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.
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.
Doesn’t AdGuard allow selecting blocklists?
Ah I didn’t know that. Is that a service you need to log in or is paid?
Looks like they’re using adguard home, which is self hosted and free. Like pihole but better IMO.
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.
This is running on my network on a raspberry pi. It’s free. There’s an annual subscription for AdGuard on my phone.
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.