DNSNet

A DNS filter for Android. Based on DNS66, DNSNet aims to continue the goals of the original app with modern Android development practices.

This is a DNS-based host blocker for Android. In the default configuration, several widely-respected host files are used to block ads, malware, and other unwanted content.

How it works

The app establishes a "VPN (Virtual Private Network) service." Traditionally, these are intended to send internet traffic from the device to a remote server with the intent of anonymizing the source of requests. In the case of DNSNet, this is not the case.

DNSNet uses Android's "VPN service" API as a way to read and filter internet traffic entirely on-device. It starts by getting access to a "tunnel" that provides the network requests. Then, it reads the hostname (e.g. google.com) of each DNS request. Finally, it blocks or allows each request based on the configuration as seen in the "Filters" screen of the app.

This approach is not perfect and has some notable downsides:

- While this app has been tuned to be as efficient as possible, it is still a service that must run constantly and will have some battery cost over alternate methods of blocking, such as services like AdAway with root, Rethink, and others. - Since this runs as a "VPN service," another "VPN service" cannot run alongside it, because Android only allows for one at a time.

License

GNU General Public License v3.0