I’ve been using AdGuard’s DNS resolver on my Android phone for a couple of months, and I’m pretty satisfied with it.

The idea is that it filters out ad networks at the DNS level, so there is no need to root the phone (nor to install any app). You just put dns.adguard-dns.com in your “private DNS” settings and that’s it.

Recently, though, I’ve seen a couple of people around here mentioning how Adguard is not trustworthy, or “kinda shady”. What’s your take on them? Their privacy policy seems OK to me, but I’d be interested to know more about them.

  • TheFreed@lemmy.world
    23·
    1 year ago

    If they are “shady” they are in for a very long game. AdGuard has been around for over 20 years and I haven’t seen any trustworthy reports they are anything else than what they say they are.

      • TheFreed@lemmy.world
        31·
        1 year ago

        No I know it was 2009, I just really failed with calculation, but the point in the comment still stands. 14 years without credible evidence data is used for anything shady.

  • Gargari@lemmy.mlEnglish
    10·
    1 year ago

    Adguard is good, very good. Their rules are default included on uBO, they know their jobs well so getting very good product. As an alternative you can consider NextDNS

  • svamp@lemmy.ml
    8·
    1 year ago

    I have no idea if adGuard is trustworthy or not, I personally use adAway which is open source and under a GPLv3 license. Perfectly satisfied with it.

    • ominouslemon@lemm.eeOP
      2·
      1 year ago

      I was using AdAway before switching to Adguard. I loved it, but my problem with it was that it kept disconnecting randomly.

  • wilberfan@lemmy.filmEnglish
    6·
    1 year ago

    I JUST suggested AdGuard to two non-techie normie friends, so y’all better not make me take it back! ;-) That said, I’ve been using it on my Pi-4 at home and on my Android phone for more than a year now.

    • ses hat@lemmy.ml
      23·
      1 year ago

      Well this part with Russian company it is so lol. I am more comfortable giving my dns requests to russia and not to my goverment

  • No Face@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    41·
    1 year ago

    As an ad blocker/tracker blocker, AdGuard works really well.

    They also have a “browsing security filter” which may be of concern to some people. This filter, similar to smart screen and Google Safe Browsing, will check to make sure websites aren’t in a list.

    However, if you have it on, they have a section you can opt in (I think it is opt in) to send extra data to help with the security filter.

    That telemetry may seem like too much for some people, but I think it’s the only thing in AdGuard products that collects data, and even then, it’s not for making the filter better and helping its development, not for selling data.

    edit two weeks later: Fixed what I meant to say, thankfully people knew what I meant and upvoted.

  • WhoRoger@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    I had been using them for ages, but they don’t really filter out that much, so it’s a tad pointless.

    Recently I’ve switched to Rethink DNS where you can select the blocklists you want. And that’s… Super effective.

          • Free Palestine 🇵🇸@sh.itjust.works
            11·
            1 year ago

            There is also a version of AdGuard DNS that is cloud-hosted and allows you to choose blocklists and all that kind of stuff. It’s like NextDNS. It’s essentially AdGuard Home but they host it for you (The concept is the same, but there are some differences and the interface is different). It’s relatively new, I tried it, I prefer NextDNS.

        • wilberfan@lemmy.filmEnglish
          2·
          1 year ago

          This is running on my network on a raspberry pi. It’s free. There’s an annual subscription for AdGuard on my phone.

          • WhoRoger@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            1 year ago

            Ok. Either way, RethinkDNS doesn’t need to be self hosted either, you just get a custom DNS url that you can enter anywhere (doesn’t even need the app). So it’s up to preference what works for you.

  • zwekihoyy@lemmy.ml
    22·
    1 year ago

    it was good when I used it but I switched to nextdns and have liked it a bit more. adguard is based in Russia (I trust the company but who knows what laws could come about) and nextdns has been way more performant for me.

    note: nextdns is based in the US so you’re not really winning there but I choose to trust them so far