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Comment by blauditore

1 month ago

That's another pet peeve of mine: Why the hell can't we block internet access for apps in (native) Android? Everything else is a permission, but this is not, somehow.

14 comments

blauditore

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hexyl_C_gut  1 month ago

Maybe Google doesn't want users blocking ads from getting loaded.

  • ashtadmir  1 month ago

    ADs work via play services so even if you block internet for the app the ADs will continue to work.

    The reason many apps stop showing ADs when their internet is blocked is because they need to make an API call to their own servers before running the AD. That is the common behavior but not mandatory

pava0  1 month ago

Wait, we can in Android. In my OnePlus 12 in the app settings under "data usage" there are two toggles for "disable mobile data" / "disable wifi"

  • Terr_  1 month ago

    Not present with a Pixel with Android 16, my effective choices are:

    1. App can't use mobile data in background

    2. App can use mobile data in background except in Data Saver mode

    3. App can use mobile data in background regardless of Data Saver mode

    ____

    For anyone doing comparisons, the literal settings appear under "Mobile Data Usage" as:

    * [X] Background Data ("Enable usage of mobile data in the background")

    * [ ] Unrestricted mobile data usage ("Allow unrestricted mobile data access when Data Saver is on")

  • wafflemaker  1 month ago

    Wow, thought it was GrapheneOS only, but no.

    Confirmed these settings on One+15 on OOS16 (based on Android 16).

    Is it also the case for other Android brands?

    P.S. I did use it before to turn off ads.

    • jeroenhd  1 month ago

      I believe this has been part of LineageOS since before it was called LineageOS. Most custom ROMs have some kind of internet filtering capability.

      Some Chinese/Taiwanese brands do it too, but most western brands don't seem to include a firewall.

    • fa3556  1 month ago

      Xiaomi phones also have it but you can block Wi-Fi only for user (non system) apps. However you can block mobile data access to all apps.

      None of the Samsungs I have owned so far had this feature and neither did my last Pixel.

  • stronglikedan  1 month ago

    I have an S25 Ultra with the latest version of Android, and these options don't seem to be there at all. I don't have a "data usage" under Permissions for any apps. I do have a Mobile Data section under App Info for any given app, but there's no way to toggle the options you mentioned.

jeroenhd  1 month ago

You can on some devices (many Chinese brands, funnily enough) and on custom ROMs.

There are also (open source) firewall apps that will let you block (non-system) apps if you're on a stock ROM like me.

Technically, this is a permission, just not a user-grantable one. Google has moved quite a few permissions from inherent to user-grantable, but most apps don't work without internet (unfortunately) so I doubt they will do it for the internet permission in stock android.