Adguard Pro vs NextDNS? What is best for blocking ads, trackers, and encrypting DNS? Are one of these alone good enough?

I'm trying to keep my iPhone as privacy focused as possible. Yes... I know that android devices can be locked down more than iOS devices but I don't need it to be the most private device ever. I just want to do what I can and block trackers, ads and encrypt my DNS traffic.

I have Adguard Pro, I have not tried NextDNS. But I don't want to have a subscription fee if possible.

Are either of these apps good enough to keep my device as private as it can be or is there more I need to do? Which app would you use or recommend for this?

8 points · 6 comments · view on lemmy.world

6 Comments

wreckedcarzz@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 1y (1 reply)

I have used NextDNS for my entire network, with different profiles for different devices, and setup to work away from home, for... 4 years now? At least 3. I pay for the premium plan but the only difference is the number of queries you can have (and thereby filter). One device can definitely stay below the free threshold.

I looked at AG when researching but didn't like the offering for some reason, don't recall what exactly. When I went from testing to full use I had to get the paid tier as we use checks 3,848,010 queries in the last rolling 30d. Free limits you to 300k/30d.

I'm unaware of the options for AG, but ND is really nice. And the multiple profile system is 👌. Dial in the settings for devices/users to keep my network, and therefore their devices, as safe as I can, punching holes as needed only for that device/user.

(I'm also the type of person you talk about - I use two layers of DNS filtering (router, then ND), use snort on the router, I run GrapheneOS, all my cloud data is on-prem with hardware I own, my main server uses encryption at rest for almost all data, and off-site backups are encrypted in transit and with seperate keys at rest... :p)

squire3@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y

Gotcha, Adguard Pro on iOS doesn't have a DNS limit but I suspect you are right and going over the free limit on NextDNS would be pretty hard to do one one device, especially a mobile device

squire3@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y

Adguards privacy policy seems very good for Adguard Pro on iOS: https://adguard.com/en/privacy/ios.html

But I know that they originated in Russia and that gives some cause for concern. Their current HQ is in Cyprus

merde@sh.itjust.works · 0 pts · 1y (2 replies)
squire3@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y (1 reply)

You can point Adguard Pro and maybe even NextDNS to Mullvad's DNS Server. So I wonder if doing that is better than using Mullvad's DNS profile alone on an iOS device? Not sure, but Adguard Pro has a safari extension and more settings. So I wonder if doing that covers more?

scytale@lemm.ee · 1 pts · 1y

For me, if I’m gonna point it to Mullvad’s DNS servers anyway, then I might as well just use it directly. Having a profile also ensures all your traffic goes through there, instead of just browser traffic (if via extension).