Features overview

What is AdGuard VPN for Android?

A VPN is an ideal tool that provides security and anonymity each time you browse the Internet. How does it work? Without going into technical details, we can say that VPN creates a secure encrypted connection (called a tunnel) between a user's device and a remote VPN server. In this way, data confidentiality is preserved, as well as the anonymity of the user, because a third-party observer sees the IP address of the VPN server and not the actual user's IP.

VPN is frequently used for:

• Keeping personal data safe even while using public Wi-Fi
• Preventing online activity tracking by masking the IP address
• Hiding the real geolocation to remain anonymous

AdGuard VPN for Android can do it all for you — and even offer something unique. To find out why AdGuard VPN is the better option — read this article.

How to start using AdGuard VPN for Android

Firstly, download AdGuard VPN from Google Play and log into your AdGuard account. In case you don’t have it — you should create it. You can sign in directly with your AdGuard account credentials. Or do it via Google or Facebook, if your AdGuard account was registered using the same email address.

Main screen

The main screen reflects the VPN status (Connected/Disconnected). There are also the Connect/Disconnect button and a list of available servers.

Each server has its location and its ping rate, describing the response time of the server. The lower this rate, the faster the connection. The fastest servers always appear at the top of the list that consists of more than 50 locations in dozens of countries. You can connect to the fastest server by tapping the Connect button or by picking a location.

Exclusions

We've done everything to make it easy for you to manage your site and app exclusion lists. AdGuard VPN will only work where you choose.

Lists of exclusions

Exclusion lists allow you to manage the VPN connection for specific websites and apps. To access Exclusions, tap the second icon from the left at the bottom of the screen. To reach the Exclusions section, tap the second icon from the left at the bottom of the screen.

By default, AdGuard VPN works for all websites and apps except those added to exclusions, but you can easily switch to the other mode.

For websites

You can add domains (e.g. google.com) or subdomains (e.g. *.google.com) of websites to the Exclusions in three ways: enter them manually in the app, or right from the browser by clicking the Share button and selecting AdGuard VPN in the opened list below, or from built-in lists of services divided by categories.

note

There are some nuances in manual adding domains. For example, if you manually exclude the domain yahoo.com, all *.yahoo.com subdomains will also be listed in exclusions. However, domain names with other top-level domains, such as yahoo.jp or yahoo.fr, will not be excluded. Or you can add youtube.com to the exclusions, but the domain of the same service youtu.be will not get into the list. In this case, it’s more safe to use built-in lists of services, because we put there all subdomains related to each platform.

As you can enable subdomains in service lists, we added boxes that reflect the status of each service — you can see them on the main screen of Exclusions to the left of each service name:

• Fully enabled is indicated by a white check mark on a green background

• Partially enabled (enabled subdomains without the main domain) is marked with a green square on a white background

• Fully disabled is marked with a blank checkbox

  Good news: you can always return to the default view of service lists in case you’ve deleted or disabled any domains from there.

Another useful feature is Import/Export exclusions. There are only four steps to reach the goal:

1. Open AdGuard VPN on the device/in the browser from where you want to export your lists of exclusions. Find the appropriate section and click the Export button. The adguard_vpn_exclusions.zip archive will be downloaded.
2. There are two .txt files inside the archive, one for each of the lists. Add more exclusions to them, delete the existing ones, rename files (but more on this later), or just leave the archive with files as is.
3. When transferring between different devices, don't forget to send the .zip file to the device for import. For example, if you import exclusion lists from your Windows device to your Android, make sure to send the .zip file to your Android beforehand.
4. Open AdGuard VPN on the device where you want to import the archive with the ready lists of exclusions. Find the appropriate section, click the Import button and select the archive.

For apps

As we mentioned above, not only websites can be easily added to the exclusions. Choose for which apps you need AdGuard VPN and for which you don't.

In Integrated mode, you can only manage apps through AdGuard Ad Blocker.

Settings

You can reach Settings by pressing the gear icon at the bottom right of the screen. The first section there is App Settings: configure AdGuard VPN for Android as you need by selecting different options there.

AdGuard VPN autostart

The slider switched to the right enables an AdGuard VPN autostart after the device's startup.

DNS servers

DNS servers translate websites' names into something browsers can understand, i.e. IP addresses. AdGuard VPN for Android offers a wide selection of DNS servers, each with special qualities. For example, AdGuard DNS removes ads and protects your device from tracking while AdGuard DNS Family Protection combines the functions of AdGuard DNS with Safe search and adult content blocking. There is also an option to add a custom DNS server.

Auto-protection

This feature enables AdGuard VPN automatically when your device connects to a cellular or Wi-Fi network.

Kill Switch

You can set up the Kill Switch function on your Android device by following simple instructions on the screen. Why would you do this? If for some reason your VPN connection suddenly drops while you are using a mobile network or public Wi-Fi, Kill Switch will automatically terminate the internet connection, keeping attackers away from seizing your information.

Note that if Kill Switch is on, Apps settings and Exclusions won’t work.

Theme

You can choose the system default, system dynamic, dark or light theme of the app.

Advanced settings

In Advanced settings, you can find four sections.

Operating mode allows you to specify how your traffic is routed. There are three modes: VPN, SOCKS5, and Integrated mode. In the VPN mode, all traffic is routed through AdGuard VPN. In the SOCKS5 mode, AdGuard VPN runs a local proxy server that can be used by other apps for traffic routing. Integrated mode allows AdGuard VPN and AdGuard Ad Blocker to work together.

note

Some AdGuard VPN features are disabled in Integrated mode: DNS servers, Kill Switch, Auto-protection, and App exclusions. You can manage DNS protection and route apps through your AdGuard VPN proxy in the AdGuard Ad Blocker app.

The next two sections are Logging level and Diagnostic info. Concerning the first option, it is not recommended to enable the Extended or Extreme logging level unless requested by our support team. Diagnostic info, locally stored technical information about the device and connections (IP address, ID, ping, etc.), can be sent to us in case of any technical problems.

The last section of Advanced settings is Low-level settings. We urge you not to enter this section unless you are highly qualified or have been asked to do so by our support team. Here it is possible to enable TUN interface logging or IPv6 protocol on the VPN interface, choose a proxy server port or Internet protocol version that should be used.

Compatibility

The Enable IPv6 option is only available for networks that support IPv6.

Support

At the Support section you can leave feedback, report a bug, or export logs and system info for further submission to the helpdesk.