Firewall for Android

lopri

Elite Member
Jul 27, 2002
13,310
687
126
I'm looking for a firewall app for my Nexus 7. I have looked and found a few decent ones, such as Droidwall/Android Firewall and AFWall+. Looking at the screenshots from Play pages, however, they seem to block the traffic indiscriminately to directions. (i.e. incoming/outgoing)

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Is there a firewall that lets me selectively block incoming/outgoing traffics?

Edit: Never mind. I couldn't find one and got impatient, so I installed what's out there.
 
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T_Yamamoto

Lifer
Jul 6, 2011
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795
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Why do you want a firewall? 1) drains battery 2) as long as you don't install anything shady, you should be fine
 

cronos

Diamond Member
Nov 7, 2001
9,380
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101
Why do you want a firewall? 1) drains battery 2) as long as you don't install anything shady, you should be fine

I'm on paygo data so I use DroidWall to restrict mobile data usage. I allow everything to pass through if on wi-fi, but only select few apps (email, gtalk, whatsapp, etc) to pass through mobile data.
 

Red Storm

Lifer
Oct 2, 2005
14,233
234
106
I'm on paygo data so I use DroidWall to restrict mobile data usage. I allow everything to pass through if on wi-fi, but only select few apps (email, gtalk, whatsapp, etc) to pass through mobile data.

Android has had this built in since ICS.
 

cronos

Diamond Member
Nov 7, 2001
9,380
26
101
Android has had this built in since ICS.

Yeah I'm not one of those cool kids with the latest and greatest toys. My Dell Streak is more than two years old and it's lucky to even get 2.3 with CM 7.2.
 

lopri

Elite Member
Jul 27, 2002
13,310
687
126
Why do you want a firewall? 1) drains battery 2) as long as you don't install anything shady, you should be fine

1) I did not know that. How bad is it?
2) I do indeed install shady stuff. ^_^ But even without it, I'd like to know what's home-phoning without my knowledge or permission, and block it if it isn't in my interest.
 

eavigad

Junior Member
Dec 30, 2012
2
0
0
If you're looking for a firewall that will work on your android device without root permissions, maybe check out Mobiwol Firewall (http://www.mobiwol.com). It only partly answers your question since it doesn't give separate settings for ingoing/outgoing traffic from what I remember, but for a free app you at least get some value-add from it, being able to block apps that simply don't need to be web enabled.
 
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lopri

Elite Member
Jul 27, 2002
13,310
687
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That app looks promising. I will bookmark it. Thank you, eavigad. Unfortunately it is not compatible with Nexus 7 according to Play store.

It asks for a lot of permissions.. (esp. compared to firewalls w/ root) Maybe the developer will do better by explaining why some of the permissions are needed.
 

T_Yamamoto

Lifer
Jul 6, 2011
15,007
795
126
1) I did not know that. How bad is it?
2) I do indeed install shady stuff. ^_^ But even without it, I'd like to know what's home-phoning without my knowledge or permission, and block it if it isn't in my interest.

The battery drain isn't that bad
 

eavigad

Junior Member
Dec 30, 2012
2
0
0
That app looks promising. I will bookmark it. Thank you, eavigad. Unfortunately it is not compatible with Nexus 7 according to Play store.

It asks for a lot of permissions.. (esp. compared to firewalls w/ root) Maybe the developer will do better by explaining why some of the permissions are needed.


I was actually in touch with them because it didn't load on my Note Tablet either. Apparently their is a permissions issue for wifi only tablets which they are working on. Asked about some of the permissions when I talked to them and they said some of them will be removed in the next release, so look out for the update.

Installed it on my HTC One X in the meantime and it definitely does the job.