By 
Rovio’s recent update to Angry Birds provided a lot of good — fourty-five new levels of good — but it also brought along some not so lovely elements. New ads showed up right in the upper corner, covering up vital screen real estate, and overall the game felt laggy and jittery. As with every Android complaint comes an XDA-born resolution, this time in the form of a mod that corrects recent update woes.
Gone are the ads and apparently gameplay now feels buttery smooth. You know you want to check it out. Head over to the source links below to get it.
[EDIT: To be fair, I haven’t actually checked out this hacked version, and am only reporting it as a loyal Android news junkie. We here at Phandroid, of course, do not condone or approve of robbing hardworking devs of their hard-earned money.]
[XDA via AndroidCommunity]
Not available in my market as of now. Droid X.
why would a site purporting to support the Android platform run a story like this? completely irresponsible and unprofessional. this amounts to nothing more than piracy.
I think it’s cool that Rovio provides this game for free. Keep in mind that those ads are what makes it possible for them to offer such a cool game for free.
I did update a few days back but have not played it yet so i don’t know how laggy it is….but im sure if you give the dev a little bit of time they will fix the laggyness of the app and reposition the ads.
Kind of a dick move to promote this kind of hack, a real knife in the back of the developer.
Kind of sleezy to hack the ads out of the game. This type of thing just discourages developers from releasing free ad-supported versions.
I agree.
I’ve 3-starred all the new levels already and had no issues doing it with the ads in place. I also didn’t really notice any lag.
I definitely think we should support developers as much as possible, but they need to be smarter when it comes to generating revenue. Reducing the overall experience via lag and obstructive ads doesn’t help anyone.
You’d get an infraction if you had posted this in the forums! Bad move to run this story.
Root your phone install Droid wall and disable internet for angrybirds . That’s what I did and it runs fast with no lag and no ads even on my g1. This is probably all the mod is doing . And it will work for all phones that are rooted.
I have to agree with the above comments? WTH are you guys thinking promoting this?
I’m sure every one of you complaining have donated to every free app you’ve downloaded right? Uh huh, I didn’t think so.
Also to just add a quick note. The company was bought out by EA this Is why they put it up for free. I don’t think taking away these ads are going to kill them and if they wanted us to support them I rather donate or buy an ad-less version.
I have to agree with other commenters. Why would you run a story about a pirated version of the app that removes the only source of income the developers have in that particular app? It’s a shame that you’re promoting piracy and giving the Android community a bad name among developers. If anything you should be railing against this mod.
You have definitely lost a great deal of respect I had for the site. For shame!
No update for my Evo. Most of u
It’s in no way illegal to take out ad access. If there was an ad-free version available for purchase, that would be a different story, but there isn’t.
Angry Birds is a great game, and I’d be more than willing to pay for a full copy without ads. Until that option is available, I’ll do what it takes to have a playable version.
Thanks for this fix.
Awesome, works like a charm.
@adamsinger77: So if I turn off mobile data and WiFi, will I get the same effect? Those are both available in the standard Settings app with no root required. I think I’ll try that before playing next time.
No update for my Evo. Most of you sound like idiots. It’s FREE!
The developer is thinking about putting the Ads back guy. Calm your horses. He was just trying to fix the lag issue, which is terrible on my hero. I can’t even play it now because it’s so laggy.
Bad form phandroid, bad form. No wonder developers don’t want to come to android when the fan sites actively promote piracy of their wares.
Horrible post.
Some of you have no clue what you’re talking about. Phandroid “promoting” piracy? WTF! Have you ever heard of rooting your phone before? Yeah, that’s a form of piracy. Jeez, get off your freakin high horses people.
Now developers have no incentive to give their apps/games away for free because there will be no revenue stream for them.
Terrible.
I bet that if the 9 people disagreeing with this post, someone is downloading either music, tv shows, or movies illegally and has an adblocker setup in his/her browser.
If not, I’d be very surprised!
Eric: I can’t agree more.
I bet that of the 9 people disagreeing with this post, someone is downloading either music, tv shows, or movies illegally and has an adblocker setup in his/her browser.
If not, I’d be very surprised!
I agree that this is sleezy. I just got my first Android phone and I’ve been trying to see what the best Android news sites out there are. It seems like most of the sites pretty much run the same stories, so no reason to keep coming here and giving Phandroid money FROM ADS when they actively promote removing ads from apps.
-1 not a nice way to show appreciation to the developers is it?
I wish they would let me buy it and turn off the ads.
Thanks Phandroid. You’re going to delete my comment because I mentioned people not donating to free apps to begin with? Great moderation, keep the comments you like and delete the ones you don’t agree with.
@ToastnJam rooting does not imply piracy. I have my phone rooted and I have no software on it that is not legitimately licensed.
I don’t see them removing the ads as being any different than someone running Firefox with an Ad blocker. yes I get why the ads are there but I also get the side where it does take away from the game having ads on the screen.
There’s a different way, same result: turn off mobile broadband and wifi before playing. You’ll save some battery gas while playing, you’ll still get phone calls, and the ads go bye-bye. The game runs much better in that mode.
The first version (introduced in Oct) w/ the ads was just fine. Moving the ads to top right (in the “update”) was unnecessary and injured the gameplay. And the lag is unbelievable. Ipod/iPhone and “lite” versions are 10x better, performance wise. The ads kill the experience. But it’s Rovio’s attempt to create an app that generates more than $.99 per sale revenue. By going the “ad supported” route, they open up the possibility of years of ad revenue generation, which, they are betting, will earn them more than what would have been earned selling copies at $.99 a shot. They did this, however, at the risk of rendering the game far less playable.
I would just like to pay for the game and not have to deal with the ads at all. I was a bit disappointed with the ads at first and they do slow the game down. I could see someone that hasn’t developed anything before introducing ads for revenue, but this game was already hot as it was and a paid version, reasonably priced with no ads would have sold like hotcakes. BTW, all of you trying to look like noblemen by playing morality police can save it, you all sound like retards.
I was rather annoyed after the update when that ad popped up. If it had been in the top left (where it didn’t block me from seeing my target), and didn’t create so much lag while displayed, I wouldn’t mind them so much. Maybe it just lags on older hardware (like my Droid) and the developers didn’t notice. Or maybe they just didn’t test it well enough. But the ads definitely degraded the functionality of an otherwise awesome game.
I’ve been planning to root (trying to do it without wiping my phone), and this Angry Birds update is just one more reason.
WOW!! I cannot believe that they put this on the site!! Nice… real nice!!
@Steve I couldn’t agree more. I’ve had my phone rooted since the second week I had it, and I’ve paid for every app I own. There are far, far more reasons to root one’s phone than for piracy. I get significantly better speed and performance with overclocking, I can choose which release of Android to use, and I can save memory on my phone by moving more apps to my SD card. I even use my OG Droid to hack my PS3 to play my legally-purchased games from an external hard drive for no other reason than it was a fun challenge to do. It’s like a delicious parfait of legal use.
Sure, rooting has the potential for abuse, but not all rooters are pirates.
How is it piracy if the effin game is given out for FREE! Regardless if people decide to tinker with it..ala rooting/hacking so what? Thats the whole point of open source. If the developers were smart they would avoid ads and have a “pay for” version that people including me are willing to fork over a few bucks to live w/out the adds and especially the lag. It’s a Rovio FAIL!
Actually Frank, the original idea from Rovio was to place an in app unlocker to remove the ads. Rovio has not yet implemented it or the base code may be there for in app purchase but just no interface for it. This should be pulled from all sites and probably will once Rovio sends out the CAD orders. Removing ads is removing their income same as downloading the app for free somewhere to avoid paying for it. And open source is for the Android OS, not companies apps so your whole open source argument is null and void.
The ads suck. The hacked version makes the game playable…and free. Best of both worlds. Hope hacks come for all the ad cursed games.
@Frank – your post is a Frank FAIL! Open source does not mean that developers have to provide apps for FREE.
I disagree with running this article, you should be ashamed
@Android Fan – the game is playable as is. I don’t notice any lag at all. If you want the best possible experience you have to lay down a little more money and get a high end phone.
As for the ads blocking the way…i agree that it was better at the bottom however it does not make the game unplayable….you guys do know that you can zoom out for a clearer view right?
How many of you click on the ads that are complaining? Also Rivio made over 20 mill selling out to EA so why do they need more money? All the ad money goes to EA now anyway. EA is against Android development and wants Rivio to only develop for Apple. So F em all and take out the ads. Also phandroid just reports news they never promote piracy and this isn’t piracy. It’s an open source game now so we can compile it how ever we damn well please. Me blocking the damn Bing ads from this site must make me a pirate cause I’m stealing news without clicking/watching/viewing the ads. Report me to the feds.
@adamsinger77 you miss the point completely. In an ecosystem that is crying out for good game devs, this is simply not sending out a good message
@Frank this has absolutely nothing to do with free. The game was written by a company, who holds the copyright to it. Even if you don’t change the app at all, you can’t make a copy of it and distribute it yourself without their permission. You most certainly can’t make a copy of their work, modify it in some way, and distribute it. This is just plain outright illegal.
This is pretty good news, thanks Phandroid.
Having this mod version is great. I can actually play the game on my phone now (it lagged horribly making it useless). The dev who modded this said once a paid version comes along, they will dump this apk immediately.
For those complaining, what’s the difference when you:
a) Turn off all data services to play this game (thereby rendering the ads useless)
b) Run the app “ad-free” from the market.
Both ways circumvent the ads in any application.
Once they release a paid version or an paid unlock code, I will be right there to support Rovio. But when they come out with something that neuters the game so they can have their ads poll more often, I welcome the option of a modded version I can play.
RE Kevin Krause
[EDIT: To be fair, I haven’t actually checked out this hacked version, and am only reporting it as a loyal Android news junkie. We here at Phandroid, of course, do not condone or approve of robbing hardworking devs of their hard-earned money.]
Yet you still promote the hack.
^
what he said
@Josh he’s promoting more of the lag-free aspect of the mod. It wouldn’t be fair to not mention that it also removes ads, so imo he did the right thing.
@Juan – i don’t agree. I experience no lag. you wouldnt expect to play one of the better pc games on an e-machine so why would you expect one of the better Android Games to work on lower end devices.
This site can really lag sometimes too. Im sure Rob and the Gang would not like it if I created an ad-free, lag free version of Phandroid.
Have you used the Phandroid App in the market? it fetches data at a snails pace!
@Josh although I have not experienced any lag (rooted EVO) I think that if an update hinders the ability for one to enjoy an app, and one has the option to install a working version, they should be able to. It may not be the right thing, but it works. Anyways Rovio will probably release an update to fix this, but maybe not soon enough for some who enjoy the game but can’t play it in it’s current state.
Yes I use the Phandroid app every day, and for me the wait is bearable. I recall reading here that it will be updated soon. The site itself isn’t loading slow for me either, so it might be the net provider.
This is my first post here… but this bugs me a LOT. It was just in the last week or two that you posted, on this very site, about a hack promising a few extra levels for Angry Birds was actually a privilege escalating attack vector. Now you are, essentially, promoting a hacked version of the actual game. This is irresponsible, at best. I’ve come to expect better from this site.
My personal feeling is that your comments concerning the actual game update are spot-on. It was a bit laggy, and the ad placement was less-than-ideal. I, like many others, would prefer to pay for the game than have ads cluttering my screen. However, that does not give me a right to grab a hacked version of this app.
@Josh – Your argument is flawed. Lower end phones can indeed run the game, as proven by the hack provided by xda members. The fact being that the game’s devs did something wrong, which in turn made the game lag on said phones.
Also, altought I do not necessarily condoned removing the ads in-game, I find it slightly hypocritical that you would be so quick to judge phandroid for running the story, when I highly doubt that you yourself never illegally downloaded a piece of software, song or movie.
Anyway, phandroid is merely reporting the story, not actually forcing you to download the stuff.
“You know you want to check it out. Head over to the source links below to get it.”
Phandroid, your feeble “to be fair” edit doesn’t hold much weight after that statement.
Just pathetic… I’ve lost respect for your site.
Just had an additional thought. You crossed a line when you linked to the app, and posted the following text:
“Gone are the ads and apparently gameplay now feels buttery smooth. You know you want to check it out. Head over to the source links below to get it.”
This is not simply reporting on something, this is promoting something that is arguably illegal.
Rovio is making money out of this by the ads, stop being jerks and thank them for that, if you’re removing those ads its like pirating the game and you’re bitch-slapping Rovio for the excellent job that they did and for releasing the game for free.
Plus i have NexusOne and there is no lag, i noticed that all the people whining about this are running it on old devices such as HTC Hero, blame your old phone and not Rovio and i think its time for you to upgrade
http://androidcommunity.com/fake-angry-birds-update-harvests-your-phones-innards-20101111/
Guys…just to point out, EA didn’t by Rovio. They bought Chillingo, the company who published its games for the eye-phone and eye-touch.
http://topicfire.com/EA-buys-Angry-Birds-creator-Rovio-for-20-Million-UPDATE-15820951.html
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/10/20/ea-swoops-in-to-buy-angry-birds-publisher/
http://phandroid.com/2010/11/10/spoofed-app-thumbs-nose-at-permissions/
It doesn’t harvest innards. Also XDA is a pretty reputable site for those wondering. When you know what you’re doing of course.
@Wanderlusterer – this has got nothing to do with the current story, and has already been reported on phandroid a few days ago
I’m assuming this will only work with rooted phones.
wanderluster – this was already reported on, on this site….try to keep up.
-1 for phandroid (now being referred to as phaildroid)
Seriously? You’re supposed to SUPPORT android, not show ways to F over developers. In the future, do not write about pirate crap.
This is a very lame ‘story’. Perhaps you could ask the dev’s what they think of it? That would be a better story.
Doens’t putting your phone in airplane mode or using a firewall do the exact same thing as this version of the game without the ads? I’ve been using airplane mode since I upgraded cause even on my X, it lags when the ads are displayed. Not game breaking, but annoying. I’d gladly give them money for a version without ads, but I don’t have that option, now do I?
Also…I’d venture to say alot of the audience here is rooted…and I’d ALSO venture to say that a lot of you are running custom ROMs that have built in ad blocking and thats esentially the same except on a grander scale, not to mention the fact that one poster mentioned that they’re the same ones downloading movies and albums.
I don’t think everybody commenting is seeing the big picture. Nobody is robbing Rovio blind because they’re using a version of the game without ads, ESPECIALLY since there are perfectly “legal” ways of going about it. When Rovio fixes the issues with the new updates, I’ll put up with the ads, until then, airplane mode FTW.
If you turn off all forms of internet access to your phone before you start the game, it will be ad-free =)
Not laggy for me on my dinc. The adds are occasionally in the way, but small price to pay for free app. Also I would be willing to pay some to rid myself of the adds. But alas that is not an option, so I deal with the adds as my way of paying for the app.
Adfree does much the same thing (disables the ads). You do need root to run it. All the non free apps on my phone are paid for, and I have “pro” or donate versions of those that have the option. However, I am not willing to wait on ads and hence run ad blocking software on all my computers.
I would be delighted to pay for a fast ad free version of Angry Birds. The update, though it resolved some graphics issues, is unplayable on my Magic. With Adfree it is still slower than the original but much much better, plus I don’t have the ads obscuring the target area.
I just went back to version 1.3.5 which worked on my Cliq, where as the 1.4.2 made the phone act like it was locked up.
I had no problems with lag, but the repositioning of the ads is really annoying and blocks vital parts of the screen, especially with the dreaded boomerang birds (at least I hate using them). I don’t have any problem with the ads, since that makes the game free. But I do wish Rovio would move the ads back down.
Haven’t used this website for a while. I come back and one of the first articles I come across is this. Very surprised and not in a good way, it’s just not on..
I have Angry Birds on my iPod Touch, I am going to add it to my new D2G, but really ads, how about just charging me $1 or $2 and ditch the adds. Or course we all know that there are a lot of Android users who complain about paying for apps at all, so I do find the ad removal mod as bad. Rovio made it so they should fix it if there is a lag issue.
I fully support your right to publish this article.
However, I do have an issue with Phandroid being hypocritical.
“We here at Phandroid, of course, do not condone or approve of robbing hardworking devs of their hard-earned money.”
Then don’t link to or post about it! You are condoning it by posting about it and listing download links.
That’d be like me running lifehacker.com and making a post that says “we don’t condone piracy, but just so you know, Adobe.Acrobat.Pro.X.v10.0.Multilingual.Incl.Keymaker-CORE was just released, and HERE is a link to a website offering it for download.”
C’mon guys. At least remove the BS disclaimer if you’re going to leave the article up.
You should be ashamed to publish such story. Angry birds works great as is. Please remove this …
Don’t worry download app called AdFree from the market it literally removes ad from most of the apps. Without getting a hacked version, all you have to do is be rooted.
Phandroid rocks!
If they removed ads, that’s illegal, and you shouldn’t have published such an article anyway.
Its PIRACY.
The devs decided to release angry birds with ads, because that is the economic model they wanted to get money from their application.
Phandroid you are pirates also.
I can’t believe so many self righteous people complaining about this post. Regardless the point is, the tiny ads at the bottom of the screen were never a bother with the original download. Its only after the update did the ads get in the way and screw with your gameplay. XDA did what the do best and removed them, you should be thanking them instead of complaining. Its not like the game devs are losing millions because of this hack. I also think people d/l more free apps then paid ones. People root their phones to remove ads/bloatware/etc. so how is this any different?
I’m appalled to see this story. Support devs!
@bjtheone so you mean that with adfree enabled, the latest update of AB is playable? I’ve got a spica and currently the game is so bad that I went back to the 1.3.5 version
Here’s just another vote for a paid version, so we can avoid these types of situations.
Devs have to earn a living too and it’s only fair that they get paid for a game that people spend countless hours on, but you can buy apps in most civilised countries now, so I see no reason why there could not be and ad-free version that people could, in addition to the ad-supported one.
To Phandroid’s defence,
If a paid-for ad-free version existed then I would say its not cool to remove the ads, but given you have no option other than to deal with the horrible little adverts, I will try the hack out for myself. (I have NO other hacked software on my phone)
Rovio is a bunch of idiots..I don’t think there is one person here who wouldn’t pay money to get an ad free app of this..
totally sucks
+1 to #86 (Rick James). I would pay for an ad-free version, and am disappointed that this isn’t an option.
All:
I don’t think that most of you understand just how things really work. Just because someone publishes a “free” app, doesn’t mean you are NOT still bound by the terms of use. In the case of the app in question, it is to deal with ads in exchange for playing the game. If you find a way around it, like airplane mode, so much the better. It is against the spirit of the agreement, but you are still legally abiding by the terms. But if you modify the binary and start re-distributing that to others… that is illegal. Period. Justify it however you like, it is still ethically wrong and against the law.
While we are on the subject, even though most of you are done reading this post and it’s comments, NOTHING says you HAVE to play this game. I like the game well enough to deal with the ads, even though I REALLY want a paid version that removes them. But the only LEGAL option I have if I don’t like them is to not install the app in the first place.
How about they let me buy the game with no ads? I seriously would pay more then the 99 cents they are charging on the iphone.
Give me a paid version and I’ll gladly pay a few bucks for it. I’m more than happy to support devs that make quality apps by buying them.
Until then, my spaz kids love to play Angry Birds, but end up CONSTANTLY hitting the ads. I’m sure the devs LOVE this, but I don’t really care for having to get them back to the game every 20 seconds… Tons of devs have ad-supported free versions and ad-free paid versions. I don’t know why Rovio can’t do that w/ Angry Birds.
Even with the adds it runs okay on my lowly Ally, but you do have to wait for adds to finish loading on some levels so game play is not jittery but once they are loaded it plays smooth. I for one would be glad to pay Rovio a few bucks for an add free version, or continue to run the adds included version in order to support a great developer and continued development of Angry Birds and other games on the Android platform.
I would happily pay for an Ad-Free version, but with a multi-user feature, so I don’t lose my own scores, when lending my HTC Desire to my son to have a go!
Pretty vile running this. Just letting you know I’ve dropped your feed because of it
Not to worry about this posting depriving Roxio of ad revenues. The linked software delivers all the ads just fine.
The one that covers the field of play in the upper right hand corner is seriously annoying.
game is very jumpy with ads and at time the most important part is blocked by the ad, hard and fustrating to play with ad there
You jackasses that are ticked about this being published and support ads being shoved in peoples faces, shove it! As if people don’t already get enough solicitation crap stuck in our faces! You are probably developers, marketers, advertising fags, or spammers. If you are going to give something free… make it free!! Free from your garbage and free of catches. Thanks for posting this! As soon as you find away to force crap on us like ads, we will find a way to thwart you!