• bug@lemmy.one
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      1 year ago

      FYI you don’t need apps that pretend to be a VPN to block ads anymore, you can just go to Settings > Network and Internet > Private DNS and set it to something like dns.adguard.com to block almost all ads, no install required!

      • Teknikal@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I am afraid the UK isps Virgin, three and Sky have blocked me completely from trying to browse anything at all if I try to enable this setting at all.

        IF I enable it on any of them I have no Internet at all. Sucks but in the UK it’s basically turning off you’re Internet. I still have an older version of blokada working but when it updates it kills my Internet like the rest of them so I’m constantly fighting that.

        • ode@discuss.tchncs.de
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          1 year ago

          Raise hell with your telecomms regulator. Choice of DNS (not to mention how web content is rendered) is solely your business, but it will only remain that way if you get vocal.

        • bug@lemmy.one
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          1 year ago

          That’s odd, it works on GiffGaff and Lebara for me, and for everyone else I’ve set it up for. Maybe an issue with your phone? Does it work over WiFi?

          • Teknikal@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            My phone works perfectly until I enable it and I’ve tried a few different dns options with it and yes even use the longer domains designed for it.

            Never had my phone work at all while they are On sadly I think it’s been blocked by these isps honestly.

            its a nothing phone on Android 13 and here’s proof enabling it takes me immediately offline https://ibb.co/t3mpwNS.

            • bug@lemmy.one
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              1 year ago

              Sorry for the late reply, your link tries to add the . from the end of your sentence to it and breaks so I couldn’t see your screenshot until I removed it. I notice you still have blokada enabled, have you tried switching it off completely and then enabling private DNS? I’m not a network expert but it seems like they could be treading on each others toes maybe.

              • Teknikal@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                Your partly right in that bitwarden was interfering but while I can get sky WiFi to work with private dns it still cuts off my mobile network which is 3.

                Now that’s not completely as bad as it sounds because I use WiFi calling a lot at home .

                Ive seen the same issue in the past with virgin which even cut of my home pcs if I tried to use a dns that wasnt theirs.

                • bug@lemmy.one
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                  1 year ago

                  I found this fix for Virgin Media, might be worth contacting 3 (or their support forums) to see if they have a similar fix

        • bug@lemmy.one
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          1 year ago

          I’ve never seen an issue, so it either works or I don’t have any apps like that. Try it out, it’s pretty quick to check!

      • infeeeee@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Blokada is a VPN based adblocker, but Adaway can work as a hosts file based blocker, if the phone is rooted. Hosts file based blocking uses zero cpu cycles, as it’s a feature of the network stack, it’s just a file containing list of addresses to redirect, so it should use less battery than blokada. By default on all OSes this hosts file is not editable by regular users, that’s why you need root. Wikipedia article about hosts file

          • infeeeee@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            Without root it works the same way as blokada, as a local VPN. I always root my phones, so I don’t have experience with that, I guess it’s similar.

            But you can just try it, and if you don’t like it you can get back to blokada. Also as both of them are just VPNs, you can just switch between the two, while both are installed. Also on their website there is a good FAQ: https://adaway.org/

  • BearPear@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I use an app called Seal. You could think of it as a fronted for youtubedl. The interface is really beautiful and you can download videos from many different websites.

    Another one is ViMusic, this is just an app that streams songs from YouTube music without any ads. edit: fixed spelling of vimusic

    • Pretzelise@aussie.zone
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      1 year ago

      Love Vimusic! For people that don’t like the interface, there’s also Innertune which works very similarly to Vimusic. Haven’t needed Spotify since 😁

    • iturnedintoanewt@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Just in case, NewPipe is a super complete YouTube player without ads (and there is a fork also without sponsor sections). It can also view comments of the videos and it can keep your own subscribed videos feed, all without using a YouTube account. You can also download them, and play the audio only, also in the background. All in all, my complete YouTube replacement.

  • ikidd@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Not that it’s only on Fdroid, but DAVx5 is free on Fdroid and $10 on Play.

  • Leperhero@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    Native Alpha.

    Save web apps, into one application, with extra privacy settings (like javascript blocking)

  • Francisco@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    F-droid is great. But I wish f-droid had some kind of rating system so that I could use it more.

    NewPipe

    Simple calendar

    Simple gallery

    SD Maid

    KeePassDX

    MuPDF mini

    Open contacts

    OsmAnd~

    Slight backup

    VLC

    Jerboa

    F-droid

    ps: how do you make a list on Jerboa/lemmy?

    • grue@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      But I wish f-droid had some kind of rating system so that I could use it more.

      Either that, or at least a download count so that I could tell which apps were most popular. (I tend to trust popularity more than ratings as a proxy for quality anyway.)

  • zxo@sopuli.xyz
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    1 year ago

    For those that use the Signal messenger, Langis is just Signal without Google Play services.

    • martinbasic@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Do you mean to block system apps’ internet access?

      Settings ->Advanced options ->Toggle “Manage system apps”

      • Square Singer@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        No, what I mean is under

        Settings -> Advanced options -> Toggle “Filter traffic”

        And the related settings:

        Settings -> Backup -> Hosts file download URL

        and

        Settings -> Backup -> Download hosts file

    • WhoRoger@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Try RethinkDNS. You can specify blocklists at DNS level, so you don’t even need the app if you don’t need the other stuff.

      • iturnedintoanewt@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        You mean, like TrackerControl? You still need special settings to block your own phone system apps from reaching their Samsung, etc tracking addresses. Like, how do you block Samsung keyboard from sending all their tracking data otherwise? These apps have limited versions in the Play store that won’t block system apps.

        • WhoRoger@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Most likely those things are on some blocklist which you can enable individually https://rethinkdns.com/configure and then it generates a dns address for you. Unless the Samsung apps override the dns, they shouldn’t get through. Or you can still combine that dns with some vpn or firewall, rethink or some other.

          (I’m not affiliated btw.)

          But hey that’s why we’re taking about F-Droid apps!

          Can you use anything else instead of a Samsung keyboard? The problem with spyware apps is that they collect the data, and if they just sniff some hint of a free internet access, they’ll send the collected data. It’s not like if you block them for a week, they’ll never try again. Shitty little things. At least a vpn/dns/fw will prevent the pings, but it’s still best to avoid shitty apps altogether.

  • hoodie_doc@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Not sure if it’s only on F-droid, but I’ve switched from G-board to Open-board. It’s a virtual keyboard app that has many “extra” features compared to Simple board. There’s autocorrect, swipe to complete, and a clipboard visualizer. I’m trying to figure out if I can add entries to the dictionary so it suggests some words I use often instead of others tho.

    • UncleStewart@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      So, I tried it but I’m totally addicted to swiping when writing. This one is sadly missing this feature…

      • iturnedintoanewt@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        OpenBoard has actually a working swipe-typing implementation that catches most of my typing incredibly well (and which is incredibly infuriating at the moment to correct when it doesn’t… You’ll get it when you use it). You need to use this other fork: Openboard

      • hoodie_doc@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        That is true. I found swipe to type convenient, but never necessary personally so it wasn’t a feature i thought to mention 😅

    • Basche@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      This looks interesting, but is it still being updated? It seems like almost 1 full year since last update.