One UI 9 is hiding a clever feature that blocks in-app ads. Here's how to use it

Most free Android apps typically show ads. It’s one of the few ways to generate revenue and keep the app free. However, some apps overdo it and hijack the entire screen every few minutes, which makes them really unpleasant to use.

I have a handful of free apps on my Galaxy phone that do this. Some of them are so bloated that I had almost stopped using them until I upgraded my phone to One UI 9. The latest Android version for Galaxy phones has an underrated feature that lets you block in-app ads. It’s called AI Network Guard, and it has made free apps on my phone more usable.

What is AI Network Guard, and what does it do?

AI Network Guard is a One UI 9 feature that lets you block apps from connecting to the internet. This can be useful in various scenarios, which we’ll check out later in the article, but its best use case for me is blocking in-app ads.

The idea is simple: since many Android apps connect to ad servers to get ads, blocking their internet access is the best way to stop them. This way, they can’t download ads in real time and won’t have anything to render in the ad unit — the area where ads are displayed — on the screen. Likewise, because these apps don’t have internet access at all, they can’t cache ads in the background either.

On my Galaxy phone, I’ve set up AI Network Guard to block internet access for a handful of apps and games. This includes apps like Action Notch, which lets you turn your phone’s notch into a virtual button, as well as casual games like 2048.

Do note that these apps and games can work offline, so blocking internet access doesn’t break their functionality. If you’re thinking of blocking an app’s internet access, first check whether it works offline. For example, you can’t use AI Network Guard to block ads in the Backdrop app, as it will prevent the app from loading any wallpapers.

How to use AI Network Guard to block in-app ads on your Galaxy phone

AI Network Guard is part of Connectivity Labs — a hidden Wi-Fi menu on Samsung phones that packs a bunch of diagnostics tools and advanced features to help you learn more about networks and customize their behavior, among other things. And just like any other Connectivity Labs feature, it’s buried in multiple menus.

To enable it, open Settings and go to Connections -> Wi-Fi. Tap the three-dot menu in the top-right corner and select Intelligent Wi-Fi. Scroll to the bottom and tap Intelligent Wi-Fi seven times. You should see a confirmation message saying “Connectivity Labs is enabled.”

Now, select Connectivity Labs, scroll down, and find and tap AI Network Guard. Tap Set up a Guardian PIN, enter a PIN you can remember, then tap Save. Tap Manage restriction and enter the PIN you just set up.

Select Restrict apps, choose the apps you don’t want to connect to the internet, and tap Confirm in the top-right corner.

That’s about it. The selected apps will no longer be able to communicate with ad servers or download ads.

You may sometimes see a text banner on your screen saying something like “Access Blocked,” followed by the app name. This means the app tried to access the internet in the background to cache ads, but AI Network Guard blocked it.

If you still see ads in an app after enabling AI Network Guard, it’s likely because they were cached the last time it could connect to the internet. To fix this, you must clear its cache. Long-tap the app’s icon and tap the i button in the pop-up menu. Scroll down to Usage and select Storage. Finally, tap Clear cache.

AI Network Guard has other use cases too

Samsung doesn’t specify ad-blocking as a use case for AI Network Guard. Instead, it touts it as a feature to curb kids’ distractions. So, if your kid has a Galaxy phone or shares yours, you can restrict their access to distracting apps by preventing them from connecting to the internet. And since the restriction remains in place until someone disables it, which requires the guardian PIN that only you know, you can rest assured the feature will work in your favor.

That said, blocking distractions isn’t just helpful for your kids; it can help you too. For instance, if you find yourself opening social media apps and mindlessly scrolling for hours while you should be studying or working, you can cut them off the internet to render them unusable.

If you plan to use AI Network Guard to limit distractions, there are a few advanced options that you may find useful. First, there’s Downtime, which lets you schedule automatic blocking and unblocking of internet access for your selected apps, so you don’t have to do it manually. Then you have Restrict browsers and Restrict games, which block internet access for all currently installed as well as newly installed browsers and games on your phone, respectively.

You can find these options on the Manage restrictions page. Tap the three-dot button in the top-right corner and select Advanced settings. Configure the features as required. You can also change the PIN, delete and reset the PIN, and reset even logs here.

Besides blocking ads and curbing distractions, AI Network Guard has one more use case. You can use it to block internet access for apps that ask for internet permission but don’t really need it. This is because certain apps, like a collage maker or an offline game, for instance, send usage or device information back to their servers to track usage behavior or harvest your data. And the best way to avoid that and strengthen privacy is to cut them off the internet.