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Comment by Brybry | Hacker News Reader

I use Mullvad's adblocking DNS server on my phone which is not always behind my home router.

If you're on Android, FF supports add-ons.

If you're on an iPhone, uBlock is now supported: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ublock-origin-lite/id674534269...

There's also Orion browser, but I found it to be a bit more glitchy, especially around sites like YouTube (fuck the app, I'm not watching videos there): https://orionbrowser.com/

It's not the same thing at all. Mullvad DNS blocks all ads across the system.

I've been using NextDNS [0] for a long time. It's worth the price because you can set up all kinds of different blocking profiles and have different ones on different devices, allows you to have overrides for local network items (or internals like on a Tailnet, Pangolin, Wireguard, etc) and a lot more. The ad blocking ends up working so well a lot not only are ads blocked on web pages but it works with some streaming audio ads as well as VoD that has ads injected. Highly recommend.

[0] https://nextdns.io

Up until the developers roll their host files into their app. That's why a pihole doesn't stop ads when you use the YouTube app.

Look, I still run AdGuard on my router, but it's not the same thing

Yes, I use Firefox on Android with ublock origin, it works great. But using adblocking DNS on your phone will also block most in-app ads which is a big quality of life improvement.

I could also use a VPN to keep my phone always on my home network and thus behind my own ad blocking DNS but Mullvad's adblocking DNS was really nice and convenient.

Really? I never found it effective unless I messed with certs on my phone.

For example, DNS blocking isn't going to block YouTube ads if you're using the app since they don't need to respect your DNS, but it will if you're in browser because they can't control that.

For apps I always use revanced.

Ads from providers like Google AdMob and AppLovin are blocked. Apps could bundle their own DNS or DoH resolver or use hardcoded static IP addresses but in my experience most do not.

Youtube ads do not get blocked by DNS adblock because Youtube ads are served from the same domains as the content and thus DNS blocking would be counterproductive. I don't think it has anything to do with respecting DNS.

I don't have the Youtube app installed to test but the Internet suggests that at least in 2023 it was very possible to block the Youtube android app (content and all) via DNS, which hints it does not bypass system DNS. [1]

[1] https://superuser.com/questions/713289/blocking-youtube-andr...

FYI I don't see YouTube ads on Android + Firefox mobile + uBlock Origin

Are you explaining my comment or rebuting it? I really can't tell what the intent is. Maybe the internet has trained me poorly in thinking most replys are generally rebuttals. But it really does seems like you're just explaining my comment.

Mostly a clarification of what I find DNS ad blocking works for on Android, which seems to be somewhat different from your experience (probably we use different apps).

A weak rebuttal of the reason why DNS adblock doesn't work for Youtube and the Youtube app.

You can use NextDNS as your dns provider on your phone or use Rethink DNS app like me

The uBlock Origin lite that can run on iOS is very limited compared to the uBlock Origin that runs on Firefox Android.

Sure, but you're on iPhone. It's better than nothing.

I'm on your side but telling people to buy a new phone doesn't solve their problem. Short of that uBlock and/or Orion are their best options

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