Using VPNs to ensure absolute anonymity while surfing the web has evolved to become a very common practice these days. There is no denying that there is a rising growth in the number of users utilizing it, and these figures will definitely escalate down the road.

Due to these demands, manufacturers of mobile devices like Apple Inc. have developed high-end iPhone apps that cater to these demands and enable folks to connect to the web safely and in anonymity. These iPhone apps are particularly designed to meet and secure the surfing needs of your iPhones.

The importance of iPhone VPN apps

Should you be utilizing a built-in VPN client within your iPhone, it is a very much favored alternative. Nonetheless, in case you are regularly using VPN, you definitely won’t prefer to spend a great chunk of your time adding in your login credentials on your iPhone if you want to browse the web thru VPNs.

In line with this, the developers made applications that can be easily used for your convenience. You may go on securely – use the web or transfer data via encrypted tunnels as much as you’d want. With a simple click of a button, you are connected, just be sure VPN has configured accordingly.

However, you may need to be aware that free VPNs may not be safe for usage. Take, for example, the Betternet safety issues.

Best features of iPhone VPN apps:

1. An easy one-click connection to the web.
2. Free you from time-consuming manual configurations.
3. Liberty to choose the protocol.
4. Makes the browsing data secured at all times.
5. Keeps intruders within your network at bay.
6. Safeguards your online privacy.

VPN apps for your iPhone

If you are among the loyal users of VPNs then you should know about the following apps:

Now, let us compare each of these VPNs.

123VPN

123VPN is an extremely light VPN app that is simple to install and use. It provides access to about 10 locations that can be easily selected. The app is completely free, but it is ad-based.

ibVPN

The ibVPN app is the one I use most frequently. It has a lot of nice features and options. You must try it if you look for a VPN app.

Hotspot Shield

Next, Hotspot Shield. Hotspot Shield provides you desktop security capabilities via its VPN service. Now, they are available on iPhone too. It will help convert your HTTP sessions into HTTPS sessions, thus allowing you added security instantly. You can now be safe with the idea that you have Malware protection, and you can now block spam and other rogue websites as well as other phishing sites. A trial version of 7-days is available for download online.

VPN One Click

Second in line is VPN One Click. With this app, you can connect to servers from different countries, they will ensure that you keep your identity hidden and so is your real IP address. With VPN One Click, you can now connect to FaceBook, YouTube, Twitter, Skype, or any other blocked websites.

VPN Express

Finally, we have the VPN Express. This app is devised to work not only on your iPhone but also on your iPad and iTouch devices. Top features include excellent availability, affordable price, 99% uptime, unblock any restricted websites, and rendered perfect for use with VOIP. You may also download the trial version to run a test of the app without spending a dime.

Have you made your pick? If any of these excellent iPhone VPN apps work to your advantage, feel free to share your experience and ideas here. We’d love to hear from you!

Do you want to remove the VPN from your iOS VPN app? Here is what you need to do.

Later edit: many iOS VPN apps in the App Store are now offering access to the OpenVPN protocol. For example, take a look at the ibVPN and PIA apps.

Traveling with your iOS device in China or Iran

Suppose that you travel to Iran or you connect to an airport wireless network while waiting for your next flight. You need to check your emails on your iPhone or to see the latest posts on Facebook. You try to set up a VPN (maybe using ibVPN, TunnelBear, VPN Fire iOS apps), but you are not able to connect to the VPN servers. Why? Most probably, the VPN ports are blocked by the network you are connected to. Nothing unusual in specific countries or public networks.

OpenVPN iOS – Solution for jailbroken devices

What to do? If your phone is jailbroken, get to Cydia, install the GuizmoVPN app and start using OpenVPN. If it is not jailbroken, there is not much you can do. Unfortunately, Apple does not allow apps that run OpenVPN in the official store, so GuizmoVPN is not available for you. (Later edit: You may now use the OpenVPN Connect app from the App Store)

How to use GuizmoVPN app

Step 1. Go to Cydia and look for the GuizmoVPN app:

Step 2. Install the app and get it started.

Step 3. Next, you need to download the OpenVPN configuration file for the VPN server you want to connect to. If you already have an account with a VPN provider, search it on the list. Many top VPN providers like HideMyAss, PureVPN, ibVPN, VPNTunnel are there.

If your provider is not listed, you should contact their support and ask for details on how to make their service work on GuizmoVPN.

If you don’t have an account with a VPN provider, you need to set up one to be able to connect to a certain server.

Step 4. After you selected the VPN provider to click on the Download button.

Step 5. Choose the VPN server you want to connect to. The OpenVPN configuration files will be downloaded to your device.

Step 6. Go to the main screen of the app and switch on Connect.

Step 7. You need to enter the username and password to get access to the selected server (they are provided by the VPN service you are subscribed to).

Step 8. You should be now connected to the VPN server and your real IP address changed. Enjoy!

Is GuizmoVPN free?

Yes and no. You can use it with no restrictions for seven days. After this evaluation period, the OpenVPN iOS will disconnect every 5 minutes, with a 5 minutes delay between 2 connections.

You can get the full version for 4.99€, a one-time fee.

Conclusion

To sum up, if you are traveling to a country with high Internet restrictions and your regular iOS VPN app does not work, then you may try using GuizmoVPN. It runs OpenVPN, a protocol that more unlikely to be blocked. Thus, you may continue browsing the Internet securely. An important “but”: GuizmoVPN only runs on jailbroken devices.

VPN services have grown to become one of the most in-demand services online. While VPN is commonly set up on a desktop computer or laptop, recent technological innovations made it available on handheld devices as well, such as mobile phones, Android devices, Apple iPhone, or even on a new iPad/iPad 2 tablet. Learn about iPad 2 VPN.

So, you came here to know exactly how you can hook up your iPad tablet to the best VPN service on the web, right? Below is a detailed instruction for network-savvy folks who wanted to start connecting to a VPN and surf the World Wide Web in complete anonymity and safety today.

Setup VPN on your Apple iPad 2

Without further ado, here is a very brief guide to setting up VPN on your Apple iPad 2:

1. Proceed to ‘Settings.’
2. Go to ‘General.’
3. When in ‘General,’ choose ‘Network.’
4. You will see a link to ‘VPN,’ click and proceed.
5. Go ahead and add your ‘VPN Configuration.’

The VPN Configuration is the settings provided to you by your VPN service provider.  This is the one given to you when you first enrolled in the service. For instance, it may include one of the following:

Server: pptp.(VPNPROVIDERNAME).com

Important! PPTP is no longer available on the latest iOS version. Here are the alternatives you have.

Account: Your Username or the one you gave when you first registered into the system.

RSA Secure ID: Turn this ‘OFF’ at all times.

Encryption: Set this to ‘Auto’ at all times.

Password: As provided by your VPN for iPad services.

Send All Traffic: Always have it ‘ON.’

As soon as you have your VPN Configuration all setup, you will see the option of ‘Turning Off and On’ your VPN adjacent to where your ‘VPN’ link is written at the ‘Settings’ in the ‘Network’ section. Should you decide to deactivate your VPN, ensure you have your Wi-Fi connection turned off at first. Truth be told, that it is extremely hazardous to remain connected to a Wi-Fi Hotspot with your iPad or any handheld device devoid of any VPN or data encryption capabilities.

Why should I use an iPad / iPad 2 VPN?

At this juncture, you may have asked yourself, ‘Why should I use VPN on an iPad?’ Or ‘What is it for me?’ Well, VPN on an iPad helps resolve various dilemmas long before you even come to know of it, or they show up.

First and foremost, VPN on an iPad protects you from fraudulent phishing and hacking activities that is prevalent over an unsecured Wi-Fi connection.

Second, it has the power to let you bypass any internet censorship imposed upon you by reason of law, strict regulations, or merely by reason of your location. Thus, giving you more freedom to access online media content from websites like Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, and the whole nine yards!

Third and last, should you be accessing your PC on a remote location via your iPad, you ought to have a secure, steadfast, and robust encrypted tunnel surrounding your traffic to secure your data transfers on the World Wide Web. With VPN on your iPad, you can surf the web anonymously as much as you’d like without fear of leaving behind online tracks which help you save more of your time and privacy away from the prying eyes of your Internet Service Provider or mobile network service provider as the case may be.

Just obtained a brand-spanking new Apple iPad tablet? Hook it up to the best iPad/iPad 2 VPN services today and enjoy surfing the web now!

Finding a VPN solution that works for the iPhone or iPad is not a difficult task. Most of the VPN providers offer PPTP or L2TP connections and they can be easily configured on any iOS device. Of course, there are dedicated applications specially designed for iPad or iPhone and you can quickly find them with a simple search in the App Store. The advantage of such an app is that it can be easily set up and no manual settings, such as entering the VPN server address or choosing the VPN protocol, have to be performed.

As one of the goals of this blog is to review different VPN applications, I will start presenting the most popular and nicest iPhone and iPad apps. The first one that I tested was VPNFire. Here are a short description and a step-by-step tutorial.

VPNFire in AppStore

Let’s start with the AppStore and find the VPNFire app. (The screenshots are taken from an iPad, but the install and usage are similar on an iPhone.)

Choose the version for iPad or iPhone depending on your device and click Install as for any other iOS app. After the installation starts the application. You will be shown the main dashboard of VPNFire:

Next, you need to Register a New Account:

Enter your name, first name, email address, and password. Press Submit.

After the account creation, go to My Account tab and enter your email address and password set up earlier. Press Sign In.

VPNFire connection setup

The next step is to set up a VPN connection. VPNFire allows manual and automatic setup. If you prefer manual setup you need to create the VPN connection and enter the server credentials manually, but I recommend the automatic setup as it is faster and straightforward. Click on the Setup VPN on the iPad and then Start Auto Setup. As you are on the free/trial account, only VPN connections for the free VPN server will be created. Later, if you purchase a paid plan you will be to re-run the auto setup.

Make sure you read the warning message, especially China users. Click Launch Auto Setup.

You will be redirected to the Settings section of your iOS device and required to accept the installation of VPNfire configuration files. As you can see the VPNFire application is verified, so you can press Install with confidence.

The setup creates VPN connections for the active VPN servers, both for PPTP and L2TP.

Start VPNFire

After the installation is completed, you can connect to the servers: go to Settings, VPN tab, select the desired configuration (PPTP or L2TP) and then switch on the VPN.

You should be now connected. Check the new IP address by browsing to xmyip.com or any other IP check site.

When you need to disconnect, just go to Settings, VPN tab and switch off the VPN.

Plans and Pricing

VPNFire offers a trial account with 200MB traffic. After that, you need to purchase a plan: either a period subscription or a data plan. You can find all the plans here. The paid plans offer the US and UK based servers.

Conclusion

Finally, I was pleasantly surprised by the simplicity and the easy installation of this iPhone/iPad app. It does not require any tech skills and it takes only several minutes to get the VPN working and be able to unlock any restricted website. I’m not able to say much about the speed of the servers, but, as far as I tested, it was quite decent. The conclusion is that, if you are not willing to manually configure your VPN connection, VPNFire app and service may be a good choice. Enjoy!

P.S. Other VPN iOS apps you may check:

• ibVPN
• TunnelBear

New HotspotShield iOS app

Nevertheless, HotspotShield continues its expansion, and it has now released an app for iPhone, iPod, and iPad to encrypt your connections.

The good thing about this app is that it’s conceived in such a way that you only set it once, then you can forget about it: this can definitely be a good thing especially when you are working regularly from public WI-FI. Anyway, not everybody would want to enable HotspotShield in a permanent mode on his iPhone. But the app can be stopped anytime.

Strong points

What’s interesting with this IOS app is that it also helps optimize your data connection. It does this by manipulating unnecessary pictures and ads, thereby decreasing your data traffic. This can be a major advantage since at the end of the day; you’ll have less to pay for your mobile phone data consumption. Not only does it compress your data consumption, but you can even choose between three level of compression, depending if you want to prioritize bandwidth consumption or quality of the images that are displayed on your iPhone.

The price

The thing that we should point out though is the app will cost you $.99/month to use, or $9.99/year. The good thing, though, is that by paying for one app, you can use it on your multiple devices (iPad or iPhone, or iPod).

Not convinced that this would be a good fit for you, you can even try it for free for seven days. From my point of view, it’s always good to see software editors who are confident enough with their product that they don’t mind.

As with any App, you can get the application from the Apple store.

What users think about HotspotShield iOS app?

By checking for some feedback on the internet (at least on the app store page of the application), people report that it even reconnects after iPhone has been in sleep mode. This is definitely a plus since you don’t want to reconnect manually every time your phone goes on sleep mode so as to spare some energy.

So how does it fit our “hide IP” goal on this blog?

In fact, since this is a VPN solution, it will use a temporary IP address while you are using the app. So if you are in a public WI-FI, then the public IP that will be seen on the Internet would be Hotspot Shield’ IP.  Moreover, the fact that it automatically reconnects and works on a “set and forget” mode will help those of us who tend to forget to relaunch our VPN software.

Now I’d be interested in your feedback on this solution from HotspotShield iOS app.

Would you pay that price so as to be able such features? Do you think it’s an app you’d use on your iPhone/iPod/iPad? If not, tell us in the comments the VPN solution that you are using on those devices, and why you prefer them?

TunnelBear is available for Android phones and tablets

TunnelBear has just made the VPN usage on Android simpler. The Android application (see it in Google Play) is easy to install and use. It allows you to access web content that is US or UK restricted.

TunnelBear Android app – Main features

Here are some essential features of the Android app:

* Incredibly simple – On/Off!
* Experience the internet as if you’re living in another country
* Browse the web on your Android tablet or smartphone with privacy
* No-logging policy, we’re the only consumer VPN app to have completed a 3rd party, public security audit.
* A giant-sized animated bear
* Global VPN network: With servers in 22+ countries and lightning-fast speeds, access the websites and apps you love. Anytime, anywhere.
* It uses strong AES-256 bit encryption by default.
* Helpful support.

TunnelBear is a VPN service that encrypts your traffic and hides your IP address. It allows you to select the country your devices appear to be in, such that you would be able to access geo-restricted content like Google Play Music in the US or BBC iPlayer in the UK. Free users get 500MB every month, but you can get unlimited traffic with the pro version for $5/month or $50/year.

TunnelBear iOS app is freemium

The app is free but limited to 500 MB per month with two servers located in the United States and the United Kingdom. Premium plan, available for $2.99 per month, offers unlimited monthly traffic.

TunnelBear for iPad and iPhone can be used by both existing clients (log in on the first screen) or new ones (register from the app).

TunnelBear iOS app installation & usage

The installation is straightforward: the app creates two VPN connections for US and UK servers. To connect, go the Settings, VPN, choose the server you want to connect to and turn the VPN on.

I performed several speed tests with TunnelBear, and you can see the results below. The connection to the US server was rather slow, and for the UK it was acceptable. Taking into account that I’m located in Europe this was expected, but I got better speed from other apps with US servers like ibVPN.

TunnelBear iOS app alternatives

There are plenty of good VPN iOS apps available on the market. Thus, if you are not happy with the locations offered by the TunnelBear app you may easily try other solution.

Can TunnelBear be trusted?

TunnelBear is proud to be the first and only VPN service in the world that has been independently audited by a 3rd party. The conclusion of the 2017 audit was:

TunnelBear deserves recognition for implementing a better level of security for both the servers and infrastructure as well as the clients and browser extensions for various platforms.

Conclusion

The overall impression of the TunnelBear app was a positive one, and I highly recommend it primarily for the free monthly traffic.

Have you tried the TunnelBear iOS & Android apps? Do you like it? Let us know your thoughts in comments below.

What is Tor?

Instead of trying to rephrase it, let’s just put the definition of what ToR actually is, that I took from Tor project’s website:

Tor is a network of virtual tunnels that allows people and groups to improve their privacy and security on the Internet. It also enables software developers to create new communication tools with built-in privacy features. Tor provides the foundation for a range of applications that allow organizations and individuals to share information over public networks without compromising their privacy.

OrBot: The Tor Android approved solution

OrBot, an application available in the Android Market, allows Android smartphone users to users to access the web, instant messaging and email without being monitored or blocked by their mobile internet service provider.

It is a Tor Android solution that has been approved to be fully compliant with Tor. This actually means that it has gone through some checks from the guys who implement the Tor system. It is quite important to mention since, although Tor is an open source project. It’s always good to have an entity that “validates” its implementation when it comes to porting it to some platform like Android.

In fact, depending on your Android configuration, you may have to root, or not, your Android device so as to get the full protection of OrBot on your smartphone. The OrBot website shows you different options that you can implement, some that don’t need root.

Covert Browser: the iTunes approved Tor solution for iPad and iPhone 

The approval of a Tor solution in the iTunes market, hence for iPad and iPhone users, has taken more time to be adopted than in the Android market. At the time of writing, Covert Browser is still the only app that we know of that implements access to Tor network from iPad and iPhones.

But we have to be cautious yet in the iOS field as the Tor guys, by way of  Andrew Lewman, executive director of the non-profit Tor project haven’t yet validated the compliance of Covert Browser to Tor’s requirements. Well, this may seem a bit awkward from the user’s point of view. Especially knowing that Tor is an open source solution and given that fact, we may think that the developers of Covert Browser would have developed their browser as a branch from the initial Tor codes.

But if we look back, it makes sense that Tor guys need to validate any system that wants to be part of the Tor network- after all, we’re talking about anonymity here, and the Tor network can’t afford to introduce a new player in town that may eventually jeopardize the whole system – through the validation process that Covert Browser still have to go through.

Conclusion

Smartphones are getting adopted widely and it makes sense to get more tools that provide some anonymity to users. Indeed, smartphones are the most privacy-exposed devices that have ever been invented so far IMHO. Not only do they have a great internet connection, but they come with all those social apps and most importantly, most of them have GPS features that allow third-parties to track each and every movement of the user (or at least the phone).

Would you use Tor on your smartphone? Feel free to share your view in the comment section.

A plethora of operating systems and devices

The difficult part when dealing with smartphones is that there is a plethora of operating systems and devices available. Blackberry runs the Blackberry OS; Apple has its iOS for iPhone/iPod/iPad/Apple TV; Samsung is still balanced between Bada and Android while HTC plays between Android and Windows Phone. Nokia still sticks with Symbian OS … Then you have the other devices that may have their own proprietary OS, or who try to make a smart move by using some popular OS: Android, Windows Phone, Symbian or Bada … This doesn’t make the choice easier, does it? I’m not even referring to the different versions of each operating system.

Different smartphone VPN solutions

On the other hand, different VPN solutions also exist, and they all revolve around standard protocols such as PPTP, OpenVPN, … Things are getting fuzzier, aren’t they? How the heck are you going to mix all these options so as to get some VPN service running?

The good thing is that due to standard protocols, most of the smartphone OS is now implementing a native VPN layer. As of today, while most security experts agree that it is not the strongest VPN option, most devices implement the PPTP protocol.

What does this mean for a smartphone user who wants to use a VPN connection?

This actually means that the lucky smartphone user has to find a VPN solution provider that can give him PPTP credentials and server to connect to. Luckily, almost all VPN provider has a solution for it. In fact, most of those service provider. So, as a smartphone user, you need to gather the following pieces of information so as to be able to correctly configure your VPN connection:

• VPN server/gateway: this usually is given to you as an IP address, or as an FQDN (fully qualified domain name). An example can be: xxx.xxvpn.com
• VPN credentials: this usually means a username and the associated password. Be careful on this one, as some solution providers regularly renew those credentials, though making the ones you got obsolete after some time
• Encryption: check if the provider requires encryption.

Once you got that prerequisite information, follow your smartphone manual to find out how to properly configure and test your VPN connection.

Tell us more about your experience with regards to smartphone VPN solutions in the comment section of this article.