While Android is supposed to be an open platform, Google has been closing it down by controlling its stores and how you install apps. Sideloading is significantly harder than it was just a couple of years ago, and it’s only going to get harder.
Now Google has good reasons to do so. Sideloading is one of the top reasons Android phones get malware. Outside of the Play Store, it is hard for Google to scan APKs. And there have been reports of the Amazon App Store having spyware in its apps, too. So it’s only fair that Google would want to make sideloading harder. But at the same time, the Google Play Store has many restrictions that are more for Google’s benefit than for users. For example, proper system-wide ad blockers are not allowed on the Google Play Store. So if you want proper ad blockers like AdGuard or Total Adblock, you’ll need to sideload them.
But is it safe to sideload these apps? How to verify their sources? Can you scan them? There are a lot of questions surrounding sideloading. And we’ll try to answer them all.
Is It Safe to Sideload Ad Blockers on Android?
It depends on what you install and where you get it from. Sideloading is just another way to install apps. It’s not inherently dangerous, but it removes some of the guardrails Google puts in place for the Play Store. If you use that freedom carelessly, you can get malware. If you use it carefully, you can run tools Google doesn’t want in its store, like proper system-wide ad blockers.
Most horror stories about sideloading come from people installing random APKs from search results, Telegram channels, “mod” sites, or pop-up ads promising premium apps for free. In those cases, you are basically handing full app permissions to an unknown person on the internet. That’s where banking trojans, spyware, and sketchy ad blockers can be found. If that’s your sideloading habit, then no, it’s not safe.
But that’s not the only way to sideload. If you stick to reputable, well-known sources and apps, the risk profile changes completely. Downloading AdGuard directly from AdGuard’s official site or getting AdAway from F-Droid is not the same as grabbing a “Free AdGuard Pro Cracked.apk” from a file-sharing site. In the first case, you are trusting a specific developer or a curated store; in the second, you are trusting nobody in particular.
For ad blockers specifically, the safety question is less “Is AdGuard dangerous?” and more “Am I sure this APK actually came from AdGuard?” The real risk is fake copies and repacked versions that sneak in malware. That’s why the rest of this guide focuses so much on source reputation, verification steps, and simple checks you can do before you tap Install.
So yes, you can safely sideload ad blockers on Android, including AdGuard and Total Adblock. You just have to treat APKs like you would treat unknown EXE files on Windows: only download them from places you trust, verify they are genuine when you can, and never install something just because a random site says “click here to block all ads”.
What Are the Risks of Sideloading Apps?
Malware pretending to be something useful
This is the classic one. You’re looking for “YouTube without ads” or a “Pro” version of a paid app, and you find an APK that looks legit. Logo looks right, name looks right, even the description sounds good. You install it, give it VPN access or storage permission, and you’ve basically handed over the keys to your traffic or your files to a random person on the internet.
A lot of Android malware spreads exactly like this: fake ad blockers, fake cleaners, fake security apps. They promise to make your phone better while quietly installing a banking trojan or spyware in the background.
Apps that are not malware but still terrible for your data
Even when an app is not outright malicious, sideloading removes the basic checks that a store would normally do. No automated review, no policy violations, no one telling the developer, “you can’t ship this with seven trackers and permission to read everything on the device.”
So you can end up with apps that are technically “clean” but super sloppy with data. Bundled analytics SDKs, wide open permissions, tracking domains that would probably be flagged in a typical app store. If you’re just grabbing whatever APK a search result gives you, you really have no idea what’s in it.
The modded APK / cracked apps
People get bold: “premium features unlocked”, “no ads”, “lifetime pro”. Modded and cracked APKs might work, but you are installing a modified binary that nobody outside that scene has audited.
It’s easy for someone to take a legit app, patch it to unlock features, and quietly add their own extras: adware, more trackers, or something worse. Once you get used to this pattern, your phone becomes a playground for whoever is building those mods. Nothing breaks at first, so many users just shrug and keep doing it.
Apps that never get updated
There’s also the long-term risk: updates. When you install from Google Play, updates just appear in the background. With sideloaded apps, that only happens if you follow a proper channel like F-Droid or the official site.
If you forget, that sideloaded app can sit on your phone for years with the same bugs and the same security holes. The app might still “work” so you don’t think about it, but any vulnerability that gets discovered later will stay on your device until you manually update. For something with VPN access or deep network control, that’s not ideal.
Trusting random APKs
Maybe the biggest meta risk is habit. Once you’ve installed a couple of APKs and nothing bad happened, your brain files sideloading under “safe”. Then one day, you’re tired, you tap a sketchy download link, and you install something you would normally question.
Sideloading itself is not the villain here. The problem starts when “download APK” becomes automatic, and you stop asking “who made this and why should I trust them?”. That’s the mindset that makes malware campaigns work.
Which Ad Blockers Are Safe To Sideload and Where To Get Them?
The trick with sideloading isn’t “find any adblocker.apk and hope for the best.” We’re going to pick a small, boringly trustworthy list of apps and their sources.
AdGuard for Android
If you want a “set it up once and forget it” system-wide blocker, AdGuard is the big name here. It blocks ads in apps and browsers, filters trackers, and uses a local VPN, so you don’t need root access.
Safe places to get it:
- AdGuard’s official Android page: This is the main download and includes the in-app updater. That’s the default option for most people.
- APKMirror’s AdGuard listing: Useful if you like grabbing specific versions. APKMirror verifies signatures against previous releases, so you know the APK is the same one AdGuard signed.
Anywhere else advertising “AdGuard Pro cracked” is an automatic no.
Total Adblock
Total Adblock sits in the same “normal people-friendly” bucket, just with a different company behind it. On Android, there are two versions to be aware of:
- The browser-only version on Google Play that blocks ads in Samsung Internet and Yandex Browser. That one doesn’t need sideloading, but it’s limited.
- The full mobile app that Total Adblock promotes on its own site for Android and iOS. This is the one you sideload if you want the proper app-level experience.
Safe place to get it:
- Total Adblock official download: You can just get the Total Adblock app for Android and ignore third-party mirrors.
If you see a random Total Adblock APK on a download portal that isn’t clearly linked from their site, skip it.
Blokada 5
Blokada is the “privacy nerd” favourite. Blokada 5 is the classic version: free, open source, blocks ads and trackers across apps using a local VPN with host lists.
Best options:
- Blokada’s official site: They highlight “Blokada 5, the free ad blocker” and offer direct downloads.
- F-Droid: if you want the same build that used to be on F-Droid, APKMirror hosts it with signature verification.
There’s also Blokada Cloud / Blokada 6, which is more of a paid, cloud-based service. For a simple on-device blocker, stick to the Blokada 5 downloads the project itself recommends.
DNS66
DNS66 is a quieter option but still solid. It blocks ads and other hosts at the DNS level using a local VPN and host lists. Development has officially stopped on the original app, but it still works fine and has a community fork.
Where to grab it safely:
- F-DroidL DNS66’s main listing clearly explains that it blocks host names via DNS and can be used for ad blocking.
- The original GitHub repo: if you want to see the code or build it yourself.
- APKMirror DNS66 builds: again, useful if you prefer APKMirror’s “verified safe to install” flow.
You will see DNS66 APKs on random download sites and Softonic-style portals; there is no reason to touch those when F-Droid and GitHub exist.
RethinkDNS + Firewall
RethinkDNS is what you reach for when you want an ad blocker and a firewall in one app. It can block ads and trackers, monitor connections, and even tunnel via WireGuard to a secure DNS or VPN endpoint.
Safe sources:
Rethink’s official download page – they offer the APK directly and link to stores, with a clearly labeled “Download the app” section.
- F-Droid, listed as “Rethink: DNS + Firewall + VPN” in the DNS/hosts category.
- Google Play: there is an official Play listing too, but if you’re reading a sideloading guide, you probably care more about the APK link.
If you just see “Rethink DNS APK” on a random mirror with no link back to rethinkdns.com, treat it as untrusted.
TrackerControl
TrackerControl doesn’t pitch itself as an “ad blocker” first, but as a way to monitor and block trackers inside your apps. In practice, cutting off trackers removes a good chunk of ad tech along the way.
Where to get it:
- TrackerControl.org: the project’s own site explains what it does and links out to the builds.
- F-Droid: there is a dedicated TrackerControl package, maintained and updated in the official repo.
- IzzyOnDroid or APKMirror “F-Droid version” builds: these basically mirror the F-Droid build with signatures intact.
This is one of the rare tools where “get it from F-Droid” is the default answer.
AdAway
AdAway is the stubborn old veteran here. It is a free and open-source ad blocker that uses the hosts file to redirect ad domains to 127.0.0.1, and can also run in VPN mode on non-rooted phones. It was kicked out of Google Play years ago because of the ad-blocking policy, so it lives entirely in alternative channels now.
Safe places:
- AdAway’s official website clearly says it is not available on Google Play and points you to trusted options.
- F-Droid: the main listing is maintained there and marked as a free, open-source ad blocker.
- APKMirror’s AdAway (F-Droid version) – if you want a one-off APK download with “verified safe to install” status.
Anything branded AdAway that does not ultimately trace back to adaway.org or F-Droid is not worth the risk.
How Do You Sideload an Ad Blocker on Android (Step by Step)?
This is an easy beginner friendly guide to side loading ad blocker apps on Android.
1. Choose the app and a trusted source
- Only download from the official website, F-Droid, APKMirror, or the project’s GitHub.
2. Allow installs from your browser
- Go to Settings > Apps > Install unknown apps.
- Tap your browser (Chrome, Firefox, etc.) and turn on Allow from this source.
3. Download and install the APK
- Visit the official download page in your browser and get the APK.
- Open your Files / Downloads, tap the APK, then tap Install.
4. Turn the blocker on
- Open the app, start protection, and allow VPN permission when Android asks.
- Check a few sites or apps. If ads vanish, you are done.
Is Google Play Protect Enough to Prevent Malware?
Not by itself. It’s helpful but it’s no guarantee of protection.
Google Play Protect does a few useful things:
- Scans apps in the Play Store before you install them and checks them over time to make any changes to the apps.
- Also scans apps you install from outside the Play Store and offers a flag or blocks known bad ones.
- Google keeps updating it with new detection methods including more thorough real-time checks on apps it hasn’t seen before.
So if you do install something pretty shady that Google has already flagged as malware, then Play Protect will likely help you out. That’s a good thing. But the bad news is that everything it doesn’t catch is a problem. New malware, heavily hidden malware or just your average run-of-the-mill shonky app can slip through. In fact Google themselves have said that phones that install loads of apps via sideloading are much more likely to get infected than phones that just stick to the Play Store. That tells you their protection isn’t perfect.
Also, it’s worth noting that loads of dodgy apps can end up living in the Play Store for months before anyone notices and Google pulls them. So “Play Protect said nothing” doesn’t necessarily mean “this app is clean forever” – I mean, it just means nothing jumped out at Google right now.
So treat Play Protect as one tool in your arsenal, not your whole protection system. Leave it switched on, but don’t forget:
- Stick to trusted sources (download from official sites and F-Droid).
- Avoid “modded” or “cracked” APKs from random places on the internet.
- Be suspicious of apps that ask for loads of permissions and look dodgy.
If you mix that with the benefits of Google Play Protect then you’re in a safer place than just trusting to that little green tick.
So, should you actually sideload an ad blocker on Android?
If Google allowed proper system-wide ad blockers in the Play Store, this whole conversation wouldn’t exist. But they don’t, so you have a choice. You can keep using noisy, tracking-heavy apps as usual or you can step outside the walled garden and take responsibility for what you install.
Sideloading itself isn’t the problem here. The risk is who you trust. If you grab AdGuard from their official site, you’re making a very different decision than someone grabbing “YouTube Premium MOD.apk” from a random forum. One is controlled risk, the other is playing roulette with your phone.
If you want a quick mental checklist, it’s basically this:
- Known app? Yes.
- Known source? Yes.
- Weird permissions or behaviour? No.
If you can tick those boxes, then yes, sideloading an ad blocker on Android is worth it. You get cleaner apps, fewer distractions, less tracking and you’re not stuck with whatever Google decides is “acceptable” in its store. Just do it with your eyes open, not on autopilot.