AdBlock 1.1 for Android has been released, but you won’t find it in Google Play. Just last week,Google decided that the time had come to give ad blocking apps the boot because they modified the behavior of other apps. Fortunately for Android users who want to install ABP, it’s really not that hard to work around.
The first step is to head into your settings screen and enable app installs from unknown sources. On devices running newer versions of Android, you’ll find the option about half way down the securitypage — on older versions, it’s under apps. Place a check in the box, and you’re ready to go.
Fire up your web browser of choice and point it to http://adblockplus.org. You may need to be a little more patient than normal for the next few days, as developer Wladimir Palant’s servers are being slammed with traffic. Once the page loads for you, you should see an install button. Tap it, and you’ll be forwarded to the download page.
If you see a warning like this one in your browser, tap ok to initiate the download. Once it’s complete, you should be able to launch the .APK installer by pulling down the notification tray and tapping the line for AdBlock Plus. If that doesn’t work, you can try pulling up your browser’s download page or browsing to the download folder on your device using a file management app. Tap the .APK to launch it, and you’ll see an installation window appear — and it should look identical to the one at the top of this post.
Tap install and wait for the process to complete. When that part’s done, you’ll need to manually configure proxy settings to actually start blocking ads. Go to your wireless network settings and tap and hold your active connection and then tap modify network. Check the box to show advanced options, and the change the proxy drop down to manual.
In the proxy hostname box, enter localhost or 127.0.0.1 and then enter 2020 for the proxy port (ABP may prompt you do use a different port number, so watch its prompts closely). Save your changes, and then test AdBlock Plus 1.1 in your browser.
The app currently doesn’t auto-update, so you can head back to your security settings and turn off unofficial sources if you like. You’ll just need to remember to re-enable them the next time you update ABP.
Installation will get a bit simpler in the coming days. Palant has already announced on the AdBlock blog that the app is heading for other marketplaces soon. In the meantime, however, the manual install is a quick and painless way to deal with Google’s recent rejection.
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