System-level ad-blocking is not on that list, so looks like I still need to root 🤷🏻♂️
Ever since Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, you’ve been able to disable (and sometimes even uninstall) many pre-installed apps without rooting.
That statement is just gaslighting. T-Mobile’s first-party bloatware is un-removable and un-disableable without root. One of the unremovable bloatware app is just an app that installs / “recommends” more bloatware.
Private DNS really helps with that. Although it does rely on an external entity for your blocking
Yeah, on my un-rootable work phone I have a wireguard connection just for DNS to my pihole, but I’d prefer the phone just not make those connections in the first place. There’s a noticeable battery life improvement with hosts file based blocking since it doesn’t have to make a network connection at all.
