{"slug": "trackercontrol", "name": "TrackerControl", "category": "networking", "category_name": "Networking and VPN", "description": "", "recommenders": 3, "commenters": 3, "warners": 0, "score": 1.94, "rising": -0.98, "first": "2025-11-13", "latest": "2026-04-07", "why": "TrackerControl https://github.com/TrackerControl/tracker-control-android can do it", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 3, "neutral": 1, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "TrackerControl https://github.com/TrackerControl/tracker-control-android can do it", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": "f-droid.org", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://trackercontrol.org", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["TrackerControl", "Tracker Control"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 762653920, "item_id": 47665870, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47665870", "by": "fer", "date": "2026-04-06", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm very happy with TrackerControl", "excerpt": "In terms of the usual data collection, I'm very happy with TrackerControl[0]. It's basically meant to run as an always on VPN (it isn't one) which allows it to block ads, social media, trackers, etc with quite reasonable granularity. I'm surprised at the amount of apps that fail to work correctly unless they have access to their data harvesting endpoints. In terms for pure access to the data/permissions, GrapheneOS s", "context": "", "use_case": "blocking trackers and ads", "switched_from": "", "story": "I Won't Download Your App. The Web Version Is A-OK"}, {"id": 743030961, "item_id": 46439435, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46439435", "by": "efreak", "date": "2025-12-30", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Tracker Control to block even more trackers", "excerpt": "This window refused to load until I allowed it to load Facebook. Somewhere, somehow, the content in this page will not display if the browser cannot connect to Facebook servers (I'm using Harmonic HN client on Android; it has built-in adblock for the webviews, but I use Tracker Control to block even more trackers; in this case whitelisting connect.facebook.net allowed the page to load)", "context": "", "use_case": "blocking trackers on Android", "switched_from": "", "story": "Maybe the Default Settings Are Too High"}, {"id": 734623376, "item_id": 45913961, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45913961", "by": "bmacho", "date": "2025-11-13", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "TrackerControl https://github.com/TrackerControl/tracker-control-android can do it", "excerpt": "It is solvable from user space. E.g. TrackerControl https://github.com/TrackerControl/tracker-control-android can do it, it is a local vpn which sees which application is making a request and blocks it. You can write your own version of it if you don't trust them.", "context": "", "use_case": "Blocks app network requests", "switched_from": "", "story": "Android developer verification: Early access starts"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["blocking trackers and ads", "blocking trackers on android", "blocks app network requests"], "compared": [], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47661439", "title": "I Won't Download Your App. The Web Version Is A-OK", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46387657", "title": "Maybe the Default Settings Are Too High", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45908938", "title": "Android developer verification: Early access starts", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 1}, "2025-12": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {"recommend": 1, "neutral": 1}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "family_ref": null, "runs_on": null, "lines": [], "quotes": [{"id": 762847652, "item_id": 47677978, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47677978", "by": "efreak", "date": "2026-04-07", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "on mobile I use rethinkdns and trackercontrol", "excerpt": "Better can be relative, too. If your app is native (desktop or not) and now efficient with ram than your website is, I'll download it and use that instead. My mother's computer has 16gb RAM and was ooming due to outlook and Google workspace alone using up 8gb of RAM in 7 tabs. I added an increased swap file and it started thrashing instead of just killing the browser. It's so bad Quicken 200X doesn't work properly (a", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "I Won't Download Your App. The Web Version Is A-OK"}, {"id": 762653920, "item_id": 47665870, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47665870", "by": "fer", "date": "2026-04-06", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm very happy with TrackerControl", "excerpt": "In terms of the usual data collection, I'm very happy with TrackerControl[0]. It's basically meant to run as an always on VPN (it isn't one) which allows it to block ads, social media, trackers, etc with quite reasonable granularity. I'm surprised at the amount of apps that fail to work correctly unless they have access to their data harvesting endpoints. In terms for pure access to the data/permissions, GrapheneOS s", "context": "", "use_case": "blocking trackers and ads", "switched_from": "", "story": "I Won't Download Your App. The Web Version Is A-OK"}, {"id": 743030961, "item_id": 46439435, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46439435", "by": "efreak", "date": "2025-12-30", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Tracker Control to block even more trackers", "excerpt": "This window refused to load until I allowed it to load Facebook. Somewhere, somehow, the content in this page will not display if the browser cannot connect to Facebook servers (I'm using Harmonic HN client on Android; it has built-in adblock for the webviews, but I use Tracker Control to block even more trackers; in this case whitelisting connect.facebook.net allowed the page to load)", "context": "", "use_case": "blocking trackers on Android", "switched_from": "", "story": "Maybe the Default Settings Are Too High"}, {"id": 734623376, "item_id": 45913961, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45913961", "by": "bmacho", "date": "2025-11-13", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "TrackerControl https://github.com/TrackerControl/tracker-control-android can do it", "excerpt": "It is solvable from user space. E.g. TrackerControl https://github.com/TrackerControl/tracker-control-android can do it, it is a local vpn which sees which application is making a request and blocks it. You can write your own version of it if you don't trust them.", "context": "", "use_case": "Blocks app network requests", "switched_from": "", "story": "Android developer verification: Early access starts"}]}