No difference – hosts file works the same on ARM Macs. However, Rosetta-based Adobe apps may bypass hosts file via legacy networking. If you encounter problems, also block IPv6 entries:
::1 licensing.adobe.com
::1 genuine.adobe.com
(Append to /etc/hosts with ::1 – IPv6 loopback).
If you are looking for a "better" solution today, relying solely on the hosts file is insufficient for the latest Creative Cloud versions (2022-2024).
Adobe has implemented the Adobe Genuine Service (AGS), a background process that runs independently of the Creative Cloud apps. AGS is incredibly persistent. It can detect if the hosts file has been tampered with. If it detects that it cannot reach its servers, it may trigger a "non-genuine" pop-up or, in extreme cases, disable the software entirely. The hosts file blocks the connection, but it cannot block the logic inside the app that says, "I cannot reach the server; therefore, I should stop working." hosts file entries to block adobe activation mac better
Open Terminal and ping one of the blocked domains:
ping licensing.adobe.com
If you see ping: cannot resolve licensing.adobe.com: Unknown host or it replies from 127.0.0.1, your block is active.
Then, open Adobe Photoshop or Premiere. Go to Help > System Info. Scroll down—if you see License: Valid but network requests fail, you’ve succeeded. No difference – hosts file works the same on ARM Macs
sudo dscacheutil -flushcache sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder
echo "Adobe activation blocked."
Make executable: chmod +x ~/block_adobe.sh
Run with: sudo ~/block_adobe.sh (Append to /etc/hosts with ::1 – IPv6 loopback)
Even with perfect hosts blocking, Adobe apps embed timers. Once every ~90 days, they attempt re-validation. If your hosts file is active, the app simply fails to validate and continues working. If not, it deactivates. So this method is reliable if you never remove the entries.
Most tutorials fail because they only block IPv4. Modern macOS and Adobe clients default to IPv6 if available. If your Mac has IPv6 enabled (which it does by default), Adobe will use ::1 to bypass your 127.0.0.1 blocks.
To block Adobe activation better on Mac, you MUST block both IPv4 AND IPv6.
You can edit the hosts file with sudo nano /etc/hosts, but macOS’s DNS resolver caching is aggressive.