I get the reason for there being Ads in the sync app. I don’t have the funds to pay for ultra and that’s also fine.

But what I find concerning is the type of ads I see. I live in Germany for clarification and most of what I see are websites acting like news sites (right leaning at times). When I accidentally tap on them my browser immediately blocks the website for unsafe practices on their end.

Now I really don’t mind the ads in apps if it’s the usual app ad, random products or Amazon type of things. But I hate it when every ad is a boomer ass clickbait ad about how solar energy is definitely worse than anything else.

This is my main complaint about sync right now and it might push me to stop using it again as the ads are also very frequent…

  • Macaroni_ninja@lemmy.worldEnglish
    55·
    1 year ago

    My feed was full of “How to get pregnant” ads. And not the porn type, but the medical faceless mannequin type.

    Not sure if I successfully blocked big tech to spy on me and they have no idea what to offer me…or they know somethinh (•_•)

  • 👁️👄👁️@lemm.eeEnglish
    512·
    1 year ago

    Set your DNS to dns.adblock-dns.com on your phone, and get uBlock Origin on your computer. It’s been so long since I’ve seen any ads.

  • Mr_Blott@lemmy.worldEnglish
    341·
    1 year ago

    NextDNS is free, and blocks all the ads on Sync as well as most others elsewhere

      • Cabeza2000@lemmy.worldEnglish
        7·
        1 year ago

        I am using the non-rooted AdAway blocker and I am not seeing any empty space, in case you want to try.

        EDIT: Or maybe I am not being served adds because my location, so I cannot be 100% sure about the spaces.

      • TheInsane42@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        1 year ago

        I’m running on a rooted android, magisk, lsposed and minminguard as chain to block ads and remove the ad spaces. I still have to see one ad I didn’t want. (And those in games for ‘goodies’ just run unwatched)

        I’ll check if sync has ads here, but I doubt I’ll see them.

        About the type of ads, no app developer has any control over what is shown, as they offerl the space to ad providers and they select the junk they place there.

        Edit: Installed sync, added to lsposed list to run the minminguard module on, opened it and ‘sponsored content’ blocks, but no ads. (Saw one ad when I opened sync without the lsposed config change) I’m guessing I need to restart the device to get rid of the blocks which should hold the ads. (Or those blocks are standard and the regular content is replaced by sponsored content)

        Edit 2: those sponsored content blocks are just standard blocks with either the ad or “sponsored content” as text. Uninstalled it again, as I prefer Liftoff.

        • kratoz29@lemm.eeEnglish
          1·
          1 year ago

          Are you using another adblocker?

          I installed minminguard because of your comment, but I can’t see it is helping at all, I had AdAway rooted version before so I never saw ads but the empty squares.

          So both working have the same effect for me, is there any reason to have them both running?

          I even enabled URL filtering but it still reports that no ads are being blocked.

          • TheInsane42@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            1 year ago

            I installed minminguard because of your comment, but I can’t see it is helping at all, I had AdAway rooted version before so I never saw ads but the empty squares.

            Minminguard is an xposed module that I run via lsposed (xposed development halted, lsposed is a magisk module that needs you to activate minminguard for the app. (and then in minminguard either add the app to the blacklist or use the whitelist and don’t add it there) It’s a lot of hoops you need to jump trough.

            However, the empty squares stay even with minminguard, as the app uses the same ‘message block’ for posts and ads. (at least that’s how it looks) WIth both running, it could well be possible that adaway already filtered before minminguard. Here it also showed 0 ads blocked (no other ad blocker), but I saw already several empty ad blocks. (so that counter isn’t to accurate) You could try with adaway temporary disabled to see what it does (and check if you missed one of the hoops).

            • kratoz29@lemm.eeEnglish
              1·
              1 year ago

              I tried with AdAway off and using minminguard and now I got ads 😅

              I think it is safe to assume it is doing absolutely nothing then.

              I have it on in Lsposed and “System Framework” selected, I don’t know if I am doing anything wrong.

              • TheInsane42@lemmy.worldEnglish
                1·
                1 year ago

                I have:

                • Magisk (26.1) with zygisk enabled
                • Zygisk - LSposed v1.8.6 (6712) installed and enabled in Magisk
                • MinMinGuard 2.2.0 (‘fixed’ version from xda) installed and enabled in LSposed for all apps via hide uncheck everything and then active for every app I have (you can just activate for the app you want to test with, but ymmv, maybe it uses a system app to get the ads)
                • in MinMinGuard I’ve used the whitelist option with 2 games activated in the list as I want to have ads there to get more goodies

                It could be the version you use. I totally forgot I had a ‘fixed’ version for Android 11+ (it’s been running almost a year without issues/ads getting trough).

                • kratoz29@lemm.eeEnglish
                  0·
                  1 year ago

                  Oh yeah, that definitely should be the case why it is not working for me, I am using the GitHub version which is 2.1.1…

                  But I think now I’m confused did you actually manage to get rid of the Sync ads blocks?

                  Or you have the block with the “empty” ads?

                  In the Lsposed app within the MinMinGuard section you have selected Sync for Lemmy there too or only within the MinMinGuard settings?

                  I am a bit lost in your third point, maybe can I see some screenshots?

    • soupspoon@lemmy.worldEnglish
      9·
      1 year ago

      Immediately after reading this I saw an ad for intermittent fasting plans based on comparative finger length

  • Reborn2966@feddit.itEnglish
    24·
    1 year ago

    there is a button under privacy to revoche the gdpr consent.

    i pressed it and i don’t have any ads (yet) just gray boxes

    • Magister@lemmy.worldEnglish
      8·
      1 year ago

      Same, I never got ads. But just to thank dev for his impressive app, I bought the noads version even if I never saw one once. Go figure… I’m in Canada btw maybe there’s a prob with ads here I dunno

      • Kokanee08@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        5·
        1 year ago

        Also in Canada, also didn’t notice any ads, also paid for the ad-free experience anyways to support the app lol

  • Madbrad200@lemmy.worldEnglish
    201·
    1 year ago

    Block them. Google NextDNS, takes about 10 seconds to set up with a simple change in your phone’s DNS settings.

      • Z4rK@lemmy.worldEnglish
        8·
        1 year ago

        The team running NextDNS gets a log of all sites your devices connects to, and we don’t get much information into how they are running the business.

        On the upside, you also get a log of all the sites your devices connects to, and now you have multiple, easy ways to block what you want. Ads based on your choice of blocklists, brands (Samsung, Microsoft etc), Platforms (TikTok, Reddit, Snapchat etc.), categories (Cryptocurrency, Porn, Gambling, Dating etc.). It’s great!

        You can turn off logging and set logging to be stored in Switzerland for example. You’ll have to trust the guys running it that they don’t still have access and can turn it over to authorities though.

      • notenoughbutter@lemmy.mlEnglish
        2·
        1 year ago

        as z4rk said

        but I’d also like to add that you can use pi-hole instead on a local old computer

        it gives the same functionality, but self-hosted

        • protput@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          1 year ago

          I use a pi-hole. This works great for all devices in your home network. But as soon as you use mobile data on your phone instead of your home WiFi, you no longer have these benefits.

          • notenoughbutter@lemmy.mlEnglish
            1·
            1 year ago

            you can use a local VPN server (wireguard) and always connect to it on your mobile devices

            yeah, obviously leaving stuff to other companies like nextdns will always be more convenient, but now you have to trust them

  • BilboBargains@lemmy.worldEnglish
    171·
    1 year ago

    ad is a boomer ass clickbait ad about how solar energy is definitely worse than anything else.

    Is this an advert for a product or service? It sounds more like propaganda. Who is funding this stuff?

    • Gamey@lemmy.worldEnglish
      9·
      1 year ago

      Could be all kinds of people, right wing shit exists everywhere but it’s especially on the rise in Germany rn with the right extreme party (AFD) growing rapitly in polls and the “conservative” party CDU leaning heavily to the right since they lost power.

    • Diplomjodler@feddit.deEnglish
      152·
      1 year ago

      Of course he is. They can always set up their ads to avoid scammy clickbait shit. But those pay the most so this is what we get.

    • underthesign@lemmy.worldEnglish
      104·
      1 year ago

      The developer is responsible for putting ads in his app. Not saying I disagree with the sentiment behind your statement because it’s technically correct, but the developer has to take some degree of responsibility when they decide to open up their app to basically uncontrollable outside information being displayed to the users. Which is why ad-supported free versions of apps are a damned plague in my opinion. Would rather the free version was missing some functionality instead encouraging users to opt for Pro or Ultra. Unlocking features, not paying to remove ads that weren’t and aren’t on the Lemmy platform itself in the first place.

    • MicrosoftSam@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      Can you give a little bit of information about this? Does it remove all ads on Android apps? Is there a free version?

      • anonymous_bot@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        Yes it can block ads for all apps but you need to get the premium version. If you just use the free license it mostly just works on browser apps.

        If you are interested in this app then remember to grab it from their website directly and not the one on the Play Store. And if you ever decide to get the paid license you can grab a lifetime license on stack social at a discount.

        • oxf@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          1 year ago

          You dont need the app at all. You can use Adguard’s DNS server, and have all ads blocked in all apps. Even sync.