[Android General] Portgas D. Ace:
No root required

Adguard - No Root Ad Blocker

(XDA thread)

Adguard is a tool designed to make web surfing of Android users more comfortable and safe, and one of the best parts: no root is required. Adguard establishes a local VPN connection to connect to the internet, by which all advertising content is blocked. In addition, Adguard sets up a firewall to control in- and outgoing traffic.

There is a free trial version available as well as a pro version. The free trial version blocks ads in browsers, whereas the pro version (which you have to purchase after trial period in order to get Adguard working again) blocks ads systemwide (browsers + apps).

required Android version: 4.0.3+

advantages: blocks ads in apps as well as some browsers

disadvantages: requires a VPN to constantly run in the background -> burden on the system; you also need to trust the provider of the VPN

AdAway

(XDA thread)

AdAway is an open source ad blocker for Android using the hosts file. AdAway lets you select your own sources of hosts files. In addition, you can add exceptions to your whitelist from within the AdAway app if an app is not working when specific hosts are blocked or define extra hostnames in your own Blacklist.

One big issue: AdAway will not work reliable when on mobile networks like 3G. You can deactivate that proxy by going to your selected APN (on Android 4: Wireless and networks -> More… -> Mobile Networks -> Access Point Names) and remove the value in the proxy field.

required Android version: 2.1+

advantages: blocks ads in apps as well as browsers; open-source

disadvantages: main purpose is achieved by setting up a local VPN (so you can't use another VPN in parallel), does not work reliable on mobile networks with default settings

NetGuard - No-root firewall

(XDA thread)

NetGuard is a new open-source application, developed by XDA Recognized Developer M66B, which you might know for his famous XPrivacy modul for Xposed. NetGuard is a lightweight and easy to handle firewall, and one of the best parts: no root is required. NetGuard establishes a local VPN connection to connect to the internet, by which the user can define which applications should be allowed to access the internet. In addition, NetGuard can be used to download host files to block ads (GitHub version only, don't use the one from Play Store).

required Android version: 4.0+

advantages: blocks ads in apps as well as browsers; open-source

disadvantages: main purpose is achieved by setting up a local VPN - network traffic becomes somewhat slower (should not be noticeable during daily usage); you can't use another VPN in parallel

personalHTTPproxy

(XDA thread)

personalHTTPproxy is an Android app that can filter all your HTTP (and of course HTTPS) traffic to block ads - no root needed. The app is open source software and is free of charge. It loads one or more hosts filter to block ads, thus all HTTP(S) protocol traffic will be filtered. This is very efficient when ads use the HTTP(S) protocol, but embedded ads mostly use other methods such as AdMob or AdSense, so they can not be blocked by personalHTTPproxy.

required Android version: 2.3+

advantages: blocks ads that use the HTTP(S) protocol

disadvantages: does not block ads that use other methods than the HTTP(S) protocol