website version if you’re currently using Rethink installed from the Play Store. And then later, when Play Store catches up, update from Play Store again.

@N0x0n@lemmy.ml
link
fedilink
English
32M

Thanks for the info ! I mostly download my applications directly from the source with Obtainium.

However I didn’t notice any bugs with wireguard recently. The 0.5.5n seems rather stable to me :).

Glad you found it ! Hope it fill in the gaps you needed with RethinkDNS which is IMO rather complex and overall very customizable !

Create a post

In the digital age, protecting your personal information might seem like an impossible task. We’re here to help.

This is a community for sharing news about privacy, posting information about cool privacy tools and services, and getting advice about your privacy journey.


You can subscribe to this community from any Kbin or Lemmy instance:

Learn more…


Check out our website at privacyguides.org before asking your questions here. We’ve tried answering the common questions and recommendations there!

Want to get involved? The website is open-source on GitHub, and your help would be appreciated!


This community is the “official” Privacy Guides community on Lemmy, which can be verified here. Other “Privacy Guides” communities on other Lemmy servers are not moderated by this team or associated with the website.


Moderation Rules:

  1. We prefer posting about open-source software whenever possible.
  2. This is not the place for self-promotion if you are not listed on privacyguides.org. If you want to be listed, make a suggestion on our forum first.
  3. No soliciting engagement: Don’t ask for upvotes, follows, etc.
  4. Surveys, Fundraising, and Petitions must be pre-approved by the mod team.
  5. Be civil, no violence, hate speech. Assume people here are posting in good faith.
  6. Don’t repost topics which have already been covered here.
  7. News posts must be related to privacy and security, and your post title must match the article headline exactly. Do not editorialize titles, you can post your opinions in the post body or a comment.
  8. Memes/images/video posts that could be summarized as text explanations should not be posted. Infographics and conference talks from reputable sources are acceptable.
  9. No help vampires: This is not a tech support subreddit, don’t abuse our community’s willingness to help. Questions related to privacy, security or privacy/security related software and their configurations are acceptable.
  10. No misinformation: Extraordinary claims must be matched with evidence.
  11. Do not post about VPNs or cryptocurrencies which are not listed on privacyguides.org. See Rule 2 for info on adding new recommendations to the website.
  12. General guides or software lists are not permitted. Original sources and research about specific topics are allowed as long as they are high quality and factual. We are not providing a platform for poorly-vetted, out-of-date or conflicting recommendations.

Additional Resources:

  • 1 user online
  • 1 user / day
  • 5 users / week
  • 69 users / month
  • 650 users / 6 months
  • 1 subscriber
  • 664 Posts
  • 11.1K Comments
  • Modlog