Intro #
In the “Trusted Apps” tab of the HTTPS section, you can enable/disable and define Trusted Apps. A “Trusted App” is an easy way to disable eBlocker’s HTTPS function in case an app on one of your devices does not work because the app realizes, that your eBlocker intercepted the HTTPS communication (read the introduction for more details).
Why Trusted Apps are needed #
The idea is, that there is a Trusted App for each app that is known to cause problems. eBlocker comes with a large set of predefined Trusted Apps, so typically you simply need to enable the ones you need. In addition, it’s also possible to define new Trusted Apps. Finally, there is the special “Auto Trust App” that can save you from manually enabling/defining Trusted Apps.
Using existing Trusted Apps #
The tab shows you all existing Trusted Apps:
If you have a problem with an app, then use the search field for the name of the app. Probably there is already a predefined exception for this app. If so, then activate the Trusted App by clicking using the switch to activate the app. Once the Trusted App is activated, your app should work again. Note that you might have to restart the app to ensure that it starts a new communication.
In the list you can see the name of the App, a short description, an excerpt of the allowed Domains/IPs and the status of the App. The status distinguishes between System owned App and User defined App.
You can easily enable or disable all exceptions in the Trusted Apps overview by changing the switch in front of the exception.
Please note that activated exception lists means that the corresponding Apps and Websites are not protected by the eBlocker. This is usually not a problem as long as domains of trackers or ad networks are not added as trusted.
Adding new Trusted Apps #
To add a new Trusted App click the New App definition button.
Enter a name and, if necessary, a description for the app.
Now you can enter one Domain / IP per line for these exceptions.
If you click on the Save button, this exception will be added to the list of exceptions and automatically activated for you.
Click the Edit button to delete a Trusted App from the list. Then select the affected Trusted App and click the Delete or Reset App button.
Only predefined app exceptions can be reset if they have added additional domains to them.
In the list of App Exceptions, click an App Exception to edit it.
Here you can edit the name and description of the app by clicking on the pen.
Use this switch to activate the exception list. The eBlocker will then no longer control the communication to the specified domains / IPs.
Click the New button to add a domain / IP to this list.
Click the Edit button to delete a domain from the list. Then select the domain concerned and click on the Delete Domain/IP button.
The Auto Trust App (ATA) #
Among the predefined Trusted Apps, there is a special one: the “Auto Trust App”. Unlike the other Trusted Apps, its list of domains is not fix but will be extended automatically based on recorded communications failures. That way, apps on your device that stop to work once eBlocker’s HTTPS function is enabled, will be detected by the “Auto Trust App” and should resume to function after a couple of restarts of the app.
The Auto Trust App is a relatively eBlocker new feature and thus still under development. However, it usually causes no harm and you can thus safely enable it, if you’ve gained some experience with eBlocker in general.
Before you enable the Auto Trust App, ensure that the recording of Communication Failures is turned on.
Update: Starting with eBlockerOS 2.9 the Auto Trust App can also be enabled under Settings > HTTPS.
You can observe the list of domains that the Auto Trust App automatically created as usual by clicking on the arrow symbol on the right. There, it’s also possible to remove domains you don’t want an exception for. However, the removal is not perpetual for now: if the Auto Trust App later again sees a problem for the removed domain, it will re-add it.
While it is possible to manually add new domains to the Auto Trust App, this is not recommended and will cause unwanted behavior.
Once the Auto Trust App is enabled, restart the app a couple of times, that caused issues due to eBlocker’s HTTPS feature. Usually, the app will work again after the third restart. If this is not the case, check the Communication Failures tab for further help. Note that a real restart of the app is necessary to ensure that the app starts a new communication (for iOS swipe out the app to the top to restart; for Android, use the “X” symbol in the app overview).
In an ideal world, you only need to enable the Auto Trust App, and everything works magically. For many apps, this is also the case, but there are some cases where the Auto Trust App cannot because no communication failures are reported. In addition, there are cases where an app contacts a large number of domains and it takes a long time (and many restarts of the apps on your device) to get it work. This is typically also true for apps and services of your operating system (e.g. macOS, Windows, or Linux). In these cases, you still need to manually enable the corresponding Trusted App. We hope to improve this in future versions of the Auto Trust App.
Reset the Auto Trust App or Remove single domains #
To reset the Auto Trust App (deleting all collected domains) navigate to Settings> HTTPS > Communication Failures. At the very bottom of the page click the button Delete All Recordings.
To just remove single domains from the Auto Trust App navigate to Settings> HTTPS> Trusted App. Select the Auto Trust App. The Exception List can be edited by clicking the Edit button and selecting the domains to be removed. Then click the button Remove Domain/IP.