SonderShield 2.8.0

SonderShield 2.8.0

Android

• Swipe between sections: on Data (Usage, Apps, Rules) and Filter (Profiles, Lists, Log), swipe sideways to move between them. The header and chips stay in place.
• Data plan, left today: the daily tile now shows what's still free of today's share and counts down as you use mobile data. Today's share is set each midnight from what's left in your plan.
• Data › Apps opens on Mobile.
• Smoother tab icons: the Filter and Data icons animate a little slower.

Windows and Linux

• No changes in this version.

Updating on Windows and Linux: Settings › Updates.

SonderShield test: data-plan

Test build from test/data-plan at d290f21

SonderShield 2.7.0

SonderShield 2.7.0

Android

• Data per app: Data › Apps shows how much each app used — today, 7 days, 30 days or your plan period — on mobile, Wi-Fi or both. Tap an app for sent and received.
• Animated tabs: each icon in the bottom bar plays its own little move when you tap it.
• Updates in the app: Settings › Updates checks for new versions and installs them in one tap. A dot on Settings shows when one is out.
• The data cards no longer cut off "MB" on large numbers.

Windows

• Animated sidebar: each icon plays its own move when you click it.
• A dot on Settings shows when a new version is out (checked by itself).
• After an update, protection turns back on by itself.

Linux (new)

• SonderShield for Linux as an AppImage: make it executable and open it. It asks for your password once to install its background service, then adds itself to your app launcher.
• Same window and features as Windows: blocking for every app, Force DNS (also stops browsers' Cloudflare secure DNS), the panic switch, address and port blocks, live connections, profiles and updates.
• Per-app firewall rules aren't available on Linux.
• No password prompt on your desktop (e.g. bare Hyprland)? Run sudo ./SonderShield-Linux-2.7.0-x86_64.AppImage --install once.

Updating on Windows and Linux: Settings › Updates.

SonderShield 2.5.1

SonderShield 2.5.1

Android

• Cleaner Home: the extra line under "Protection always on" is gone.

Windows

• Start with Windows works again: it now also starts on battery, and keeps running without a time limit.
• SonderShield now shows in Task Manager › Startup apps, so you can switch it on or off there too. No UAC prompt at sign-in.

Updating on Windows: Settings › Updates.

SonderShield 2.5.0

SonderShield 2.5.0

Android

• Protection profiles: not sure which lists to pick? Choose Default, Strict, Family, Gaming or Strict Family, or make your own. Find them in Filter › Profiles, or tap the new profile button at the top of Home.
• Schedules: switch a profile on at set times, like Family on weekday evenings. Long-press a profile for Schedule, and for your own ones Edit and Delete.
• New lists: HaGeZi NSFW and HaGeZi Gambling, in a new Family safety group.
• Cleaner Home: one short line under the headline.
• Long-pressing the Quick Settings tile now opens Home.
• A small secret is hidden somewhere in the app.

Windows

• Protection profiles and schedules, the same as on the phone: in Filter › Profiles and from the new profile button on Home. Right-click a profile for Schedule, Edit and Delete.
• New lists: HaGeZi NSFW and HaGeZi Gambling.
• The About section shows the SonderShield mark. It may be worth a few clicks.

Updating on Windows: Settings › Updates.

SonderShield 2.4.0

SonderShield 2.4.0

Android

• Data tab opens instantly: the last numbers show straight away when you come back, today's usage loads first, and the plan and weekly chart are read in parallel. The cards animate in as soon as you arrive.
• The blue swoosh now sweeps in from the right.

Windows

• Firewall, app by app: apps appear as tiles with their real icons, grouped into Active, Recently edited and All. Tap one to choose: allow, block incoming only, block local network, or block entirely.
• Connections filters: show all / allowed / blocked / direct IP, group by app or domain, sort by newest, most used or name. Each row opens a details panel with quick actions (app rules, block this address, copy).
• Activity chart: open connections and blocked lookups over the last 10 minutes or hour.
• Fewer false "No queries" warnings: Windows caches lookups, so quiet spells no longer trigger the banner.
• Better diagnostic: names the program holding port 53 when SonderShield can't use it, and warns when a browser's own secure DNS is bypassing blocking.
• The blue swoosh now sweeps in from the right, matching the phone.

Updating on Windows: Settings › Updates.

SonderShield 2.3.0

SonderShield 2.3.0

Now under the Apache License 2.0

SonderShield is now licensed under Apache 2.0 (it was GPL-3.0). Free to use, change and share — keep the credit and the NOTICE file, don't claim it as your own, and don't imply the author's endorsement. See the README.

Android

• Data plan setup, like Data Monitor: choose how the counter resets — Daily, Monthly or Custom dates — and set the data limit in MB or GB. The plan block shows what's left, a daily amount to stay within the limit, and when it resets or ends. Plans can be removed.
• Always-on VPN: when Android's Always-on VPN is set for SonderShield, Home says Protection always on, and tapping the shield (or the Quick Settings tile, or the widget) opens the phone's VPN settings instead of trying to turn it off.
• System theme now uses the original soft dark grey at night instead of pure black. Default stays pure black.
• Fixed: the Usage / Rules buttons were pushed too far right.

Windows

• More stats on Home: data received and sent this session, active connections and active apps.
• Network history: Connections now has Live and History. History is a searchable record of every site each app connected to since protection turned on — how often, and whether it was blocked or a direct IP.
• Home looks cleaner: Today and All time sit in one panel under one swoosh, and the swoosh's ends are rounded.
• System theme uses the same soft dark grey as the phone. Dark stays pure black.
• Fixed: See why on the "Windows isn't sending its lookups" banner did nothing.

Updating on Windows: Settings › Updates.

SonderShield 2.0.0

SonderShield 2.0.0

Android: Data Monitor

• New Data tab (replaces Rules): today's mobile and Wi-Fi usage, sent and received.
• Monthly plan: enter your plan's data and length once, then see what's left, the daily quota and when it ends.
• This week: a 7-day chart of mobile and Wi-Fi use.
• Needs Usage access once (the tab takes you to the right setting). Everything stays on the phone.
• Rules now live inside the Data tab.
• Settings icon is a gear now.

Windows: firewall, like Portmaster

• Connections: every app's live internet connections, with the site each one goes to. Connections straight to an IP are flagged.
• Per-app rules: Allow, Block all, No incoming, or No LAN for each app.
• Block by address or port for every app.
• Block all internet: a panic switch that cuts off every app. SonderShield itself keeps working so you can switch it back.
• Force DNS through SonderShield: stops browsers and apps using their own DNS (other DNS servers, DNS-over-TLS, known DNS-over-HTTPS resolvers) to get around filtering.
• DNS diagnostic: if Windows isn't sending lookups to SonderShield, "See why" shows what each network adapter is really using and how to fix it.

Windows: new look

• Home now uses the whole window: today's numbers with the all-time stats beside them, then the activity chart (24 hours / 7 days) and the top blocked sites, all animated like the phone.
• The shield shows it's starting up when you click it.
• Fixed: the DNS server menu closed when you moved the mouse.
• Settings icon is a gear.

Updating on Windows: Settings › Updates.

SonderShield 1.1.1

SonderShield 1.1.1

Windows: a proper app

• Installer: SonderShield-Setup-1.1.1.exe puts SonderShield in the Start menu, adds an optional desktop shortcut and shows it in Windows Settings › Apps, where it uninstalls cleanly and puts your DNS back.
• Its own window with the new SonderShield icon. It no longer opens in Edge.
• Tray icon with Open, protection on/off and Quit. Closing the window keeps SonderShield running in the tray.
• Fixed: protection wouldn't turn on when another part of Windows (connection sharing, Hyper-V, WSL, Docker) was using port 53. SonderShield now filters through its own network adapter when that happens.
• IPv6 DNS is now filtered too.
• If the PC crashes or loses power while protection is on, your DNS settings are restored at the next start.
• "Start with Windows" no longer asks for permission at every sign-in.
• Proper dialogs instead of browser pop-ups.

The portable SonderShield-Windows-1.1.1.exe is still there if you don't want to install. Updating from 1.1.0: Settings › Updates.

Android

No changes apart from the version number.

SonderShield 1.1.0

SonderShield 1.1.0

New: SonderShield for Windows

The first Windows version, in the same look as the phone app.

• Blocks ads, trackers and malware for every app on the PC, using the same block lists as the phone.
• Firewall: cut any app off the internet completely, on Wi-Fi and Ethernet.
• Filter tab with grouped lists and a live log, plus your own block and allow rules.
• Built-in updates: Settings › Updates installs new versions in place, with no reinstall.
• Optional start with Windows.

To use it: download SonderShield-Windows-1.1.0.exe and run it (a zip of the same file is there too). Windows asks for administrator rights, which it needs to change the PC's DNS and firewall. Then click the shield.

This is a first version: please report anything that doesn't work using the bug report on the Issues page. Not on Windows yet: HTTPS filtering, full tunnel and WireGuard, and languages other than English.

Android

No changes since 1.0.1 apart from the version number.