What does this mean? Hosts file definitions will be ignored by anything using Google Play Services or plain Google Services, and that app you held updates on to avoid the Hosts file from being ignored, doesn’t matter in the long run, because the data will still get through.
A compelling reason to root your device is to modify Hosts. Now Google is making that even more irrelevant. YouTube bypasses Hosts being the most notable example, but all of their apps now bypass Hosts. It finally led to their Play services bypassing hosts, so any anti-telemetry/adblocking will fail.
My case is the popular call blocking app “Calls Blacklist” which I ran an old version of on purpose, suddenly without warning bypassed the Hosts file and showed a “GET ON FACEBOOK!” ad. The only thing that received continual updates was Google Play Services, so if they can do this, they can sneak telemetry past the Hosts definitions as well. I ended up switching to “Blacklist Blocker” and “NoPhoneSpam.”
I stopped trusting Android when 4.4 hit. Now they’re backporting their crumminess to my 4.3 Jellybean Nexus 4. This means Adaway is useless now for Google stuff. Just as useless as the PiHole is for Google Services.
But this thread is to gather reports if this is happening or if it’s a fluke in the Hosts building. If no one else has this issue, this is a Adaway issue with a faulty list.