There’s nothing more annoying than smoothly surfing the internet and quietly sipping whatever you love sipping, and then, a display pops up from nowhere. It’s annoying, annoying because it interrupts your activity, more annoying when it covers the whole of your screen, most annoying when the content doesn’t even concern you, and you don’t have any use for it. Most websites are filled with so many ads that users, after the first visit to those sites don’t visit again because of excess annoying ads.
Actually, these sites that display ads use it as a means of gaining funds and capital to maintain and grow their various platforms. So from a different perspective, they show ads to pay themselves for services rendered to users. But their annoying ads, and I’m going to show you how to block ads on your android device.
For Android device users, to block ads is a feat that is very achievable as there are apps that could be downloaded to aid in ad-blocking. Some apps that contain ads give options to their users for blocking ads by downloading a premium paid version of the app, that option, actually, makes up for the loss they incur from blocking ads.
Let’s start with blocking ads without using third-party apps. If you’re using Google Chrome as your default browser, follow these simple steps to get rid of pop-ups and ads;
- Locate Open your Google Chrome Browser; this shouldn’t be difficult as its often found in your app menu or your home screen.
- At the top right side of your screen locate three dots placed horizontally and tap to show options. For outdated Google Chrome browsers, they may see a red arrow pointing upwards, still tap as it shows the same list of options.
- Locate “settings” which is often the second to last in the list of options. Tap to open.
- After opening settings, scroll down the list of options to locate “site settings”
- Open “site settings” and locate “pop-ups and redirect” and directly below it is the option “ads”. Open pop-ups and redirect and click on the button to block. For ads, open and click the button to block.
But sadly, this doesn’t block all ads as some ads will still show when you surf the internet. Therefore as a user, if you find an “ad” inappropriate or improper, you can permanently block that particular “ad”. Simply, when an inappropriate “ad” displays, there’s a little “i” enclosed in a circle followed by the “x” symbol which symbolizes “close”. Click on the “i” symbol and you’ll see “ads by Google”, Below ” ads by google” click report this ad”, then choose from the options the reason to report the ad. Any option is chosen blocks that particular ad. Note that this works only on Google displayed ads.
Apps to Block Ads on Android
As mentioned earlier, there are apps that equally function well in ad-blocking, here’s a list of few out of many of them
One of the best ad blockers out there, increases browsing speed, blocks tracking, and most importantly, blocks pop-ups and ads. It’s an adblocker extension for chrome, opera, firefox, and some others. It has a user base of up to 60 million.
Block ads on your android device using Adblock Plus
Very nice app, free to use and available for rooted and non-rooted devices. The app doesn’t only block ads, it blocks tracking and inhibits malware. After download, you only need to set it up once as the app will continue running by itself in the background. It functions by filtering web traffic but seemingly, could drain your battery if it’s not durable.
2. Browsers with Adblock
Just like Chrome, there are other browsers that have built-in adblockers that protect users from ads and give them the smooth surfing the desire. Although some of these browsers only block ads that show in the browser, they often can’t extend their functions to other browsers or apps, they still function well in-app. Some examples are listed below;
- Brave private browser
- Opera freeware
- Yandex browser
- Firefox for Android
- CM! Browser
You can always find any of this and more in the Google Play Store
3. Block this App!
This app came up with a different approach to blocking ads, blocking by DNS. It increases browsing speed, reduces data consumption, and blocks tracking. Although the app was recently removed from Google Play Store for reasons unknown. You can download this great app through their Official website.
4. Adblock Mobile
This app blocks ad in browsers and apps too but before download, it requires you to allow unknown sources before you’re able to download this app. The app contains up to 50 filters which give you better control of your preferences. It also speeds up internet surfing and protects personal data.