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    Is it possible to block ads via hosts file on UT?

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    hostsadsblock
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      • Pulsar33P Offline
        Pulsar33 @Keneda
        last edited by Pulsar33

        @keneda I prefer rebooting (as said) which remounts ro and starts properly
        BR
        Pulsar33

        Aquaris BQ E5 HD UBports OTA-25 (currently testing features)
        Aquaris BQ E5 HD Ubuntu Edition Canonical OTA-15 (last Canonical version, daily use)
        Raspberry Pi 4 B - 4 GB & 8 GB with various OS and Desktops (UBports not OK)

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
        • N Offline
          nero355 @Opolork
          last edited by

          @opolork

          • Run Pi-Hole on your home network.
          • When not at home connect via PiVPN (which supports both OpenVPN and WireGuard and is Pi-Hole aware during the installation!) to your home network in order to have adblocking on your phone 🙂

          My phones :

          • BQ Aquaris E5 HD Ubuntu Phone Edition - Ubuntu Touch 16.04 LTS
          • ZUK Z2 Pro - ZUI Android 8.x
          • Xiaomi Mi 9T - Jolla SailFish 3.4.x Community Build

          P.S. : I am NOT a developer! ;)

          OpolorkO 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
          • OpolorkO Offline
            Opolork @nero355
            last edited by

            @nero355 said in Is it possible to block ads via hosts file on UT?:

            Pi-Hole

            Hi. That seems a bit too complex and involved for my liking.

            How can you trust that an app really won't send some company your location data, when you tell it not to? The only way you can trust a program not to do something it isn't supposed to do is if it is free software. ~ RMS

            N 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • OpolorkO Offline
              Opolork
              last edited by Opolork

              @applee said in Is it possible to block ads via hosts file on UT?:

              uAdBlock

              Hi AL.

              I just check and uAdBlock was already installed. I opened it and a popup window said no update available. I went past than and say "Last updated: 7 Apr 2020".

              I'm on v2.6.2 and the settings have 'Check for updates on app start' enabled.

              Does the settings 'remain in r/w status' need to be on?

              Thanks.

              How can you trust that an app really won't send some company your location data, when you tell it not to? The only way you can trust a program not to do something it isn't supposed to do is if it is free software. ~ RMS

              AppLeeA 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • AppLeeA Offline
                AppLee @Opolork
                last edited by

                @opolork I don't remember,
                But I think it can be turned off.
                What is important is to select the proper blacklist(s) and to update them once in a while.
                Also I noticed a couple of time the app crashed silently, but a reboot fixed it for months.

                OpolorkO 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • OpolorkO Offline
                  Opolork @AppLee
                  last edited by

                  @applee said in Is it possible to block ads via hosts file on UT?:

                  @opolork I don't remember,
                  But I think it can be turned off.
                  What is important is to select the proper blacklist(s) and to update them once in a while.
                  Also I noticed a couple of time the app crashed silently, but a reboot fixed it for months.

                  I checked all the blocked lists, it's now updated to today. 🙂

                  How can you trust that an app really won't send some company your location data, when you tell it not to? The only way you can trust a program not to do something it isn't supposed to do is if it is free software. ~ RMS

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                  • OpolorkO Offline
                    Opolork
                    last edited by

                    Does uAdBlock rewrite the whole /etc/hosts file everytime it updates it or does it only change it's own entries? In other words - do custom entries someone would make in /etc/hosts be overwritten every time uAdBlock does its stuff?

                    How can you trust that an app really won't send some company your location data, when you tell it not to? The only way you can trust a program not to do something it isn't supposed to do is if it is free software. ~ RMS

                    AppLeeA 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • AppLeeA Offline
                      AppLee @Opolork
                      last edited by

                      @opolork
                      I don't know about that.
                      Maybe you can make some tests if nobody knows...

                      Good question though

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                      • OpolorkO Offline
                        Opolork
                        last edited by

                        Is it possible to access the /etc/hosts from my PC? I find editing on a smartphone to be too cumbersome. I'd like to open them the hosts file on a text editor on my PC (Debian 11) and do a few edits.

                        How can you trust that an app really won't send some company your location data, when you tell it not to? The only way you can trust a program not to do something it isn't supposed to do is if it is free software. ~ RMS

                        AppLeeA 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • AppLeeA Offline
                          AppLee @Opolork
                          last edited by

                          @opolork
                          You can do it using ADB or SSH...

                          OpolorkO 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • OpolorkO Offline
                            Opolork @AppLee
                            last edited by

                            @applee Which is easier? Do you know a basic/quick method?

                            How can you trust that an app really won't send some company your location data, when you tell it not to? The only way you can trust a program not to do something it isn't supposed to do is if it is free software. ~ RMS

                            FuseteamF AppLeeA 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • FuseteamF Offline
                              Fuseteam @Opolork
                              last edited by

                              @opolork do keep in mind that the hosts file is readonly for a reason. any changes will be lost after an ota update, uAdBlock know how to restore it changes, but it might become tedious for you to restore your changes

                              OpolorkO 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                              • OpolorkO Offline
                                Opolork @Fuseteam
                                last edited by

                                @fuseteam Ok, it'd be best to let uAdBlock maange it so. Thank you. 🙂

                                How can you trust that an app really won't send some company your location data, when you tell it not to? The only way you can trust a program not to do something it isn't supposed to do is if it is free software. ~ RMS

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                • AppLeeA Offline
                                  AppLee @Opolork
                                  last edited by

                                  @opolork

                                  Both are really simple.
                                  For ADB (which I do not use) you can type a single command like this adb shell sh after connecting your device with USB cable.

                                  SSH allows you to avoid the cable and use the wifi instead.
                                  But you need to configure it first using UT Tweak Tool.
                                  I don't remember if it's required, but I will advise to push a public key to your device so you won't have to enter a passphrase.
                                  To connect with SSH you just type ssh phablet@<ip_address>...

                                  OpolorkO 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 3
                                  • D Offline
                                    domubpkm
                                    last edited by

                                    uAdBlock blocks at the DNS level and unfortunately some lists cannot act and be installed at this level. This means that uAdBlock, although useful, is becoming less and less effective as time goes by, unfortunately, given the evolution of technologies for installing crap on computers...

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                    • N Offline
                                      nero355 @Opolork
                                      last edited by nero355

                                      @opolork said in Is it possible to block ads via hosts file on UT? [Resolved]:

                                      That seems a bit too complex and involved for my liking.

                                      I am using it now for about 5 years or so and it's AWESOME!!! 😄

                                      I can recommend running Pi-Hole + Unbound to pretty much EVERYONE who has a spare Raspberry Pi laying around!

                                      @domubpkm said in Is it possible to block ads via hosts file on UT? [Resolved]:

                                      uAdBlock blocks at the DNS level and unfortunately some lists cannot act and be installed at this level. This means that uAdBlock, although useful, is becoming less and less effective as time goes by, unfortunately, given the evolution of technologies for installing crap on computers...

                                      Things like DNS over HTTPS and ads beeing hosted on the same server as the content (YouTube for example!) are becoming a much bigger issue IMHO :pouting_face:

                                      But fortunately you can still block a lot of stuff via DNS so I am very happy with that method on my home network! 🙂

                                      My phones :

                                      • BQ Aquaris E5 HD Ubuntu Phone Edition - Ubuntu Touch 16.04 LTS
                                      • ZUK Z2 Pro - ZUI Android 8.x
                                      • Xiaomi Mi 9T - Jolla SailFish 3.4.x Community Build

                                      P.S. : I am NOT a developer! ;)

                                      OpolorkO 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                      • OpolorkO Offline
                                        Opolork @AppLee
                                        last edited by Opolork

                                        @applee said in Is it possible to block ads via hosts file on UT? [Resolved]:

                                        For ADB (which I do not use) you can type a single command like this adb shell sh after connecting your device with USB cable.

                                        Hi AL.

                                        So I just need to install the adb package on my PC?

                                        Is the adb shell sh run from my PC?

                                        How can you trust that an app really won't send some company your location data, when you tell it not to? The only way you can trust a program not to do something it isn't supposed to do is if it is free software. ~ RMS

                                        AppLeeA 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • OpolorkO Offline
                                          Opolork @nero355
                                          last edited by

                                          @nero355 Hi Nero. Thanks but I'll stick to the simpler method for now. 🙂

                                          Merry Xmas!

                                          How can you trust that an app really won't send some company your location data, when you tell it not to? The only way you can trust a program not to do something it isn't supposed to do is if it is free software. ~ RMS

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                          • AppLeeA Offline
                                            AppLee @Opolork
                                            last edited by

                                            @opolork
                                            Yes you should open a console and type it on your computer with the device attached to it.

                                            OpolorkO 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                            • OpolorkO Offline
                                              Opolork @AppLee
                                              last edited by

                                              @applee Ok, cheers, AL. 🙂

                                              Merry Xmas!

                                              How can you trust that an app really won't send some company your location data, when you tell it not to? The only way you can trust a program not to do something it isn't supposed to do is if it is free software. ~ RMS

                                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
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