ClearDeck

Frequently asked questions

The fifteen things people ask most about ClearDeck: why it uses a VPN, whether it needs root, what it collects, how many rules ship inside it, and how “traffic saved” is actually calculated.

  • Android 10 – 17
  • v0.1.0
  • 452,521 rules

  1. Is this a VPN? Why does it need a VPN connection?

    ClearDeck uses Android’s VpnService for one reason: it is the only way an ordinary, non-root app can see every other app’s traffic on the device. The VPN interface is a local tunnel — traffic is inspected on your phone and then goes straight out. There is no remote node and nothing is relayed.

  2. Does my traffic go through your servers?

    No. Nothing leaves the device. Connections are judged against the rule lists on your phone: a match is rejected immediately, and everything else goes straight out over your normal connection. There is no server to send it to, because the app has no remote node at all.

  3. Do I need root?

    No. ClearDeck runs as a normal app and asks only for Android’s standard VPN authorization. No root, no modified system files, no unlocked bootloader. That also means it does not interfere with OTA updates or banking apps.

  4. Does it work on my phone?

    It supports Android 10 – 17 (minSdk 29), on arm64 devices only. The app ships just the arm64-v8a ABI, so x86_64 emulators cannot run it.

  5. Is it free? Any ads or subscriptions?

    Yes, it is free. There is no subscription, no in-app purchase, no advertising, and no account — you never sign up or log in. The app is open source under GPL-3.0.

  6. What exactly gets collected?

    Only the Huawei and Xiaomi builds include analytics: device and usage statistics and crash reports, handled by the Umeng SDK. The Google and OPPO builds contain no analytics code at all — not one line of Umeng code, not one related permission or manifest entry. Network traffic content is never collected.

  7. Why does the app ask me to accept a privacy notice before it will run?

    Consent is a hard gate by design: the notice appears on first launch, and if you decline it confirms once and then the app will not run. The gate exists because the analytics SDKs in the Huawei and Xiaomi builds need a lawful basis. Either way, your traffic never leaves the device.

  8. How many rules are included, and does it need to download them?

    Five built-in function modules totalling 452,521 entries, about 12 MB inside the APK. They ship with the app, so a fresh install works offline with no first-run download. You can optionally import your own file or subscription link, but nothing is required.

  9. What is “traffic saved” and is it accurate?

    It is an estimate, not a measurement. Each blocked connection is priced at what the same hostname delivered per allowed connection; a host that was only ever blocked falls back to a fixed 16 KiB. That means it can over- or under-state the real figure — treat it as a rough idea of what you avoided, not an exact count.

  10. Will it slow down my phone or drain the battery?

    Measured on a OnePlus 6T over 30 minutes, the tunnel process used 20.67 seconds of CPU — about 1.148% of one core. The UI process used only 19 jiffies in the same window because Android freezes it in the background. A power saving mode widens the sampling intervals and pauses deep inspection, at the cost of recording fewer short-lived connections.

  11. What is deep inspection and do I need it?

    Deep inspection decrypts a connection on your phone so the app can match the full URL path, not just the hostname. It needs a ClearDeck certificate installed, and it only helps the deep URL rules. Many people do not need it — domain rules alone block most things — and it does nothing until you turn it on and install the certificate. Content over the inspection limit (default 256 KB) is passed through unchecked.

  12. Can I block or allow a single app?

    Yes. In an app’s access log every record has Block and Allow on the right; tapping either opens an “Apply to…” chooser where you can scope the rule to that app only or to all apps. What you add collects in My block & allow on the modules screen.

  13. Where do the rule lists come from?

    Ad rules come from EasyList, EasyList Ad Servers, 217heidai/adblockfilters and AWAvenue Ads Rule; tracker rules from EasyPrivacy, AdGuard Tracking Protection and AWAvenue Ads Rule; malware rules from Hagezi Threat Intelligence Feeds (TIF, mini). All are credited in the app, which is licensed under GPL-3.0.

  14. Can I export my data?

    Yes — the tools screen exports the access log as CSV (RFC 4180, UTF-8 with BOM) with package, app, time, host and result columns. But records are cleared when protection stops, so export before you stop it if you want to keep them. There is no cloud sync and no account.

  15. When can I get it?

    ClearDeck has not been released yet — there is no store listing and no APK, just a 0.1.0 in development. The Get ClearDeck page explains what is still missing and lets you leave an email to be told once. We are not promising a date.

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