- Aug 4, 2016
- 1,465
Meet AdGuard v3.6 for Android! It has been over three months since the previous release, and we've managed to implement two major features over this time — watching YouTube ad-free and DNS-over-QUIC (DoQ) support.
Many people are suffering from unskippable video ads on YouTube. Frankly, this request – to block YouTube ads – has to be one the most popular ones, if not THE most popular. And while this is nowhere near to being an easy task, we came up with a solution that puts you just a couple taps away from watching a video in the YouTube app without any interruptions. As for DoQ, it's a new DNS encryption protocol that offers out-of-the-box encryption and better performance. Let's have a closer look.
Watching YouTube ad-free
Due to the technical restrictions of the Android OS, no ad blocker is able to block ads inside of the YouTube app itself. Up until now, the closest we've got was filtering YouTube when you watch it in a browser. We are first to admit, that's a lot of hassle compared to the pure in-app experience. But now we’ve found an alternative that brings you as close to it as possible, while getting around the Android-imposed restrictions.
Now you can watch videos without annoying drop-in commercials at a price of only a couple extra taps. A two-step guide on how to do this:
That's it! A new window with the video will open where you'll be able to watch it without being interrupted by ads.
- Open YouTube app and start the video you want to watch.
- Tap on the Share button and select AdGuard for Android from the list of apps.
DNS-over-QUIC support
That's a lot of letters put together! If you don't know what they all mean, I don't blame you. The first thing you should know about DoQ is that it's a new encryption protocol. Not as new as a concept, but very new in terms of practical application. In fact, AdGuard introduced the very first public DNS servers that support DoQ!
You might have heard about DNS encryption protocols before, the most common ones are DNS-over-HTTPS and DNS-over-TLS (DoH and DoT correspondingly). So what makes DoQ so special? A bunch of things, really: out-of-the-box encryption, reduced connection times, and better performance in cases of lost data packets. To learn more about DNS-over-QUIC, check out this article dedicated entirely to it.
To enable DoQ in AdGuard for Android, perform the following steps:
As you can see, the feature is still experimental — AdGuard for Android is one of the first open-source implementations of DNS-over-QUIC (we've also added this feature to AdGuard Home not so long ago). However, it's totally functional and worth trying out.
- Open the app, then open the side menu
- Go to Settings > DNS Filtering and enable it
- Select any of AdGuard DNS servers from the list of available servers
- Under Server type choose DNS-over-QUIC (experimental)
And that's it. Of course, there's usual bugfixing and other geeky stuff, the complete list of changes can be found on GitHub. And as always we're looking forward to your feedback on the new version. Drop us a line here in the comments or contact us on social media — whatever works best for you. See you soon!
Use this for ad-free YouTube:Is watching YouTube ad-free for those who sign-in to YouTube? Because without signing in I'm not able to activate the feature i. e. when I tap the Share button no drop down menu appears
Anyway so far I'm not facing ads when playing YouTube clips without signing-in so this feature not useful to me
I'm using NewpipeUse this for ad-free YouTube:
Vanced
The official website of Vanced - a Video client for Android (Not affiliated with Google/YouTube).vancedapp.com
Ok. Newpipe is a decent alternative too.I'm using Newpipe
If you happen to read the release notes of AdGuard for Android on GitHub, you might giggle at the fact that the coming release of v4.0 has become sort of a local meme.
We've been waiting for it passionately and, at times when the release data was delayed, rushed things saying "Well, now it’s definitely the latest version before the Big Release".
But the dawning of a new era as we call it does not rule out the necessity of the intermediate builds and certainly does not invalidate the changes made and all the scope of work done. The changes in the recent v3.6.3 are abundant but they all are ‘under the hood’, so to say. We used to consider such tasks difficult to comprehend and not interesting for a regular user, but truth be told, they are the core of our product.
One thing that's easy enough to understand is Android 12 compatibility. We've tested the new version extensively on the new OS and happy to say that they are 100% compatible. Feel free to try it yourself if you're one of the early testers for the Android 12.
And if you'd like to get into the thick of things, here are some more changes that were introduced in the v3.6.3 update. In this version we focused on updating CoreLibs. Namely, we dealt with the priority of existing modifiers and added several new ones: $denyallow, $redirect-rule, $removeheader, and $specifichide. It might be of interest to users who'd like to create their own ad filters. Besides, we've made userscript exclusions work properly and fixed all issues found.
- [Fixed] Proxy gets disabled after each AdGuard VPN update #3680
- [Fixed] Stealth mode settings configured in the setup wizard are not applied #3747
- [Fixed] AdGuard doesn't let users of the MEGA app log in #3837
- [Fixed] "NetworkCallback was not registered" error when stopping protection #3870
- [Fixed] Instagram doesn't work in Local HTTP Proxy mode (root access) #3879
- [Fixed] NektoMe doesn't work when AdGuard is enabled #374
- [Fixed] If a phone has access to an IPv6 connection, AdGuard for Android fails to connect to DNS-over-QUIC servers that are only accessible over IPv4 #3927
- [Fixed] The issue with changing the language in the DNS section #3731
- [Fixed] Root + Local HTTP proxy slowdown on Android 7 #3844
- [Fixed] Check proxy connection status error #3848
- [Fixed] TikTok doesn't work when AdGuard is enabled #3866
- [Fixed] Wrong exclusions suggested for $removeparam rules in the filtering log #3873
- [Fixed] Don't pass DNS64 settings to DNSLibs if IPv4 network interface is present #3886
- [Fixed] Connection issues on Fujitsu devices
- [Fixed] Issue with an expired security certificate
- [Fixed] Extend public networks list to force IPv4 default route
- [Fixed] com.android.browser connection issues on several devices
- [Fixed] Stealth mode screen can't be scrolled
- [Enhancement] Updated DnsLibs to v1.6.29 #3952
- [Enhancement] DNS-over-QUIC (Removed "experimental" label) #3842
- [Enhancement] Turkey - Turkcell VoWifi new IP address #3864
- [Enhancement] Fanboy's Annoyance List's Subscription URL is broken #3865
- [Enhancement] Enable HTTPS filtering by default for Edge Dev, Edge Beta, and Styx Browser #3897
- [Enhancement] Do not hardcode excluding AdGuard VPN package from filtering #3923
- [Enhancement] Added Yandex Browser to the list of browsers #3951
This quick update fixes a bug that could have happened to our long-term users. If you have been using AdGuard for a few years and your security certificate expired, it could have lead to an HTTPS filtering failure. After this update, you will see a notification on the app’s main screen. Tap on it and follow on-screen instructions to reinstall the certificate and resume HTTPS filtering.
It's time to release AdGuard v3.6.5 for Android. The biggest thing about this version is the enhanced Browsing Security module which now blocks requests to malicious and phishing sites better and faster! No less important point is that we’ve updated CoreLibs and DNSLibs to make the app perform more reliably, and fixed various minor bugs. Hope you will enjoy AdGuard v3.6.5 for Android!
With the implementation of new Safe Browsing API v2, Browsing Security module responsible for blocking requests to malicious and phishing sites has become more effective. The upgraded version of this module makes browsing the Internet safer than ever and leaves no chance for the malicious code to be executed.
- [Enhancement] Enhanced Browsing Security module
After the last update of AdGuard for Android, some users may have encountered the problem of the app crashing when using earlier versions of the Firefox browser. Well, we decided to close all debts this year and release the patch today. We also did something that no release can do without: we updated CoreLibs.
Changelog
- [Fixed] AdGuard crashes while using earlier versions of FireFox browser #4068
- [Enhancement] Updated CoreLibs to v1.8.281 #4076
AdGuard for Android direct download links:
Lately some of our users experienced discomfort — they couldn’t make voice calls in WhatsApp when AdGuard v3.6.6 for Android is enabled. The CoreLibs team managed to combat this problem.
Besides, we’ve made several fixes to the scriptlets library. To recap, scriptlets are powerful blocking tools. In particular, they carry out a noble mission: to neutralize anti ad blockers. The previous version of AdGuard for Android had a scriptlet library that contained an incorrect fix for rules like #%#/scriptlet(“abort-current-inline-script”, ...), which could break some web pages; now the problem is solved.
Having dealt with all the issues, we’re ready to present a new version. Please meet v3.6.7, we’ve done our best for it to function smoothly.
Changelog
AdGuard for Android direct download links:
Now I found out what was the culprit for my WhatsApp calls not working. Never thought on them. Thanks for the update.Release 3.6.7 · AdguardTeam/AdguardForAndroid
Disclaimer AdGuard for Android is not an open-source project. We use Github as an open bug tracker for users to see what developers are working on. 📲 Lately some of our users experienced discomfo...github.com
This is a technical update aimed to increase the app stability and fix minor bugs.
In this version we've added a new feature — 'Protect from DPI'. In a nutshell, it modifies your outgoing traffic to prevent ISP's Deep Packet Inspection systems from detecting the websites you visit. To make this feature visible and enable it, select 'Custom' in the Stealth Mode tab and scroll down.
Besides, we've fixed extensions settings and enabled HTTPS filtering by default for Naver Whale Browser. Finally, CoreLibs and DnsLibs were updated.
In this version we’ve improved connectivity check — now the app determines better whether there is internet connection.