Not only distracting us from what is important but also creating a risk of the device malfunction, pop up ads kill all the fun of using Android. Some ads fill the screen with useless things for sale, while others autoplay videos using your precious traffic. Whatever you try, ads keep annoying you daily.
Multiple tools can help to stop pop up ads on Android phones. We collected some of the most effective ones, so step up in your ad-blocking game following this short guide.
Check all apps that you have on Android
Start with the official tool that Google developed for Android products, called Play Protect. This utility is available for all Play Store compatible devices. Just make sure it is on:
. Go to Play Store;
. Tap Menu icon > Play Protect;
. Switch Scan device for security threats to On.
This will prevent problem apps from running malicious scripts on your device, reducing its vulnerability and amount of “bad” ads. However, when Play Protect is not able to detect the problem, you will have to run a manual check.
. Start from your device’s Settings;
. Navigate to Apps & Notifications > See all apps;
. Tap the drop-down icon and choose Installed apps.
These are all the apps that were manually installed on your phone or tablet. Look if you can spot any app that looks suspicious. In case you don’t remember yourself installing it or this app doesn’t do anything useful, uninstall it immediately. In some severe cases, your device might be affected by malware to the point where it is not possible to use your Android settings anymore. No panic, just check an official instruction from Google on how to remove problem apps using Safe Mode.
Use Lite mode in Chrome
Okay, how about all the ads that pop up when browsing the Web on mobile? It is not a secret but only a few users know that mobile Chrome has a Lite Mode function. It sends a requested web page to Google server for a check and compression before letting your phone download it.
As a result, you only download the actual content of the web page faster, with lesser data-heavy elements, including ads. This is how you do it:
. Open Chrome on mobile;
. Tap More icon in the top right corner;
. Scroll down the menu until you see Lite Mode;
. Turn it On.
Use AdLock ad blocker
Lite Mode will help to remove some of the ads but is not going to solve a malware problem. To protect your device better, it is recommended to install a comprehensive ad-blocking tool.
Many ad blockers on the market come with different functionality: from free apps that only intercept DNS traffic to truly powerful but expensive ones. The golden middle exists, though. AdLock is a new-gen ad-blocking solution that protects Android phones all-in-all and is cheaper than most competitors.
Not only ads in web browsers and applications, but also malware, spyware, excessive data, and energy consumption – AdLock removes everything that triggers frustration when using Android. Its scope of functions is not limited to a specific browser or device type, helping users to get rid of apps in Opera and Firefox too, as it is explained in this detailed guide from AdLock.
Stop notifications for each app
Another sly way to show you an ad, that some Android applications are using, is to put them into a push notification. Perfectly legal but not so ethical, these push notifications work as pop-ups luring you into checking out something you won’t be interested in otherwise. Ethics aside, we just want these notifications to stop and, luckily, it is very easy to do so.
Newest Android versions (8.0 Oreo and higher) support the Notification Channels function, meaning that you can decide which types of alerts from a specific app you want to receive and which ones should be blocked.
Just slide the intrusive notification to the left and you will see a gear icon of Settings. Tap it and see the choice of your options, whether it is blocking all the notifications from this app or just a specific type of alert that annoys you. This way you stay in full control of the information you receive without missing some really important updates.
Older Android versions (starting with 5.0 Lollipop) don’t support Notification Channels but they let you block the notifications too. Just press down on the notification to see its source, as well as to use an option to block all future alerts from this app. Probably, you would want to delete an application that spams you all together but sometimes getting rid of notifications is just fine.
That’s it! Flexibility is what makes Android such a great operating system, and knowing how to adjust it well is a key to a new, ad-free mobile experience.
