BLOKK vs DuckDuckGo App Tracking Protection
Both block trackers inside the apps on your phone, and both do it on the phone itself. The differences: DuckDuckGo’s App Tracking Protection is a feature inside its Android browser, while BLOKK is its own app for Android and iPhone that also blocks scam websites and shows where your data was going. Each works with its own company’s VPN and not with anyone else’s.
Side by side
| BLOKK | DuckDuckGo App Tracking Protection | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A separate app | “A feature in the DuckDuckGo Private Browser for Android” |
| Android | Yes, on Google Play | Yes |
| iPhone | Yes | Not mentioned on DuckDuckGo’s help pages, which describe it as an Android feature |
| Blocks trackers in other apps | Yes | Yes: it “helps block 3rd-party trackers in your apps, even when you’re not using them” |
| Where the blocking happens | On the phone | It “works locally on your device” |
| Blocks scam and phishing websites in every app | Yes, free | Not part of App Tracking Protection. DuckDuckGo’s free Scam Blocker works in its browser. Across the whole device it comes with the paid DuckDuckGo VPN |
| Price of the tracker blocking | Free | Free. DuckDuckGo says its browser is free |
| Account needed | No | Not stated. Its setup steps do not include one |
| Works with a VPN | Yes, with BLOKK’s own VPN (MAX plan, £29.99 a year after a 7 day trial) | “Only compatible with the DuckDuckGo VPN”, which is part of its paid subscription (£9.99 a month or £99.99 a year in the UK). It “won’t work with other VPNs” |
| Shows where your data was going | Activity, Map of Your Data, Privacy Score, Weekly Report | Not stated on those pages |
What is App Tracking Protection?
It is DuckDuckGo’s name for blocking trackers inside Android apps. DuckDuckGo says it blocks “most” requests to the tracking companies on its list, and that it “doesn’t send your personal data off your device to DuckDuckGo or other companies”. You turn it on inside the DuckDuckGo browser’s settings.
People also use the phrase “app tracking protection” for the general idea. BLOKK, TrackerControl and others do the same job under different names.
How is BLOKK different?
It is its own app. You do not need to install or use a particular browser. You install BLOKK and turn on the Privacy Shield.
It is on iPhone as well as Android.
It blocks scam websites too, in the free part. The same Shield that blocks trackers also stops known scam and phishing websites loading, in every app and browser. DuckDuckGo’s help pages say its Scam Blocker protects you “while browsing online” in its browser, and that the DuckDuckGo VPN “extends the protection” across “your entire device”. On Android its list holds more than 7 million scam and tracking domains.
It shows you what it found. Activity lists which apps tried to contact which trackers. Map of Your Data shows the countries and companies those connections were heading for. Privacy Score rates your phone and the Weekly Report sums up the week.
No account. BLOKK’s Privacy Shield is free and needs no account or email address.
Can I use a VPN at the same time?
This is the question people ask most, and the answer is the same for both: yes, with the same company’s VPN, and no with anyone else’s.
The reason is Android, not either app. Android’s developer documentation says “there’s only one active service per user or profile”, and that starting a new VPN service stops the existing one. A tracker blocker uses that one slot.
- DuckDuckGo says App Tracking Protection “won’t work with other VPNs” and is “only compatible with the DuckDuckGo VPN”, because both are run by the DuckDuckGo browser and share one connection.
- BLOKK’s VPN is part of the same app as its Shield. The VPN runs through the Shield, so turning the VPN on keeps the Shield blocking, and the VPN only works while the Shield is on. BLOKK’s VPN is on the paid MAX plan: a 7 day free trial, then £29.99 a year.
If you already pay for a different VPN and want to keep it, neither app’s blocker will run alongside it on Android.
Which blocks more trackers?
We have not run a side by side test, so we will not claim one. DuckDuckGo says it blocks “most” requests to companies on its list. BLOKK checks against its own list of more than 7 million domains on Android. Lists differ, and the honest way to compare is to run each for a day on your own phone and read what it reports.
Which should you use?
- You use the DuckDuckGo browser on Android and want nothing else installed: App Tracking Protection is already there. Turn it on.
- You have an iPhone: BLOKK.
- You want scam websites blocked as well as trackers: BLOKK.
- You want to see which apps were sending data where: BLOKK.
- You want a tracker blocker and a VPN together: either, using that company’s own VPN.
Do not run both at once on Android. Only one can hold the VPN slot, so turning one on switches the other off.
Download BLOKK on Google Play or download BLOKK on the App Store.
