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Web Browser With Black Background (Invert Colors / Night Mode) Through Proxy Filter

This is a solution for people looking to invert colors or force specific colors (e.g. white text / black background) on their web browser. Great for easier reading (especially at night) and saving power on OLED screens. CyanogenMod's browser has an invert colors option built in, but as far as I can tell, nobody has been able to port the CM browser to other ROMs. This solution works with any browser or ROM.
The basic idea is to run a web filter proxy such as Privoxy. Proxy filters are usually used for ad blocking, but they also have the power to completely rewrite a webpage. Privoxy is run in the background, and using the browser or WiFi/APN proxy settings, all web traffic is run through Privoxy. Privoxy rewrites the web pages based on the filters before it is displayed on your browser.
In the attached set, I've put together some badly-written but effective filters to force light text on black backgrounds. The filters rewrite the webpage so that the background is always black, text is always light gray, and links are always green. The filters only tweak the HTML/styles, so as a (usually) helpful side effect, the pictures remain unchanged. With my current configuration, Privoxy loads automatically in the background at startup, and all web pages run through Privoxy and are displayed in my designated colors. See the screenshots below to see it in action.
I put together a simple set of files that so folks can test this out.
Requirements
- You must have a rooted phone.
- You must be able to access proxy settings. Depending on your firmware, you might be able to set a proxy in Wireless and Network Settings (Wi-Fi settings -> Advanced, or Mobile Networks -> Access Point Names). You can also try an app like Transproxy or AutoProxy, or a browser that supports proxy settings, such as Firefox Mobile with the Proxy Mobile add-on.
Instructions
- Download and install Autostart (Root) from the Market.
- In your root folder, create a folder called /data/opt
- Download the attached "force_colors.zip" and extract the files
- Place all the files in /data/opt. Set appropriate permissions. (Privoxy and autostart.sh need to be executable.)
- Reboot your phone. Autostart should run the autostart.sh script (it will ask for superuser permission) and Privoxy will run in the background.
- Set your proxy host to localhost and the proxy port to 8118.
- If everything went correctly, all webpages should load in black background, light gray text and green links.
Note: If you use DroidWall or similar firewall settings, make sure that you allow access for "Applications running as root" so that Privoxy can access the network.
---
Note that these filters are infinitely customizable, if you know how to use regular expressions. Just edit force_colors.filter with the filters of your choice. For example, the Privoxy filters available here are specifically designed to invert some colors and make other ones darker, so you can still preserve some website colors in a more readable format.
In the next post, I'll describe everything I researched in pursuit of this solution. I am hoping others will pick up this project and make it into an easy-to-use package, and also to create some alternative filters to make them cleaner and/or more effective.
I think this feature is sorely needed in Android. Please pass the word to any developers who can help make it a reality!

[Note: This is my earlier post explaining what I did to make this solution work. Please note that I am a complete development noob! I hope this information is helpful and other people will improve on my solution.]
- There is an Android port of Privoxy on the Android Market called Privoxy (BETA 1). Install it and see if it works for you. On my phone, the app interface does not work. If I try to manually start Privoxy in a terminal window, it gives me a seg fault. Anyway, run the app once regardless, so that it copies the Privoxy files to the app data directory (/data/data/com.galoula.Privoxy/). We will use this directory as our base.
- A *working* Android port of Privoxy is included in Orbot: Tor on Android. (Tor uses Privoxy to pass the HTTP requests to a SOCKS proxy.) Download, install and run Orbot. You just need to run it once so that it copies the Privoxy binary to the app data folder.
- You'll find Orbot's Privoxy binary in /data/data/org.torproject.android/app_bin. Copy the "privoxy" binary and use it to replace the binary that came with Privoxy (BETA 1) (located in /data/data/com.galoula.Privoxy/bin). Set appropriate permissions. (We only installed Orbot for the binary, so you can uninstall Orbot now if you don't want it always loading in the background.)
- Now set up the filters. Download the attached force_colors.zip below. Extract the three files (force_colors.action, force_colors.filter, and privoxy_conf). Copy these files to /data/data/com.galoula.Privoxy/etc.
- Open a terminal window, navigate to /data/data/com.galoula.Privoxy/bin and start privoxy by running "./privoxy ../etc/privoxy_conf"
- By default, Privoxy will listen on port 8118. Go to your WiFi settings or APN settings. Set the Proxy name to "localhost" and the port to "8118". Now all web data will pass through Privoxy.
- Browse to a few websites and you'll see white text on black backgrounds! The default colors in the force_colors.filter are black for backgrounds, light gray for text, and green for links. Feel free to edit force_colors.filter to whatever color combination you prefer. I used HTML color names instead of hex codes to make it more readable.
- To run Privoxy every time at startup, I use an app from the Market called Autostart (Root). The directions are limited but basically, you just need to install the app and make a file called /data/opt/autostart.sh (set appropriate permissions). Then in autostart.sh, put this line: "/data/data/com.galoula.Privoxy/bin/privoxy /data/data/com.galoula.Privoxy/etc/privoxy_conf". The next time you reboot (might have to try it one or two times), Autostart will ask for superuser permission, and start Privoxy automatically.
Hope this is helpful for anybody else who wants to experiment.

hey claimui, this looks like a great approach! i'm looking forward to giving it a try this weekend and learning more about how the filtering works!

I spent a couple of days learning regular expressions (or at least some of them) and throwing together a simpler set of filters to force certain colors on a webpage. With this set, all backgrounds are black, all text is light grey, and links are green.
EDIT: My filters are now included in the force_colors.zip attached in the OP.

added to
black energy saving android apps for AMOLED screens

I made several updates to the original posts, including a suggestion on how to get Privoxy to start automatically on boot. After going through this whole process, this is a really effective solution. Privoxy starts automatically and invisibly whenever I start up my phone, and all of my webpages automatically pass through Privoxy and get displayed in my preferred colors.
For future tweaking, it would be nice to have a simple shortcut to enable/disable the filtering. (Although honestly I never want to disable it -- I always like my colors better!) Note that you can't simply kill Privoxy because your browser won't be able to find the proxy to connect to. So you either need a Privoxy command to toggle filtering on and off, or toggle the proxy settings to either use or bypass Privoxy.
In the meantime though, I think this still works really well. Hope others give it a try and can improve on the procedure.

Major update: I have finally consolidated all the steps into a small zip file and some simple instructions. You will need root access and a file manager or some basic knowledge of how to get around your phone. Just follow the instructions in the first post and you should be able to get it working very quickly.

Would like to test this but couldn't things to work...
Privoxy now updates to beta2.
Everything I try I get 404 Page can't loaded...
Have changed to localhost and port 8118 but doesn't work...

No need to install Privoxy from the Market. Just follow the instructions in my first post. After you install the Autostart app and put the files in the /data/opt folder, Privoxy will start at the next reboot.

Thx! Think it was a problem with SiyahKernel! After flashing from 2.0b2 to 2.0b3 now privoxy work!
Thx a lot! Have long time searched for something similar!

when I try to create the folder /data/opt it says it is created but in doesn't show up. also when I create the same folder and then move it to root folder it automatically renames it opt. I'm using root explorer.

In Root Explorer, first navigate to the /data folder, then click the button to Mount as R/W, then create the opt folder. Does that work?

Updated the OP to include some more suggestions for folks who are having trouble finding proxy settings. The basic options are:
1. See if your firmware comes with proxy settings. Under Wireless and Network Settings, look in Wi-Fi settings -> (menu button) Advanced, or Mobile Networks -> Access Point Names.
2. You can also try an app like Transproxy or AutoProxy.
3. Try a browser that supports proxy settings, such as Firefox Mobile with the Proxy Mobile add-on.

Nice.
Have you by any chance conducted a battery test or otherwise made any effort to notice the impact of this modification on battery life?

I haven't personally done any battery experiments (at least not for the browser) but this is a good reference: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=660853
Basically yes, black backgrounds do save battery power on AMOLED screens. Personally I think the difference between 5% and 3% (or 3% and 2% at lower brightness) is not that big of a deal, probably not even noticeable in normal use. But if you want to squeeze the most milliwatts out of your battery then this will help.
To me the main benefit is that black backgrounds are just much easier to read, especially at night, and especially with the deep blacks / high contrast of the AMOLED screen.

Don't need 10 chars for this replay.
AWESOME!
Edit:
Sadly, from the time that passed since I posted this post, I stumbled upon a few annoying bugs.
1. Proccess locked at 50% cpu, (100% of a single core)
2. Some sites just don't work, and then I have to restart the browser.

Yes google mobile site everytime I would like to search something I get this Error:
This page contains the following errors:
error on line 3 at colum 31: AttValue: " or ' expected
Reparse document as HTML

I know regexp pretty well, but Privoxy syntax is a little bit confusing.
I'm trying to figure out the filters supplied by the OP, and they are just too confusing
To OP : How do you set the delimiter for the filters in Privoxy?
I know / and | are possible, are you using + for some reason?
All your filters start with s+, what is the + ?

Great work. Autostart didn't work on my Galaxy Note for some reason.
But maybe changing CSS is easier. This method works on Opera Mobile:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1326434

eitama said:
Sadly, from the time that passed since I posted this post, I stumbled upon a few annoying bugs.
1. Proccess locked at 50% cpu, (100% of a single core)
2. Some sites just don't work, and then I have to restart the browser.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hm, I haven't encountered these bugs. I am using the same files that I uploaded in the zip. Does it only happen with certain sites? Maybe I just need to tweak the filters. My regexp is poor so they are very crude, and could easily screw up some sites.
bgx said:
Yes google mobile site everytime I would like to search something I get this Error:
This page contains the following errors:
error on line 3 at colum 31: AttValue: " or ' expected
Reparse document as HTML
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you tell me the specific URL? I notice you're on T-Mobile so maybe you have a carrier-specific browser/search settings.
eitama said:
I know regexp pretty well, but Privoxy syntax is a little bit confusing.
I'm trying to figure out the filters supplied by the OP, and they are just too confusing
To OP : How do you set the delimiter for the filters in Privoxy?
I know / and | are possible, are you using + for some reason?
All your filters start with s+, what is the + ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Privoxy syntax is supposed to be like Perl -- well I don't know Perl so I'm just copying what I read. The basic reference is here: http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/filter-file.html
In my filters, I'm using + as the delimiter. In Privoxy you can use whatever delimiter you want, and it doesn't make a difference (I think). I just copied the + from another filter set -- probably because it's easier to read than / when working with HTML.
The first couple of filters should not be too hard to figure out. For example:
Code:
# Set default colors
s+<body+<body bgcolor=black text=LightGray link=LimeGreen vlink=Green+isUg
This just makes sure every <body> tag starts with "<body bgcolor=black text=LightGray link=LimeGreen vlink=Green" (very crude, I know). The isUg at the end are the modifiers:
i = case insensitive matching
s = allow string to span multiple lines
U = ungreedy matching
g = global matching
Two filters substitute a tag with "JED-C-Anchor-color". This is not a valid tag; the browser will just skip it so the effect is basically the same as deleting the tag. Substituting instead of deleting just makes debugging easier. I used "JED-C" because I modified these filters from http://members.cox.net/pu61ic.1inux.dunc4n/software/privoxy.jed
tamarian said:
But maybe changing CSS is easier. This method works on Opera Mobile:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1326434
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the tip! Yeah I know about changing CSS and that would be a better solution. But I don't think there is a way to change the CSS with the stock browser, and some people still like using the stock Samsung browser for hardware acceleration or whatever other reason. But maybe somebody could make a Privoxy filter that adds the same CSS code into all webpages?

Mother of all HOSTS file - 'hosts' file for your SGS2 Baby - Updated on 15 Feb 2012

Here i present the Mother of All Hosts file out there for you to prevent Stupid ADs, Crazy Malware and Spyware and other Nonsense Unwanted Parasites in your SGS2 Baby.
NOTE: This 'hosts' file is compatible with any Android Operating Environment. Everything Is Linux
> What is a 'hosts' file? What it Does? Whats in it for Me?
The 'hosts' file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names and loaded into memory (cache) at startup. Android OS checks the 'hosts' file before it queries any DNS servers, which enables it to override addresses in the DNS. This prevents access to the listed sites by redirecting any connection attempts back to the localhost (127.0.0.1), which is a loopback and traffic is dropped instantly (saving your millions of money used my network traffic 2G/3G/4G). Another feature of the 'hosts' file is its ability to block other applications (bogus applications) from connecting to the Internet, providing the entry exists.
'hosts' file is used to BLOCK ADs, BLOCK Banners, BLOCK 3rd Party Cookies, BLOCK 3rd Party Page Counters, BLOCK Web Bugs, BLOCK Web Hijackers, BLOCK Phishing Sites, BLOCK Malwares, BLOCK Spywares, BLOCK Trackers, BLOCK Unauthorized Application connections to web and BLOCK other Malicious activities...
This is not 100% Protection but atleast it takes care of MOST OF THE SECURITY ISSUES.
For full Security, Use Antivirus or Security Suite from Android Market.
> Performance Issue? Will my device run SLOW?
I am using this 'hosts' file from my chilhood days and never had any performance issue to date, Although you might have a little delay in startup (boot cycle) and then everything will be cool in standby and active mode. I say "Little delay is better than ADs, Malwares and Spywares..."
> Compatibility?
Any Android Release.
> How to install?
You have to be ROOT to copy the 'hosts' file to '/system/etc' and setting the permissions to 'root:root' and '0444' or 'r-r-r'. Reboot SGS2 and That It. ENJOY.
> What is the Updated Cycle?
'hosts' file is updated every 3 months.
> Any Qyeries?
Ok. I am Ready.

Tried it, seems to work fine so far, even blocked an advert in Astro file manager, adfree tends to miss this, so thanks.

Good share. I am going to use it.
How about making a list of all the ip addresses in Google docs and share it. We can update it based on others feedback. A similar approach (in a stone age way ) like adblock plus addon available in browsers.
I think users capable of understanding hosts file, can also modify it

I love this, I didn't expect the banner boxes to disappear too, thought it would just be white.

isn't there a version without adblocking? I don't like removing ads.

virtualflyer said:
isn't there a version without adblocking? I don't like removing ads.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A hosts file IS adblocking, so no there won't be
Sent from my ice cream powered Nexus S

About to give this a try, is there an update due as been 4 months since last release?

Is there an Xperia S version?
Oh and an Optimus Me version? I HATE ADS.

Is there any update about this!? Sir?

Bump! [emoji4]
Swiftkeyed from my OPO A0001

HostBlocker AdBlocker for Windows(similar to adaway)

Hey guys I have been using an adblocker on my phone for a very long time and could never find something that would do as good of a job on my pc. so I decided to apply the same concept that Adaway uses to block ads on your phone.
NOTE!!!! Most websites generate an income from adverts. Installing this adblocker or any other software that blocks ads will directly effect the owner of the websites income. if you decide to install a adblocker try to give back to the community. Just remember that adverts may be the only way the website stays online.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Host blocker is a windows program, that allows you to block anoying adverts on all browsers by applying a patch to the hosts file.
if you have already edited your host file to block updates and patches. No problem because Host Blocker adds lines to your host file instead of replacing it. so all your edits will still be there.
Host Blocker makes a backup of your existing host file so that you can easily revert the changes ata later stage.
When Upgrading to a newer version please click the remove Host Blocker button before installing the update.
You can also install and remove Host Blocker threw command prompt using the following peramiters.
Code:
hostblocker.exe silent – this will install host blocker silently
hostblocker.exe remove – this will remove host blocker silently
DOWNLOAD

Adblocking on android, are HUGE Hosts file causing browsers do hang on page loading?

Hello.
I'm starting this discussion to investigate the impact of adblockers on browser performance in android.
I've always used adblocking tools on android, mostly because I find it unaceptable that some apps download videos as ads (eats my data plan) and some web sites makes it impossible to browse their pages because they throw intrusive ads at me, like: "your android has a virus and will explode in 2 minutes if you don't download this app or that app", those ads even have causes the phone to vibrate on the count down!
With that said, I never had any trouble with adblocking apps like adfree or adaway until last year.
I started noticing that some pages began taking a LONG time to load, or stopped loading for 30s to 3 minutes on the same % when loading.
After some web pages stopped loading at all (took more than 3 minutes do open) I decided to try and find out what was causing the hangs, and turns out the fault was on the hosts file provided by those adblockers.
Some research indicated that large hosts file causes slowdown even on high end pcs (windows nt), so I figured that could be the reason.
I've tested several devices:
1.99 mb hosts file provided by adwaway
Galaxy S4 i9505 running Stock 5.0.1 Android. - Large hosts file causes browsers to slow down to a crawl.
Galaxy S4 i9505 running cm 13 - Causes slowdowns
MotoMaxxx - Running stock 6.0.1 - Causes minor, almost unnoticiable slowdowns o page loading.
Galaxy Note n7000 Running CM 12.1 - Causes Slowdowns
Funny thing is, some websites are unnafected by the hosts file, and load normally on all devices, but some others take 3 minutes or more o load.
a good example I use as testing platform is www.adorocinema.com, there are other sites that stops loading like this one, but I can't remember then right now.
How is the use of a hosts file affecting your browsers performance?
I know some devices are completely unnafected by the hosts file size why I want to find out why some devices are affected and why others are not.
Also, I want to see if there is another way to block ads on the whole OS, withou compromising browser performance (I know about adblock browser, and I'm using it for browsing webpages while I can't use adaway).
I think this slowdown has something to do with android not caching the hosts file, or something to do with the DNS lookup, I not knowlegable enough to understand this.
I'll try to upload a video showing the problem later today, as I can't right now, because I'm at work.
Edit: just found out that enabling local web server on adaway solves the problem!

On Windows systems I noticed/discovered that using a compressed hosts file (multiple entries per row) does affect much positively the heavy initial load on the system (hosts entries are cached, so the hosts file is accessed once, but the first time it takes a lot of time in case of huge uncompressed ones).
What did you discover about Android? In addition to the powerful Private DNS option, I would like to add that further enhancement.

Yes, this can absolutely cause substantial lag if the host file is ridiculously large, doesn't matter the platform, whether it's android, windows, linux, apple, etc.. The more host names blocked on the list, the larger the file, the more that has to be processed and read by the system before it can then knowingly make the decision to block these specific addresses in the host file or not. My advice to you would be to use what is considered by many as the best overall single source list, it's a combination of many great list all complied into just one clean and effective block list while sill being reasonably small in size and that'sStevenBlack a host file...
Steven Blacks Github with all the necessary
info is all here -
GitHub - StevenBlack/hosts: 🔒 Consolidating and extending hosts files from several well-curated sources. Optionally pick extensions for porn, social media, and other categories.
🔒 Consolidating and extending hosts files from several well-curated sources. Optionally pick extensions for porn, social media, and other categories. - GitHub - StevenBlack/hosts: 🔒 Consolidating a...
github.com

Are root adblock needed when there are so many ad-free alternatives like Vanced, Newpipe,Barinsta,Twidere,FB wrappers, Ublock Origin? Also host-file block should block add in browsers, socialmedia and stock Youtube.

Noob: Privacy and security

Hi, i'm very interested in privacy and security but I'm a complete noob when it comes to android and phones so hopefully i can learn something from this forum.
I currently own a samsung A51, unmodified. I'm unsure if i should root it.
I have recently read that samsung collects a lot of data and sells it to third parties, google and apple collects data just as well but they don't sell data to third parties. I'm worried about this.
My win10 machine has been hardened pretty well, it doesn't call home to microsoft in any way i know. Simply by setting the rules to "deny by default" unless something has specifically been whitelisted by, and blacklisting microsoft IP's.
Can this be done on a stock samsung phone as well? Is there any firewall app that can do this? Something like tinywall? Or IPtables in linux? to prevent any data connection from samsung?

Read my post, depending on who wants access to your phone, there isnt anything you can do. With permissions of most apps any by default most operating systems have backdoors within them, and with your advertising i.d u can be followed from website to website and tracked just by having wifi turned on. ..
E.g owning a samsung ssd, in their privacy statement they tell you they are gonna identify you from your ssd serial number and use it the same way the telemnttry u are blocking does, so unless u wanna block and change every device i.d u got...
Long story we all fuuuuucd

Windows OS has a hosts file, Linux OS has a host file, MacOS has an hosts file and Android OS has a hosts file, too. That's the place people use to block unwanted Internet connections.

jwoegerbauer said:
Windows OS has a hosts file, Linux OS has a host file, MacOS has an hosts file and Android OS has a hosts file, too. That's the place people use to block unwanted Internet connections.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah i get that but that dont work with my issue as the access to my devices goes around the layer of the operating system