Post #4411427

2026-08-06 07:46 UTC

So, I have a situation where a much older person in my family keeps clicking on YouTube ads and things like that on their Android phone, turning it into an adware riddled landmine within hours of use. Is there an easy way to block all ads for them? Switching to using a browser and adding adblock there is not an option, they have a very hard time remembering new ways to do things these days. I'm finding old articles that say AdGuard VPN can act like a sort of PiHole situation for an individual phone, but I'd like to hear from people who've actually done this and kept it up (and aren't paid ads for AdGuard VPN). Please boost if you can! #askFedi

Replies (5)

@timixretroplays@digipres.club 2026-08-06 09:33

@len@nyan.network I use Firefox mobile on my android phone which lets me use an ad blocking plugin, which also works on YouTube's website, but android detects when you're browsing to YouTube and begs you to use the app every time, so it's not something I'd suggest for anyone not already techie. A VPN that blocks ads, or a bespoke app that plays YouTube videos without the ads are my suggestions in this case. There are such apps floating around, can't remember any names but someone else might jump in with one

Open ##4414433
@CppGuy@infosec.space 2026-08-06 11:21

@len@nyan.network Mixed news: I use #Blokada, which does DNS filtering for the entire device (not just the browser) using the #Android VPN mechanism. Normally, if I use YouTube at all, I do it either in Firefox with uBlock Origin or in NewPipe. Disappointingly, if I experimentally open the YouTube app, I still see an advert. Google must be working around DNS-level ad-blockers by, for example, downloading content and adverts from the same domain. On the bright side, if I tap on an advert, the YouTube app tries to use #Firefox to open it, and #uBlockOrigin blocks that access. So it's not a complete solution, but changing the default browser to Firefox and installing uBlock Origin may be enough to keep your relative safe. Good luck! I've been in a similar situation to yours and I know how hard it is to protect elderly relatives from an adversarial technology ecosystem.

Open ##4415545
@RichardoC@infosec.exchange 2026-08-06 07:56

@len@nyan.network personally I use a VPN that does DNS level ad blocking and set it to "always on" and "block connections without VPN" in android settings and this reduced the amount of ads I see a lot. I also have ublock origin in Firefox which helped I'm not actively trying to install malware so I don't know what fraction of those problematic sites it would block

Open ##4446984
@Da_Gut@dice.camp 2026-08-06 08:09

@len@nyan.network partial help https://www.howtogeek.com/everyone-uses-1111-but-1112-protects-you/

Open ##4446986
@somekindofgarf@kind.social 2026-08-06 08:25

@len@nyan.network If you can get YouTube Revanced on the phone, that has patch options to just disappear all ad elements while otherwise acting exactly like the official app.

Open ##4446987