GIBRALTARFrequently asked questions
The questions people actually ask before trusting a privacy app with their phone.
Does Gibraltar log my browsing?
No. Gibraltar filters DNS requests on your device, against a blocklist that lives on your phone. Your browsing history, DNS requests, and traffic contents never leave your device. There is nothing to log, and nothing we could hand over if asked.
Can Gibraltar read my messages, photos, or calls?
No. Gibraltar is not a messaging app, a file scanner, or a call recorder. It sits at the network layer and checks domain names against known threat and tracker lists. It cannot open your apps, read your texts, or see the contents of your camera roll.
Does it block all ads?
It blocks ads served by known ad and tracker domains at the DNS level. This catches the vast majority of in-app and web ad trackers. It is not a magic wand for every ad format — but it's the same technique the most aggressive blockers use, without routing your traffic through someone else's servers.
Why does Android say Gibraltar is a VPN?
Because Android requires a local VPN interface to inspect and filter DNS requests before they leave your device. That's the honest description of how on-device filtering works. Your traffic is not routed to a Gibraltar server — it stays on your phone, just filtered.
Is the VPN real, or just DNS filtering?
Both are real, and they're different things. DNS filtering blocks known bad domains. The encrypted VPN (Premium) additionally encrypts and tunnels your traffic through a private connection, hiding your IP and your activity from your ISP and public Wi-Fi.
What does the stalkerware scan actually check?
Seven indicators of surveillance: unknown accessibility services, suspicious device administrators, dangerous permission clusters, sideloaded apps, known stalkerware packages, rogue VPNs, and user-installed certificates. The scan runs entirely on your device — the app list and results are never uploaded anywhere.
How do I install Gibraltar?
Download the APK from gibraltarapp.com, open the file, and allow installs from your browser when Android asks. That's the whole install. If it's blocked, go to Settings → Apps → your browser → Install unknown apps → Allow.
Why not the Google Play Store?
Direct distribution keeps the app fully under your control and under ours — no store, no account required to browse features, no platform in the middle. Google Play and the App Store are planned, and we'll announce when they arrive.
Is there an iOS version?
Not yet. Gibraltar is Android-only for now. iOS has stricter sandboxing that blocks the on-device scan — and we won't ship a watered-down version that can't do the thing that makes Gibraltar worth having. We'll build iOS when we can do it properly.
What does it cost?
$10/month. One plan, one price, for everyone, everywhere. We don't do dynamic pricing or charge different people different amounts — that's exactly the kind of profiling Gibraltar exists to stop.
How do I cancel?
Email support@gibraltarapp.com with the email you used at signup and ask to cancel. We'll confirm and stop the next charge. Cancel before renewal to prevent the next payment.
Does Gibraltar protect against a government or my ISP?
Gibraltar protects against trackers, malware, stalkerware, snoops, and the surveillance economy — the everyday watching that most people actually face. We don't make claims about 'stopping governments.' We tell you plainly what the app does and let the results speak.
How does Gibraltar compare to Glacier and other privacy apps?
Glacier is the closest direct competitor — VPN, DNS protection, and threat alerts, but its DNS filtering runs through a third-party cloud (NextDNS) rather than on your device, it can't scan your apps for stalkerware, it's iOS-only, and it costs $14.99/mo with phone lines as add-ons. AdGuard is a capable ad blocker and VPN but has no threat alerts or spyware scan, and its filtering is cloud-based too. Neither of them bundles all five things Gibraltar does — VPN, DNS filtering, threat alerts, stalkerware scan, and on-device filtering — and both cost more than our $10. You can see the full scorecard on our homepage.
What's the difference between filtering on my device vs. in the cloud?
Most VPN and ad-blocking apps filter your traffic on their servers. That means your DNS queries — the domain names you look up — travel to a third-party cloud and back. You're trusting that cloud not to log or misuse them. Gibraltar filters on your device instead: the blocklist lives on your phone, and your queries are checked locally before they ever leave it. Nothing about your browsing reaches a Gibraltar server, so there is nothing for us to log, sell, or hand over. It's the difference between trusting a promise and not having to trust anyone.
Why is Gibraltar $10 when Glacier is $14.99 and AdGuard is $11.99?
One price for everyone, everywhere — that's the whole point. Glacier charges $14.99 a month for the base app, then more on top for phone lines; AdGuard's real price requires committing to a two-year plan, and their monthly rate is actually higher than ours. Gibraltar is a flat $10 for the full bundle — VPN, DNS filtering, threat alerts, and the stalkerware scan — with nothing to add on and no fine print to unlock the real price. We don't do dynamic pricing or charge different people different amounts, because profiling customers by what they'll pay is exactly the kind of thing Gibraltar exists to stop.
Something we didn't cover? Email support@gibraltarapp.com.