AdAway vs Better Internet Tiles
Side-by-side comparison of two open source alternatives
AdAway
A Free and Open Source ad blocker for Android. The application is available for rooted and non-rooted devices. Using rooted device, the application update your system hosts file that contains a list of mappings between host names and IP addresses. Using non-rooted device, the application use the VPN feature to block outgoing connections to ads and trackers. So when an app requests an ad or a tracker from a host in that file, this request is redirected to the local IP 127.0.0.1, which does nothing. You can download predefined ads and blocker lists as hosts files from within the app to incorporate. It is also possible to use your own files and to add certain hosts to allowed and blocked lists. There are options to run a local web server to respond to blocked host names and to direct requests to the IP address of your choosing instead.
Better Internet Tiles
NOTE: This app requires shell access, which can be granted using either Shizuku or root. This application aims to create a unified internet quick-settings tile, which is actually useful (I'm looking at you, Android 12). Next to this, separate Wi-Fi and mobile data tiles are also available if you just want to go back to the behaviour of Android 11 or lower. Tapping the new unified internet tile will simply toggle between Wi-Fi and mobile data, which is exactly what I want it to do most of the time. This reduces the amount of taps needed from 3 (tap tile, disable wifi, enable data) to just 1 quick tap. In situations where you still want more control, long pressing the tile will redirect you to the relevant settings page.
| Feature | AdAway | Better Internet Tiles |
|---|---|---|
| License | GPL-3.0-only | GPL-3.0-only |
| Install sources | F-DroidGitHub | F-DroidGitHub |
| Categories | Password ManagerProductivityFirewall | Password ManagerProductivityMessagingBrowser |
| Features | Ad-FreeOpen SourceNo Tracking | Ad-FreeOpen SourceNo Tracking |
| Platforms | Android | Android |
| Website | ||
| Source code |