I am using the ProtonVPN iOS app. After leaving my phone for a while, it enters sleep mode as usual. After a few hours, when I unlock the phone, it takes a while for the VPN to reconnect. I go to SETTINGS > GENERAL > VPN > The ‘i’ button by ‘ProtonVPN’. At this point it will sometimes say that the VPN has only been connected for a few seconds.
It seems like the VPN is disconnecting when the iPhone is in sleep mode. This can happen for me, both when the killswitch is on and when it is off. Can anybody confirm this is the case? Thanks.
Same behaviour for me. I noticed it after many hours in sleep mode when I wake up the phone from sleep then I have to manually re connect to ProtonVPN.
But before ProtonVPN I was using a personal vpn (iPhone connects to the home network) and it did the same thing.
So logically this behaviour may be the result how iOS handles things while in sleep mode and what apps can do while in sleep mode. I don’t think ProtonVPN could do anything about that.
That is how VPN works on iOS mate. You can’t just setup always on VPN on iOS
You can have a always on VPN on iOS… But you will need a Mac, Apple Configurator, and supervise the iOS device. You can then upload a always on VPN and I believe you can even do it per app. The best part is that ProtonVPN supports IKEv2, so you can use ProtonVPN with iOS.
Source: https://www.howtogeek.com/218851/how-to-enable-always-on-vpn-on-an-iphone-or-ipad/
Oh, I see. Try updating the app. The latest version is: 101 (52). Also, what version of iOS are you using?
Thanks for confirming that it isn’t just my phone doing this. OK so when my phone is on sleep mode and I receive a notification, I assume it gets sent to my phone without the VPN (so unencrypted and with my real IP address). Have I understood this correctly?
This is a shame and I feel like it reduces the benefit of having a mobile VPN in the first place.
Thanks for your reply. I guess a work-around would be to prevent your phone from going on sleep mode, but that’s not practical and would be terrible for your battery life.
Do you know if Android offers an ‘always on’ VPN? (I’m just curious, I’m not considering switching to Android as Android has separate privacy issues)
Before the official app and after a specific OpenVPN update I was able to get my VPN on my iPhone to stay all day.
Seems like updates are killing things.
Actually you can. But you will need a Mac, Apple Configurator, and supervise the iOS device. You can then upload a always on VPN and I believe you can even do it per app. The best part is that ProtonVPN supports IKEv2, so you can use ProtonVPN with iOS.
Source: https://www.howtogeek.com/218851/how-to-enable-always-on-vpn-on-an-iphone-or-ipad/
Never know that, thanks mate!
I have now updated to version 1.0.1 (52) and I’m still experiencing the issue that the timer within the app resets if you exit the app and reopen it. I don’t have a problem with this though - I’m more bothered about the timer within the iPhone settings resetting because that suggests that the phone disconnects from the VPN during sleep mode.
I’m using iOS10, which I know is outdated and people can criticise me for that. Call me paranoid, but I read reports that each iOS update will slow down your iPhone in order to encourage you to buy a newer model. So I would like to stick with iOS10 for as long as I can.
It is just a bug with the timer in this particular version of the app. If you swipe the app away and reopen it, the timer resets to zero, even though you’re connected the whole time.
It does, but the ProtonVPN app will still stop for me even after turning off battery optimization and turning on always on VPN. The OpenVPN app works better with Proton for me.
You’re probably referring to Batterygate. I got this from Wikipedia:
“As of the iOS 10.2.1 release, iOS throttles CPU performance on iPhones with batteries in poor health. This eventually led to Batterygate shortly after the iOS 11 release. As a result, Apple announced battery replacements would be $29 instead of $79.[198] They also announced that iOS 11.3 would show battery health in the Settings > Battery menu and let the user decide if they wanted the previous 30% shutdown behavior or the throttled CPU.[199]”
The $29 battery replacement ends at the end of this year, so you should hurry up and take advantage of it.
Sorry, perhaps I haven’t been clear - I’m not talking about the timer within the app itself. I’m talking about the timer within the iPhone’s VPN settings.
I have just closed the ProtonVPN app and reopened it. Yes the timer within the app has reset, but the timer in the iPhone’s settings has continued as it should.
I am using version 1.0.0 (38). It is a new app to be fair, so you can expect it to have some issues; but I would like to know if it is still using the VPN on sleep mode.
Same here, but all VPNs make battery life miserable.