How to Block Ads in Android with Adblock Plus

The most rated Adblock Plus ad blocking program has been ported to Android where it is now available on Google’s Play. The program does not require root, but its feature set may be limited if the smartphone is not rooted. The app blocks online advertising when you browse the Internet on your phone and when you run applications that display advertisement in their interface.

Adblock Plus for Android uses the similar list-based system that the extensions uses on the desktop. You are free to subscribe to one or multiple lists which allow you to block the majority of ads that you encounter while using your Android phone.

As mentioned earlier, the effectiveness of the solution depends on the version of Android and whether the device is rooted or not: 

• Rooted Android device: Block ads over Wi-Fi and 3G.
• Non-rooted Android 4.0 or later: Blocks ads over Wi-Fi.
• Non-rooted Android 3.x or earlier:  requires manual configuration of proxy settings to localhost and the port displayed by Adblock Plus. Blocks advertisement over Wi-Fi then as well.

Note: The advertisement that is delivered via SSL connections is not blocked. This can be the case on websites that require you to connect via https for instance.

These lists suggested automatically during first start with options to add other lists, some configured for users in specific countries in the settings.

Ad blocking should be automatic after installation and run of the app on your Android device.

But the Drawback of this app you'll notice that Adblock Plus becomes the highest data-using app on your phone. According to the developers, that’s because of the data filtering that other programs and apps request, not because of its “real” data requirements.

I tested Adblock Plus on my Samsung Galaxy S3 and it worked as advertised. Ads were blocked on several websites that I opened in various system browsers.

Download Link >> Google Play | Official Website