4 ms·

Always-On VPN. I won't buy a phone that doesn't have that feature.

storrgie 11y ago
You've missed the entire original point. It doesn't matter that you're tunneling traffic through some non-local endpoint, the point is that the traffic shouldn't leave your device by default.
- gcb0 11y ago
  but you have control on the vpn side. i still have one question in a forum about why Android browser's ignore etc/hosts, and every now and then (question is 6 years old) people comment how shocked they are to discover that is the case (still!)
  - tjoff 11y ago
    No you don't. How would you filter traffic based on apps on the vpn side? Or feature? I'd love a firewall rule that could block any traffic that contains my contact list. Wouldn't be possible even if the traffic wasn't encrypted...
    - jon-wood 11y ago
      Sure you could - have a contact on your phone called something like 000-alarm and filter any requests containing that string. Its not foolproof, but it certainly isn't impossible. Maybe scatter a few of these contacts through the alphabet to catch apps sending in batches.
      - kbenson 11y ago
        That doesn't help if they are encrypting the data before sending it. As responsible developers they wouldn't want to send your entire address book across the wire in the clear, would they? Why, someone could easily listen in and then you would have no privacy! /sarcasm.
      - stefanix 11y ago
        Like fixing a boat hull with duct tape. Totally possible if you don't care about water in the boat.
  - SturgeonsLaw 11y ago
    > i still have one question in a forum about why Android browser's ignore etc/hosts To make it harder to write an ad blocker
- click170 11y ago
  Using your gateway is what you do when you lose the ability to apply restrictions on your phone. And since this thread is in response to recent changes in android that remove users ability to control the apps on their phone I thought that was implied. Of course its ideal to not send the packets and waste the battery at all but when that's not an option, I'd rather use a firewall to block the traffic rather then just let it through, regardless of the hit to the battery due to it constantly retrying the blocked connection.

You've missed the entire original point. It doesn't matter that you're tunneling traffic through some non-local endpoint, the point is that the traffic shouldn't leave your device by default.

gcb0 11y ago
but you have control on the vpn side. i still have one question in a forum about why Android browser's ignore etc/hosts, and every now and then (question is 6 years old) people comment how shocked they are to discover that is the case (still!)
- tjoff 11y ago
  No you don't. How would you filter traffic based on apps on the vpn side? Or feature? I'd love a firewall rule that could block any traffic that contains my contact list. Wouldn't be possible even if the traffic wasn't encrypted...
  - jon-wood 11y ago
    Sure you could - have a contact on your phone called something like 000-alarm and filter any requests containing that string. Its not foolproof, but it certainly isn't impossible. Maybe scatter a few of these contacts through the alphabet to catch apps sending in batches.
    - kbenson 11y ago
      That doesn't help if they are encrypting the data before sending it. As responsible developers they wouldn't want to send your entire address book across the wire in the clear, would they? Why, someone could easily listen in and then you would have no privacy! /sarcasm.
    - stefanix 11y ago
      Like fixing a boat hull with duct tape. Totally possible if you don't care about water in the boat.
- SturgeonsLaw 11y ago
  > i still have one question in a forum about why Android browser's ignore etc/hosts To make it harder to write an ad blocker
click170 11y ago
Using your gateway is what you do when you lose the ability to apply restrictions on your phone. And since this thread is in response to recent changes in android that remove users ability to control the apps on their phone I thought that was implied. Of course its ideal to not send the packets and waste the battery at all but when that's not an option, I'd rather use a firewall to block the traffic rather then just let it through, regardless of the hit to the battery due to it constantly retrying the blocked connection.