yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Android Apps and Games] zgfg:
https://hosts-file.net/ad_servers.txt is dead link for weeks, remove it from the hosts sources list

---------- Post added at 10:59 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:50 AM ----------

Btw, I have observed a problem related to restoring from json file

I made a clean install with VPN/no -root use.

It comes with 3 hosts sources

I restored from my previous json backup where I had 7 hosts sources.

However, on the front page, AdAway continued to show 3 up-to-date, although I opened hosts sources list and all 7 were listed there.

Restarting AdAway or even phone did not help

Only when I opened again the hosts sources list and unchecked one, then it popped-up to let me accept to Apply, and when I did it finally started to parse through my hosts-sources list and at the end it correctly showed 7 up-to-date sources (in the meantime I did recheck that 7th one and reapplied)
[Android Apps and Games] dingsaller:
[MENTION=5417899]DiamondJohn[/MENTION]

April 7th [MENTION=2822685]PerfectSlayer[/MENTION] posted an answer about hosts-file.net and you thanked his post as I did :confused:
[Android Apps and Games] pycxe-01:
I've noticed that the F-Droid build is slightly bigger. Is it because it was fixed? Where did you download your v4.3.4 from?
[Android Apps and Games] marciozomb13:
F-droid version have telemetry.
[Android Apps and Games] TomiLynch:
Design Suggestion

Hi [MENTION=2822685]PerfectSlayer[/MENTION] , I've finally jumped to v5.0.3 and I have to say, I love what you did to the design! Information is much clearer than before and to the users reach, without having to search through long menus for each section. I also like that you moved the menu to the bottom, so nice for these ridiculously large phones. Great job!

The addition of a the non-root option is also great. adAway is definitely going on all my family a friend's phones now!

However, as an industrial designer, I thought some details could be polished a little.

I do like the idea of the icons coming out of the button box, it gives it a 3D feel, which I guess is what you were going after. However, when I first saw them I thought it was a graphic bug for a split second. I think this happened mainly because of the transparency on those icons, which let's you see part of the red background through them.

So I asked a friend of mine who is a UX designer to give me his opinion. He had never heard of the app before, which is great to test the impact on a new user.

He agreed with my observation and also pointed out two more things.

He said it is indeed nice having the menu on the bottom of the screen, but it's a convention that the burger icon goes on the top left corner, and moving it away can confuse the user experience. Since there is only two items in that menu, he suggested putting them next to the pause button, since that bar is already existing for the burger menu.

He also pointed out that the big box in the middle was a little confusing for him. He didn't understand if that was one big button, if it was just information, if there was two or 3 buttons inside it.

So based on this feedback, I made some little tweaks keeping the essence of your original design.

Please don't take it badly. It's meant to be constructive criticism with suggestions for improvement. Feel free to use whatever you like, as well as to ignore this if you don't like them.

Cheers!
[Android Apps and Games] JudgeDread11:
As a regular user i find your design a bit chaotic.

I like the bottom bar with 3 buttons.

The added light grey boxes make it to cluttered for me. Not do I see the need to change the transparent icons. I really like them the way they are.

I think the original design looks more unique. It has its own character while not differentiating from the general Android design too much.

Your design more like an it of the box, follow the standard design with less character.

Just my 2 cents as a regular user without any design background.

On the end it's up to the developer to choose.
[Android Apps and Games] m0han:
i liked the design in screenshot 3 from this post.

i think that's the 'minimalist' of the lot. :D:good:
[Android Apps and Games] guhvanoh:
Thanks for the effort you put into these suggested changes. They do look good and might even be used as themes. Here are my thoughts on what I like. On the whole, I'd like a combination of things. I prefer the original top 3 boxes as they are informational only. For the middle box, I choose your fourth option. For the bottom 3 boxes I prefer your fourth but with the button fully inside the outline. Splitting out the options for the burger icon is fine with the current options. However if more options are added, you would have to go back to using the burger icon. To tie it all in and make my choices consistent, the top 3 boxes would also need an outline. I'm not sure how that would look. Just my 2p worth...
[Android Apps and Games] :
I'd say mockup 3 is more easy to look at and understand. I also initially thought the transparent icon placement was a visual glitch.

Only I wonder why the settings cog is on the left. Don't most apps with a dedicated button to access settings put it on the right hand side? That would feel more intuitive for me.
[Android Apps and Games] Wolfcity:
Ok, until now I never had any problems with negative times etc.

Now 2 of my 3 host sources are showing "actual since 613 month" and the last one "installed a few minutes ago'.

Also on the main page only 2 sources are shown.

5.0.3 in non-root mode.

Edit: Ok, after some activating/deactivating and a reboot everything is back to normal now. Just usual beta stuff;)
[Android Apps and Games] TomiLynch:
I'm sorry to read you don't like what I've suggested, but it's perfectly understandable. Likes are personal and totally subjective.

I do like the new design as I said, but there are some details I think could be polished, so I decided to actually do something about it and suggest some ideas instead of complaining from behind the keyboard. But no worries, these are nothing but suggestions.

About the transparencies, a transparency is generally used to make something blend with the background, so it won't be as noticeable. If the idea of the icons coming out of the box is to generate a 3D feel, you'd want them to pop out, not fade away. That's why I suggested not using transparencies there.

Thank you! Grad you liked them. I did try a lot more options, but chose the few I liked the most. Of course these are not meant to be used as they are, but more of a couple of ideas to trigger the imagination.

The fact that you point out that the top three icons are only informative is proof of a miscommunication in the design. Those are indeed informative but not exclusively. They are actually pressable buttons that take you to an other screen. As an industrial designer, my job is to be extremely conscious about what a product communicates to the user, and make sure he understands exactly what I want. This is why I tried designing something that would suggest touching them.

I guess I put the settings on the left side because I'm used to having the menus slide out from the left. But swapping them is totally doable if that makes more sense.

I am not going to do any more changes because I feel I might be getting into something nobody asked me to, and I don't want to disrespect the dev. The app is not mine and I have no right to try and change it.

PerfectSlayer, if you read this, I hope you don't feel any of it as an attack. I repeat once again that I love what you did with the the new design. I simply saw some opportunities for improvement and decided to try some examples to visualize alternatives and trigger the imagination.
[Android Apps and Games] gaww:
The "design" is irrelevant - how it works is everything. After using this for several years, it is now having problems blamed on hosts. If the OP could find a way to fix that, I and many others would be very happy with the traditional layout - who cares about the sizes of boxes and layout of then.

Too much time on wasted time.
[Android Apps and Games] IronTechmonkey:
...aaaand, the design determines how people use it ;).

It sounds like you and I are high-function desiring UI minimalists and I somewhat share your view for my own usage but...

How it works - that it works reliably - may be the most important thing and the highest priority, but how users interact with an interface is also important and can make a huge difference by minimizing needless support requests, and by offering the reliable functionality you and I expect with an interface that's easy to use by a wider range of users than just us.
[Android Apps and Games] gaww:
Yeah - whoever came up adb and fastboot interfaces didn't care either...
[Android Apps and Games] ipdev:
Hi.

I like the ideas you came up. I do not prefer one or another other but, I like some parts of each. Just not sure how I'd mix and match them..

If you are like I am, each one of the examples you posted probably has 10 variations and (more time than you want to admit) staring at them trying to figure out why you do not like it. ;)

Looking at it again and I think it's the big center button.

Why is that one is combined ?

I do not think a 3x3 grid would look good.

Maybe 3,1,2,3(?)

I'm not a graphic designer or part of the AdAway team.

I try to help in the xda tread, bug reports and testing.

I would like to see what your idea of splitting the Hosts sources, Refresh and Download sources into separate buttons would look like. :D

Ideas, suggestions, and any contribution to the AdAway project are always welcome.

AdAway GitHub - Link :)

Cheers. :cowboy:
[Android Apps and Games] ipdev:
Most users do not understand how hosts files work.

Add Magisk (even SuperSU) systemless root into it and they are more confused.

It's a simple learning process, they do not know so someone has to teach them.

Quite a few members/visitors do not read the OP or even parts of the thread, especially if it is thousands of pages. Heck half of the xda members never read the rules.

Most Google users are surprised when you point out something in the Google License Agreement they acknowledged and agreed to.

So you can NOT fault the developer(s) for user error or ignorance.

Ignorance is used in proper form (lack of knowledge) not as derogatory statement.

If the app was using command line, then I agree.

No graphical UI no problem. - This app does though.

When a graphical UI is being used, it has to be user friendly.

The UI changes to 5.x is a nice change and like everything (including me/myself and I) has room for improvement.

If not why would Android/BSD/Linux/Unix even be updated ???

Before you start bashing the development, take a look at the actual development being focused on.

https://github.com/AdAway/AdAway/commits/master

https://github.com/AdAway/AdAway/projects/2

https://github.com/AdAway/AdAway/projects/1

And remember, beside contributions from the community, there are only two currently maintaining AdAway.

https://github.com/AdAway/AdAway#project-status

General PSA.

Just remember most of the Android community are developers that offer their knowledge, time, files and builds that they personally make and use to the rest of us.

If we have an error that they do not, they try to make it right and correct it to help or make it work for us also. They have no reason, beside the willingness to offer.

A donation or sponsorship (if accepted) helps.

A simple Thank You or I appreciate or Good Job here and there helps quite a bit..

Reporting a problem is fine.

Requesting a change or adding a feature is fine.

Start Demanding or Degrading well...

I think even the average user would say ***** I'm out of here.

Cheers all. :cowboy:
[Android Apps and Games] zgfg:
Honestly speaking, under normal circumstances, you don't 'use' AdAway app a lot. Once you setup your host sources and your whitelist (maybe blacklist, too) and that's it

From time to time you do some maintenance work, you trigger updating hosts (there used to be problems with periodic auto updating but auto updating on restart worked fine, hence if rebooting a phone once a week it was fine).

And rarely you have to remove some dead hosts source, add a new one or make changes to the white (black) list

It's not like WhatsApp or similar that you actively use every day and for a lot of time

Hence features and reliability is first and foremost. Colors, icons, layout (is it trendy and now metal design), skins (yeah, specially themes or skins) I personally don't care (at all) - it is only important that there are no bugs in the UI, that clicks do what they are supposed to do.

From the layout perspective it is most important that you can easily find how to do when and what you need to do, and that most often actions are accessible with less clicks

So I was the user of AdAway for certainly four or five years (not because of its design but because of its features, functionality and reliability!!!), and already on seven or eight devices (maybe more). Whenever possible (depending on the launcher) I 'hide' it to the app drawer

It's like heating and plumbing in the house, you don't look at it and enjoy in its colours and design every day (like the furniture in the living room).

But it must be reliable - actually if you have to play with your heating and plumbing every day then something is wrong with your pipes and equipment or construction workers did not set it up correctly

That's my cents about this graphical UI design discussion

Edit: But the world must go on and apps must be updated for features (and design). We must appreciate developers who spend their free time for community (give them also some real 'cents', too), hence sometimes you swallow up and sooner or later accommodate to certain changes you maybe didn't like at first or thought they were not necessary
[Android Apps and Games] Ultramanoid:
Since everyone and their dog is giving their opinion, and I sincerely believe feature creep is by now out of control, given the fact even the UI is being discussed in earnest, here's an honest proposal :

'Lite' AdAway : It would have a single option to input hosts URLs, a single button to fetch them, merge them without duplicates, and output a hosts file in a specified filesystem location.

Nothing else. No fancy UI, no preferences, no whitelist / blacklist / purple list, no VPN, no DNS log, no server, no Rootisk systemic mount atomic button, no transmogrifier, no, no. Nothing. Not even root required, put the file in /sdcard for all I care.

Wouldn't even need to be installed permanently, just occasionally to create a new hosts file.

( Not being sarcastic, this is how I use AdAway and by now it's faster to get hosts files and merge them myself than the ever longer install + figure out new UI today + go through auto update + import settings + remove auto hosts + check for update + fetch hosts + create hosts file + uninstall ... )

Edit : Developer bonus; zero maintenance work.
[Android Apps and Games] DiamondJohn:
and thats mostly why I use a script to create my host file.I follow this thread to check if my script is missing anything.
[Android Apps and Games] Ultramanoid:
Make a one page web site with it, put a donation button on it, get my money, and someone else's too probably. ( Would gladly pay for 'AdAway Lite' too. )

At this point I'm about to download Pollock's or Black's hosts as-is once a month and be done with it. Forever. Not one more second wasted, ever again. I guess I follow the thread because... Inertia ? Too many years here. (^_^ )
[Android Apps and Games] DiamondJohn:
What?!? donations? Money? where was that suggestion when I created the thread! ... 18 months ago....

https://xdaforums.com/android/software-hacking/hosts-diamondjohn-host-builder-script-t3872728
[Android Apps and Games] masri1987:
Q: using v5 beta, amazon app thinks i have no internet, but when i disable the adblock, amazon app works fine?
[Android Apps and Games] vandyman:
Same issue as you. I tried to white list everything to do with Amazon and different hosts as well. And no luck here.

AdAway 5.02 was working okay, Amazon issues started with version 5.03. I am thinking of going back to 5.02, but I am not sure if a residue of 5.03 will remain.
[Android Apps and Games] TotallyAnxious:
Disable web server. (Granted it's not a long term solution)
[Android Apps and Games] masri1987:
i do'nt understand, plz explain
[Android Apps and Games] Portgas D. Ace:
Open AdAway - Settings - root based adblocker - disable Webserver
[Android Apps and Games] FullWipe:
Try to whitelist this string, rebuild the host file and reboot the device:

*.amazon-adsystem.com
[Android Apps and Games] vandyman:
*.amazon-adsystem.com does not work.

Disabling web works for me...
[Android Apps and Games] tard24:
Disabling web server works for me as well.
[Android Apps and Games] dingsaller:
[MENTION=4769181]vandyman[/MENTION] [MENTION=2822685]PerfectSlayer[/MENTION]

Disabling web server solved not just the amazon app problem, also another app works correct again (with running web server this app shows "ssl error, please try again later", with deactivated web server works fine).

Maybe there's something wrong with the web server in 5.0.3/4.3.4 (tried both), never had a problem with web server running in previous versions :confused:
[Android Apps and Games] guest4711:
You may have the best of two worlds: Install AdAway, add energized hosts file as source to AdAway and disable the default sources...
[Android Apps and Games] Phil_Smith:
For me this did actually work, thanks!

I deinstalled amazon, did your stuff, and reinstalled it after the reboot. Maybe that did the trick?
[Android Apps and Games] PerfectSlayer:
Agreed. That's why I try to fix as hard as I can the reliability issues or any issue related with hosts computation.

When users starts to discuss about UI, it could be 2 things: 1) you really failed it (and I hope not), 2) the core features are working well enough so the users now focus on UI improvements ^^'

That's an interesting point of view. I never thought they was a need for this use case.

The more I evolve the app, the more I try to make it do all the hard work the easiest possible. But I never aim at doing the simplest app possible.

I can easily make an Activity dedicated to a such feature and you will never be bother by the other stuff.

The question is, what makes you think the minimal features you choose are enough and the right ones?

(I fear users start requesting more and more features or options like the regular app...)

If you have a look to the changelog, the webserver now serves https page in addition to http.

You need to install the custom certificate from app settings to fix the ssl error.

First, thank for your feedback!

Don't worry, I don't take it badly. It's nice to see some new ideas and solid proposals.

> He said it is indeed nice having the menu on the bottom of the screen, but it's a convention that the burger icon goes on the top left corner, and moving it away can confuse the user experience.

Agreed. I use the latest design guideline and only few apps migrated to it. It feels weird to me too at the begin.

But the new design tends to remove the burger menu. Maybe I need to rework the menu integration to make it more obvious.

> I first saw them I thought it was a graphic bug for a split second

You are not the only one, I got similar bug report in GitHub.

The V5 is still a beta and I think there will improvements before the final release.

I try to do the best by myself, a friend as graphic designer help me with the new design but she's not related to Android so I try to merge her ideas with the latest Android design components.

Another big improvement possible could come from an Google Design Expert that won a Material Design award in the past. I had the opportunity to present the app to him and he proposes to help me when he finds time.

I don't want to push him but it could be really helpful if he participates. In the meantime, if you or your friend want to discuss and improve things, you're more than welcome ;)
[Android Apps and Games] Josh McGrath:
[MENTION=2822685]PerfectSlayer[/MENTION]

I just want to say your commitment to this app is impressive. I have never seen someone so fast on fixes and so frequently helpful in the forums . We appreciate it
[Android Apps and Games] gibbsnich:
Could such a certificate make sense for your usecase?

https://github.com/flotwig/the-one-cert
[Android Apps and Games] knpk13:
I don't really know how this works (any pointers to reading materials would be nice), so is it secure? Also, when installing the certificate, do I select the "VPN and Apps" option, or do I select the "Wi-Fi" option?
[Android Apps and Games] dingsaller:
If you have a look to the changelog, the webserver now serves https page in addition to http.

You need to install the custom certificate from app settings to fix the ssl error.

[MENTION=2822685]PerfectSlayer[/MENTION]

Same problems with amazon app and the ssl error with or without installed custom certificate (tried every option) - deactivated web server no probs :confused:
[Android Apps and Games] mitchdickson:
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
[Android Apps and Games] Ultramanoid:
That is the only thing I've ever used AdAway for. And we know for a fact, others too. It's like someone using an extremely simple application to convert JPGs to PNGs. But features keep piling up, until the simple converter becomes Photoshop. Cool, but all the user wants is to convert JPGs to PNGs, and absolutely nothing else, the other million things are useless and even get in the way. The very definition of 'feature creep' ...

Never have used or needed anything else. Fetch, merge, remove duplicates, save. The absolute minimum. Maybe ask if the user wants 0.0.0.0 or 127 etc before merging, as that may be needed ? But if anybody needs anything else, the full application would always be there. Thanks for considering it. ^_^
[Android Apps and Games] Tommytommy1234:
Hello,

Anybody knows if Adaway block trackers too? I know it blocks ads but didn't mention anything about trackers. I want this because most of the apps on GPlay use trackers and would like it not being tracked.
[Android Apps and Games] zgfg:
Actually, AdAway does not block anything.

What you block depends on what you put into the Hosts sources list in AdAway - each hosts source file contains thousands of domains to be blocked.

Look eg here for hosts sources blocking trackers here, do they satisfy your needs:

https://energized.pro/
[Android Apps and Games] gonzo1963:
Good morning,

I have a question, I apologize if it is already answered.

I have version 4.3.4 installed with the original and unmodified "Host File Sources".

Suddenly I stopped receiving notifications from various apps, the rest of the functions of these apps work perfectly.

To test, I have disabled ad blocking, and started to receive notifications without problems.

How can I get an app to be excluded from blocking and thus receive notifications without problem?

Regards

Enviado desde mi unknown mediante Tapatalk

---------- Post added at 01:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:27 PM ----------

Another question,

Although I restart the smartphone every time I update the host file, why do I find new updates every time I access the app today?

Is it an app bug?

Is it a problem with links download the host files?

Regards

Enviado desde mi unknown mediante Tapatalk
[Android Apps and Games] vandyman:
You need to add the sources that you want to use to the white list.
[Android Apps and Games] gonzo1963:
Good again,

Sorry for my ignorance.

How do I add the source?, is it the name of the app?.

Regards

Enviado desde mi unknown mediante Tapatalk
[Android Apps and Games] vandyman:
https://github.com/AdAway/AdAway/wiki/LogDNS
[Android Apps and Games] Oswald Boelcke:
I apologise that I need to make assumptions but the provided (or better not provided) information doesn't allow something else.

What type of notifications do you mean? GSM/FCM? If latter is the case, are you using microG?

The OP contains a link to the Wiki. And this is the answer to your above question: https://github.com/AdAway/AdAway/wiki/LogDNS

Log the DNS requests of the specific apps and then whitelist these requests.