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Root [Guide] Best ad blocking no app needed for rooted phone

Tigatron

Android Expert
Aug 19, 2012
1,293
443
NE
Figured I should share one of my favorite things about having a rooted android.

Ad blocking via host file replacement.

This is great as it doesn't use any extra resources other than space (11.4mb for May 20 2014 update) for the host file (the stock host file is tiny and does not have any ad blocking).

Now using this is easier because we have a recovery to flash it with.

There's 2 ways to do this.

1)Flash threw recovery.
You will need:
* CWM recovery on your Volt.
*The newest (MoaAB) Mother of All AD-BLOCKING zip file by BSDgeek_Jake of XDA get from here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1916098
(MoaAB is periodically updated so visit the page once in a while to check)

Simply have the MoaAB zip file on your SD and boot into CWM recovery then flash the MoaAB zip. Once done restart and your all done; enjoy almost no ads.
(No need to wipe data or anything as this just updates one file)

2) The old fashion way.

You will need :
*RootExplorer or another similar app.
*The newest (MoaAB) Mother of All AD-BLOCKING zip file by BSDgeek_Jake of XDA get from here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1916098
(MoaAN is periodically updated so visit the page once in a while to check)
*A little patience and follow the instructions below.

1) unzip the MoaAB.zip file you downloaded
2) find the host file (open system folder then open etc folder)
3) using root file app copy the host file to system/etc on your phone
4) set permissions to rw-r--r-- (by tap and hold on the host file and select permissions)
5) restart your phone and enjoy having almost no ads.

Reference pic for host file permissions.


If anybody needs better instructions or thinks there needs to be more detail let me know I'm so used to doing this stuff I might not have enough info for less experienced users.
 
easier? well yea in a way... but easier isn't always the best.

first off ad blocking apps use more phone resources and slow your phone down. that's counter point; we want to block ads to make the phone run smoother & faster.

secondly some users have reported losing data (3g/4g) when using ad blocking apps (never heard of this with host file method).
I'm not saying this is common but has happened on many devices.
 
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So install adaway and point it to Moaab (http://adblock.mahakala.is) instead of the built in lists.
And yes, you DO want to leave the app installed (all 2.8MB of it! <sarcasm intended>) so you can click the update button and pull down updated adblock lists on the fly without having to go through a manual process.

Jeez, if you want to do it the hard, manual, error-prone way, be my guest. But I think the typical person would prefer to automate it.
 
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AdAway does not run in background. It is an app that automates the steps you are carrying out in the option 2 using Root Explorer. AdAway is a Hosts File updater. You can either update those manually (using Root Explorer) or install AdAway which will pull the Hosts file from the sources that you specify (or the ones that come listed by default) and just add the values to your system hosts file. So
 
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I have TWRP installed and its what I've used for my backups, etc. These directions are using clockwork mod so I didn't know where that left me?
If you're referring to the MOAB file, users in the XDA thread report it works with TWRP.

Get zip package to internal storage while running.

Boot into TWRP.

Main menu, Backup - accept default of boot, system, and data.

Install - select MOAB zip file you put on internal storage.

If your phone fails to function, go back to TWRP, Restore - and restore the backup you made.

(Follow that for all of your installs and you can't go far wrong.)

If alternative desired and MOAB install fails - https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=org.adaway

And if MOAB protection still desired with AdAway -

So install adaway and point it to Moaab (http://adblock.mahakala.is) instead of the built in lists.
 
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Is there any noticeable performance decline after using AdAway or this MoaAb method?

I notice on a couple places they claim your phone needs 1 gb of RAM FREE...our Volts are usually running only 600 mbs free though?
There's no such address as google.com on the Internet.

That's a name you type in and you can read.

Your computer or smartphone goes to a domain name server out on the Internet and gets the address for google.com and then goes to that address.

All Internet access is like that.

Except before going out for the name, it looks first at a local, reserved system file and sees if it already knows the address.

Adaway and MoaAB simply fill that file with known site names that you don't want with an the address on your device reserved for network testing or itself. There's nothing there to answer so that's the end of that network request.

Adaway and MoaAB don't block sites - they update a file from time to time and your normal, built-in networking simply doesn't go to any of those places.

When visiting a site with ads or malware, your device ends up doing less processing, not more.

There's absolutely no way that your phone is going to take a big hit on that and absolutely no way that you'll need 1 GB of ram.

As per my post above yours, I'm using both sources via Adaway, I'm blocking over 125,000 sites, and the file I'm doing it with is only 4.6 MB.

Less data, less network access, less battery usage all from one not-large file.

Whoever said it took a gig of ram was clueless.
 
Upvote 0
Hi
Figured I should share one of my favorite things about having a rooted android.

Ad blocking via host file replacement.

This is great as it doesn't use any extra resources other than space (11.4mb for May 20 2014 update) for the host file (the stock host file is tiny and does not have any ad blocking).

Now using this is easier because we have a recovery to flash it with.

There's 2 ways to do this.

1)Flash threw recovery.
You will need:
* CWM recovery on your Volt.
*The newest (MoaAB) Mother of All AD-BLOCKING zip file by BSDgeek_Jake of XDA get from here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1916098
(MoaAB is periodically updated so visit the page once in a while to check)

Simply have the MoaAB zip file on your SD and boot into CWM recovery then flash the MoaAB zip. Once done restart and your all done; enjoy almost no ads.
(No need to wipe data or anything as this just updates one file)

2) The old fashion way.

You will need :
*RootExplorer or another similar app.
*The newest (MoaAB) Mother of All AD-BLOCKING zip file by BSDgeek_Jake of XDA get from here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1916098
(MoaAN is periodically updated so visit the page once in a while to check)
*A little patience and follow the instructions below.

1) unzip the MoaAB.zip file you downloaded
2) find the host file (open system folder then open etc folder)
3) using root file app copy the host file to system/etc on your phone
4) set permissions to rw-r--r-- (by tap and hold on the host file and select permissions)
5) restart your phone and enjoy having almost no ads.

Reference pic for host file permissions.


If anybody needs better instructions or thinks there needs to be more detail let me know I'm so used to doing this stuff I might not have enough info for less experienced users.


Hi, thanks for the post. but i would like to omplain that i tried following the steps shown but no effect was taken after i rebooted my phone. please would you be able to guide me more further?
 
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