They forgot one: https://maps.app.goo.gl/8EGMoYHfwHzmYesPA
Personally, I needed a couple of very specific features that none of the options I found offered. It turns out there was one that did what I needed (which I was linked to later), but it was much too complicated for me to put on my parents' devices, so I made my own mini-app... it just ballooned into a lot more when I got a lot of users making feature requests.
As for why a lot of people are making these, I am guessing it's a combo of:
- LLMs making "vibe-coding" accessible (to be clear, this app is coded by hand with some use of AI for troubleshooting mostly).
- the fact that people are using VPNs to avoid the onslaught of identity-verification laws that are cropping up everywhere means many are switching from VPN-based filtering to Private DNS.
But that's just a guess.
As for why I kept at this instead of switching to one of the existing solutions; the main reason is that they either have bad or overly complex UX, or do a lot more than necessary. This feels like the best compromise between features and usability. That's all.
Considering someone else gave that actual answer, here's something to consider: switching to Waterfox will give you essentially all the benefits of Firefox, but without the bloat, and with some extra privacy features baked in.
To be clear, in this case the Cloudflare reverse proxy shenanigans that let them snoop in on traffic are not actually in use (after digging into how it all works, I'm going to add to the warning I have about that specific bit); so as far as I can tell it's mostly safe.
Could they change their rules and start snooping on emails they route at some point? Yes, and that's indeed a risk with this sort of company.
But yeah, this is somewhat a compromise; I tried to make it as clear as possible =)
Yeah, self-hosting is almost always going to be the "ideal" solution for this sort of stuff, but not everyone has the means (knowledge, time, etc.) or even the reliable internet for that to make sense.
Personally, I know that a few years from now at most, I'll have probably transitioned to something more custom, but I'm guessing this is going to be a more viable solution for a LOT of people.
Oh gawd, that transparency makes things unreadable oO
You can find a few guides online such as https://blog.holtzweb.com/posts/unlimited-email-forwarding-address-aliases-using-cloudflare/ and https://fyx.me/minis/create-infinite-email-aliases-using-cloudflare-email-routing/
I can't remember which ones I used specifically, but that first link covers the basics; I just set up the worker to be a lot simpler using regex to map a whole range of possible aliases through instead of hardcoding anything.
For the moment I'm routing things to Gmail (I'll likely shift to Proton at some point), but I was able to set up labels using my templates (specific prefixes and formats) to easily identify emails I get. For example, the stuff that comes from my site gets its own label for French or English stuff (the site is in both languages) because it's always formatted as site.{en/fr}.{semi-ranfom-value}@my-domain.com.
Agreed. But in my case it's less about tracking (especially because with fingerprinting, it's almost impossible not to be trackable these days unfortunately), and more about knowing who is selling my email to spammers and advertisers.
I just set an equivalent up for myself using a custom domain and a Cloudflare worker.
Since I'm already paying for the domain, it's essentially free, and I can go crazy with the configuration (using regex to block emails or route them to different accounts).
I even have a bit on my site that randomizes the email people can use to contact me.
I think the better alternative would be for browsers to have some kind of per-site override instead of relying on every single site building the same system and putting the option in a different place.
If a setting is universally supported by all sites (which dark mode should be, along with the other common accessibility flags), it shouldn't be something that the site needs to control.
Ok, I guess that works, my bad! I tend to see player characters more as embodiments not eye candy I guess ;)
Hi there!
I've just released a new open-source Android app called DNS Toggle over on IzzyOnDroid (I'm still waiting for it to get added to F-Droid's main repository).
The app adds a quick settings tile to easily toggle your phone's private DNS setting on and off with a single tap!
For those who may not be familiar with this setting, one of the main uses for private DNS is content filtering (ad blocking or simply blocking dangerous domains for security) and better privacy (default DNS providers often track your activity). You can do this for more or less free using services like NextDNS.
The app is built to respect user privacy, so it doesn't store, collect, or share any personal data. I've also built in some optional advanced features that you can access by long-pressing the tile:
- Custom DNS:
Set your own custom hostname for Private DNS (e.g.,dns.adguard.com). - Wi-Fi Blocklist:
Automatically disable private DNS when you connect to specific Wi-Fi networks. This comes in handy with public Wi-Fi networks (hotels, cafes, etc.) that rely on DNS tricks to serve a login page, which usually break when private DNS is enabled.
You can even automate adding/removing Wi-Fi network names (SSIDs) from this list. - Hide App Icon:
Because I hate having tons of apps I never actually need to open listed on my phone, I've made it so you can hide the app from the launcher drawer.
⚠️ Permission Required
To modify Private DNS system settings, this app requires theWRITE_SECURE_SETTINGSpermission. You will be prompted to grant this on rooted devices If your device is not rooted, you can easily grant it manually using this ADB command:
adb shell pm grant com.ericlowry.dnstoggle android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS`
You can check out the source code over on GitHub or get it from IzzyOnDroid.
Hi there!
I've just released a new open-source Android app called DNS Toggle over on IzzyOnDroid (I'm still waiting for it to get added to F-Droid's main repository).
The app adds a quick settings tile to easily toggle your phone's private DNS setting on and off with a single tap!
For those who may not be familiar with this setting, one of the main uses for private DNS is content filtering (ad blocking or simply blocking dangerous domains for security) and better privacy (default DNS providers often track your activity). You can do this for more or less free using services like NextDNS.
The app is built to respect user privacy, so it doesn't store, collect, or share any personal data. I've also built in some optional advanced features that you can access by long-pressing the tile:
- Custom DNS:
Set your own custom hostname for Private DNS (e.g.,dns.adguard.com). - Wi-Fi Blocklist:
Automatically disable private DNS when you connect to specific Wi-Fi networks. This comes in handy with public Wi-Fi networks (hotels, cafes, etc.) that rely on DNS tricks to serve a login page, which usually break when private DNS is enabled.
You can even automate adding/removing Wi-Fi network names (SSIDs) from this list. - Hide App Icon:
Because I hate having tons of apps I never actually need to open listed on my phone, I've made it so you can hide the app from the launcher drawer.
⚠️ Permission Required
To modify Private DNS system settings, this app requires theWRITE_SECURE_SETTINGSpermission. You will be prompted to grant this on rooted devices If your device is not rooted, you can easily grant it manually using this ADB command:
adb shell pm grant com.ericlowry.dnstoggle android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS`
You can check out the source code over on GitHub or get it from IzzyOnDroid.
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