This might be a longshot, but does anyone have any suggestions for an accessible VPN that won’t break the bank? I would be using it on my iPhone and iPad.
Very easy to use and accessible. It's about £50 here in the UK but they're always doing discounts. First time I got it, I managed to snag a deal for £40 for to years.
If you subscribe to Office 365, then you can get Microsoft Defender. Not to be confused with Windows Defender, MS Defender comes with a VPN for PCs and iOS, and I'm sure iPadOS as well. It also does credit and identity protection monitoring. All for less than $8 US monthly.
@Brian, nice tip on MS Defender, thanks.
However it does not seem to be a VPN in the sense of what I'd imagine the OP is looking for unfortunately. It seems to offer the security and privacy aspect of a VPN, but does not mask your location or allow you to appear as though you are in a different country etc.
If you or anyone else here knows more about these security things than I do, I'd be curious to know if it is different to Apple's built in Private Relay feature, and is there benefit in using either one or both of these?
Dave
It is a VPN in the sense that it masks your location but it doesn't allow you to set a specific location like the usual VPNs do. And incidentally, it is available only to subscribers of MS365 belonging to a very limited countries. Don't know why that is given that as far as I know, everywhere it is available, the cost of subscribtion is the same.
Apple says that nowadays having a vpn actually makes your device more vulnerable than not having a vpn. Apple also says that if you use its private relay function in IOS, you will be making your device as safe as possible.
Isn't the private relay feature just an email filtering system that allows you to have emails forwarded to a mock address, in order to preserve privacy? Or is there more to it than that?
Also, how does using a VPN make your iPhone "more vulnerable"?
According to what I read just the other day, recent changes in technology have changed the security picture from vpn being more secure to being less secure, and making Apple private relay more secure than vpn. I believe the article said that private relay was good for email, the internet and messages and possibly more because of encription or some such. I wish I could remember better for you or give you a link. I imagine that it shouldn't be difficult to research, though. In fact, if you have IOS 18.2, you could simply ask SIRI/OpenAI/chat gpt?
iCloud Private Relay, not to be confused with Hide My Email, is a service that sends your Safari web requests through several Internet relays, masking your true identity. With iCloud Private Relay enabled, your Safari web requests will be sent to Apple, who can see your IP address but not your destination. Then, after assigning your request a new IP address, it is sent to a third-party content provider who can see your destination but not your original IP address, which is then sent to your destination; the idea being that no one entity involved in processing your request, from your ISP to Apple to the third-party content provider to your destination website, has a complete picture of who you are and what you’re up to.
This is not a VPN service, as with a VPN service, traffic is sent and received through a tunnel controlled by the VPN provider, whereas with iCloud Private Relay, similar to Tor, several entities are involved in processing your requests. Also, while VPNs generally route all traffic through the tunnel except for that which has been explicitly exempted, iCloud Private Relay only works when browsing the web with Safari.
My understanding is that a VPN service is most useful when you want to spoof your location, for example when trying to access content that is georestricted or censored in your region, not when you're trying to improve your overall online security and privacy. With a VPN service, it is important to note that while your traffic will be hidden from your ISP, the VPN provider can still access this information, making it essentially a transfer of trust from one company to another.
It looks like I have both private relay, and hide my email active, as I use a few services with, "Sign in with Apple", and those are using the hide my email feature. So, hooray for forward thinking, I suppose.
After taking a six month network engineering course through Cisco, I have to say I kind of disagree about the VPN, but to each their own I guess. I will stick to using my Azure VPN through Microsoft Defender, since I'm paying for it, after all. 🥸
That depends on what you want the VPN for. If you just want to route your traffic through some host in order to obscure it from passive monitoring, Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 is perfectly adequate even on the free plan for typical low-traffic usages. OTOH, if you want to go gallivanting all over the world in order to watch georestricted content, probably you'll want to pay for one of the commercial options for that; I just happen to use NordVPN, which has deep discounts to look out for during the year, especially Black Friday. I personally don't think very much of Apple's iCloud Relay, because it's limited to Safari and app web views that use HTTP, but it's better than nothing I suppose, in that at least it keeps the adtech vultures confused. But, y'know, so does Cloudflare, which Private Relay actually uses itself.
Just remember, as already noted, VPN only really works when you accept that the risk of traffic interception on the network outweighs the possibility of the VPN service itself not sabotaging your traffic or privacy for its own ends. So you should do your research in order to establish the state of play. And don't imagine that a VPN will, by itself, keep you safe, nor that anyone determined enough to learn what you're up to couldn't eventually discover it with sufficient motivation or resources. You've been told.
Interesting topic. Yes I’ve watched a couple of YouTube videos in the past couple of days that do cast some doubt on the usefulness of VPNs. They don’t go as far as to say that VPNs are not useful for security, they do have positives, but do say that the claims of the VPN companies are somewhat overblown, and that they are not useful in all scenarios. If you want to spoof your location though, clearly they are the tool you want.
The Microsoft one doesn’t include the location spoofing as discussed.
Saying that they are actively harmful though still seems a bit of a leap to me.
I’m undecided if I’ll keep running the Microsoft one, which like Brian I am paying for anyway as part of 365, alongside Private Relay, or just remove it.
Surprised to see a couple of people recommend Nord VPN. I tried it when I was trying to get my Meta glasses working fully, and found a lot of unlabelled buttons. It was usable on a basic level, but not fully accessible.
But, I've figured out how to configure and use it, sometimes using Screen Recognition to check the state of a few controls in the settings. And, of course, you can always log in to their web portal and get your credentials so you can configure it yourself, if you really want to. I fully acknowledge that I have an undue tolerance for poor apps, but the service is fine, when I use it. Which isn't often. NordVPN also have their "Meshnet", which is a sort of consumer version of TailScale or ZeroTier, and I've found that to work as well. But sure, if you want a smoother experience, at least on iOS, might not be the best choice.
Thanks for all the suggestions. I use private relay with safari. The reason I plan to get a VPN is to watch geo blocked content. I saw someones comment about Nord VPN having a lot of unlabeled buttens, So I'll probably either go with surf shark or express VPN.
If you are part of an organization (school, workplace, etc), they may offer a VPN through the Cisco AnyConnect app. It is very accessible.
Regarding NordVPN, only the iOS apps work well (the Windows version is unusable with screen readers, for instance). It also does not provide the best service. I tried using it to maintain access to the open internet when traveling to a country with online censorship, and it could not connect. Hope this helps.
Hey all. So I just downloaded Express VPN and signed up for the 7 day trial. Straight away I’m finding some unlabelled buttons on the main screen. I know some people here recommended it, and in fact I think Jonathan Mosen even had an affiliate thing going with them on his old podcast at one point, so I was surprised. Despite this, do people still find it good and useable overall?
Cheers,
Dave
Surfshark VPN is my favorite! It’s so much more accessible than NordVPN. Like someone mentioned, NordVPN has unlabeled buttons and isn’t the easiest to use. Sure, it’s great if you catch a good deal, but when it comes to accessibility, Surfshark is hands down the best. Super easy to navigate and just works!
I don’t like ExpressVPN. I mainly use a VPN to watch geo-blocked content and for booking flights. When I try to watch geo-blocked content, I sometimes find that ExpressVPN is slower and doesn’t allow me to access the content I want, which suggests it may not be able to spoof my location as a VPN should. This doesn’t happen all the time, but it does happen occasionally. The unlabeled buttons also annoy me a lot, and I really don’t like it. For me, my favorite is Surfshark VPN—it has never let me down.
I appreciate that a provider's app is often the most convenient way, but don't forget that you will often have the option of visiting their website to find the connection details you will need to connect via the supported protocols such as OpenVPN (use TunnelBrick for Mac), WireGuard, or IPSec (native support). What's important in the end is that you be able to connect and use the service when you need it.
I gave ExpressVPN a try last month and yes, there were some unlabeled buttons but most of the UI is properly labeled. I submitted a feedback to ExpressVPN raising the issue of accessibility upon canceling my subscription though.
If I have to use a VPN, ExpressVPN would be the one I go back to since the iOS app is at least usable for me and the PC app is quite accessible.
I especially like the fact that you can try ExpressVPN for 7 days without paying; that's not the case with most other VPNs which is why I didn't try out the other ones.
Comments
Express VPN
You may want to give Express VPN a try. The iOS app is accessible and the price for this service is reasonable. Hope this helps.
Jim
Thanks for the suggestion
Thanks for the suggestion, Jim. I’ll give this a try.
Windscribe is the one I use…
Windscribe is the one I use. Verry accessible on ios as well. It’s 2999 for the year, but it’s worth it worth it
surfshark is the one I use
Very easy to use and accessible. It's about £50 here in the UK but they're always doing discounts. First time I got it, I managed to snag a deal for £40 for to years.
Microsoft Defender
If you subscribe to Office 365, then you can get Microsoft Defender. Not to be confused with Windows Defender, MS Defender comes with a VPN for PCs and iOS, and I'm sure iPadOS as well. It also does credit and identity protection monitoring. All for less than $8 US monthly.
HTH.
365 subscribtion?
Seriously? How come I never knew/made use of it? @Brian how does one go about accessing it if one has subscribed?
express
Express VPN is very good.
@Gokul
If I recall, you can get MS Defender on the Microsoft Store if on Windows. I am unsure if there is a Mac version, but as there is an iOS version, then possibly.
As for iOS, here is the app store link:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/microsoft-defender-security/id1526737990
Nord vpn
Nord vpn
MS Defender
@Brian, nice tip on MS Defender, thanks.
However it does not seem to be a VPN in the sense of what I'd imagine the OP is looking for unfortunately. It seems to offer the security and privacy aspect of a VPN, but does not mask your location or allow you to appear as though you are in a different country etc.
If you or anyone else here knows more about these security things than I do, I'd be curious to know if it is different to Apple's built in Private Relay feature, and is there benefit in using either one or both of these?
Dave
Exactly
It is a VPN in the sense that it masks your location but it doesn't allow you to set a specific location like the usual VPNs do. And incidentally, it is available only to subscribers of MS365 belonging to a very limited countries. Don't know why that is given that as far as I know, everywhere it is available, the cost of subscribtion is the same.
Fair enough
Sorry it was not what you guys were looking for. 🤷🏽♂️
Apple says
Apple says that nowadays having a vpn actually makes your device more vulnerable than not having a vpn. Apple also says that if you use its private relay function in IOS, you will be making your device as safe as possible.
Sorry if someone else already said this here.
Joy!
Bruce
RE: Private Relay
Isn't the private relay feature just an email filtering system that allows you to have emails forwarded to a mock address, in order to preserve privacy? Or is there more to it than that?
Also, how does using a VPN make your iPhone "more vulnerable"?
Yo Brian
According to what I read just the other day, recent changes in technology have changed the security picture from vpn being more secure to being less secure, and making Apple private relay more secure than vpn. I believe the article said that private relay was good for email, the internet and messages and possibly more because of encription or some such. I wish I could remember better for you or give you a link. I imagine that it shouldn't be difficult to research, though. In fact, if you have IOS 18.2, you could simply ask SIRI/OpenAI/chat gpt?
iCloud Private Relay versus VPN services
iCloud Private Relay, not to be confused with Hide My Email, is a service that sends your Safari web requests through several Internet relays, masking your true identity. With iCloud Private Relay enabled, your Safari web requests will be sent to Apple, who can see your IP address but not your destination. Then, after assigning your request a new IP address, it is sent to a third-party content provider who can see your destination but not your original IP address, which is then sent to your destination; the idea being that no one entity involved in processing your request, from your ISP to Apple to the third-party content provider to your destination website, has a complete picture of who you are and what you’re up to.
This is not a VPN service, as with a VPN service, traffic is sent and received through a tunnel controlled by the VPN provider, whereas with iCloud Private Relay, similar to Tor, several entities are involved in processing your requests. Also, while VPNs generally route all traffic through the tunnel except for that which has been explicitly exempted, iCloud Private Relay only works when browsing the web with Safari.
My understanding is that a VPN service is most useful when you want to spoof your location, for example when trying to access content that is georestricted or censored in your region, not when you're trying to improve your overall online security and privacy. With a VPN service, it is important to note that while your traffic will be hidden from your ISP, the VPN provider can still access this information, making it essentially a transfer of trust from one company to another.
Yeah, what He said
Exactly what I was saying! wink
Fair enough
It looks like I have both private relay, and hide my email active, as I use a few services with, "Sign in with Apple", and those are using the hide my email feature. So, hooray for forward thinking, I suppose.
After taking a six month network engineering course through Cisco, I have to say I kind of disagree about the VPN, but to each their own I guess. I will stick to using my Azure VPN through Microsoft Defender, since I'm paying for it, after all. 🥸
surfshark
ohb! yes... surfshark is a very accessible vpn sercive on IOS device..
and pc... also not bad...
VPN for VPN's Sake
That depends on what you want the VPN for. If you just want to route your traffic through some host in order to obscure it from passive monitoring, Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 is perfectly adequate even on the free plan for typical low-traffic usages. OTOH, if you want to go gallivanting all over the world in order to watch georestricted content, probably you'll want to pay for one of the commercial options for that; I just happen to use NordVPN, which has deep discounts to look out for during the year, especially Black Friday. I personally don't think very much of Apple's iCloud Relay, because it's limited to Safari and app web views that use HTTP, but it's better than nothing I suppose, in that at least it keeps the adtech vultures confused. But, y'know, so does Cloudflare, which Private Relay actually uses itself.
Just remember, as already noted, VPN only really works when you accept that the risk of traffic interception on the network outweighs the possibility of the VPN service itself not sabotaging your traffic or privacy for its own ends. So you should do your research in order to establish the state of play. And don't imagine that a VPN will, by itself, keep you safe, nor that anyone determined enough to learn what you're up to couldn't eventually discover it with sufficient motivation or resources. You've been told.
Interesting
Interesting topic. Yes I’ve watched a couple of YouTube videos in the past couple of days that do cast some doubt on the usefulness of VPNs. They don’t go as far as to say that VPNs are not useful for security, they do have positives, but do say that the claims of the VPN companies are somewhat overblown, and that they are not useful in all scenarios. If you want to spoof your location though, clearly they are the tool you want.
The Microsoft one doesn’t include the location spoofing as discussed.
Saying that they are actively harmful though still seems a bit of a leap to me.
I’m undecided if I’ll keep running the Microsoft one, which like Brian I am paying for anyway as part of 365, alongside Private Relay, or just remove it.
Surprised to see a couple of people recommend Nord VPN. I tried it when I was trying to get my Meta glasses working fully, and found a lot of unlabelled buttons. It was usable on a basic level, but not fully accessible.
NordVPN App Not The Best
But, I've figured out how to configure and use it, sometimes using Screen Recognition to check the state of a few controls in the settings. And, of course, you can always log in to their web portal and get your credentials so you can configure it yourself, if you really want to. I fully acknowledge that I have an undue tolerance for poor apps, but the service is fine, when I use it. Which isn't often. NordVPN also have their "Meshnet", which is a sort of consumer version of TailScale or ZeroTier, and I've found that to work as well. But sure, if you want a smoother experience, at least on iOS, might not be the best choice.
Feedback and suggestions
Thanks for all the suggestions. I use private relay with safari. The reason I plan to get a VPN is to watch geo blocked content. I saw someones comment about Nord VPN having a lot of unlabeled buttens, So I'll probably either go with surf shark or express VPN.
Cisco AnyConnect
If you are part of an organization (school, workplace, etc), they may offer a VPN through the Cisco AnyConnect app. It is very accessible.
Regarding NordVPN, only the iOS apps work well (the Windows version is unusable with screen readers, for instance). It also does not provide the best service. I tried using it to maintain access to the open internet when traveling to a country with online censorship, and it could not connect. Hope this helps.
Express VPN
Hey all. So I just downloaded Express VPN and signed up for the 7 day trial. Straight away I’m finding some unlabelled buttons on the main screen. I know some people here recommended it, and in fact I think Jonathan Mosen even had an affiliate thing going with them on his old podcast at one point, so I was surprised. Despite this, do people still find it good and useable overall?
Cheers,
Dave
surfshark vpn
Surfshark VPN is my favorite! It’s so much more accessible than NordVPN. Like someone mentioned, NordVPN has unlabeled buttons and isn’t the easiest to use. Sure, it’s great if you catch a good deal, but when it comes to accessibility, Surfshark is hands down the best. Super easy to navigate and just works!
contact express
Contact Express VPN support. They are very responsive.
Express VPN
@ Dave Nason,
I don’t like ExpressVPN. I mainly use a VPN to watch geo-blocked content and for booking flights. When I try to watch geo-blocked content, I sometimes find that ExpressVPN is slower and doesn’t allow me to access the content I want, which suggests it may not be able to spoof my location as a VPN should. This doesn’t happen all the time, but it does happen occasionally. The unlabeled buttons also annoy me a lot, and I really don’t like it. For me, my favorite is Surfshark VPN—it has never let me down.
Again Don't Forget
I appreciate that a provider's app is often the most convenient way, but don't forget that you will often have the option of visiting their website to find the connection details you will need to connect via the supported protocols such as OpenVPN (use TunnelBrick for Mac), WireGuard, or IPSec (native support). What's important in the end is that you be able to connect and use the service when you need it.
ExpressVPN
I gave ExpressVPN a try last month and yes, there were some unlabeled buttons but most of the UI is properly labeled. I submitted a feedback to ExpressVPN raising the issue of accessibility upon canceling my subscription though.
If I have to use a VPN, ExpressVPN would be the one I go back to since the iOS app is at least usable for me and the PC app is quite accessible.
I especially like the fact that you can try ExpressVPN for 7 days without paying; that's not the case with most other VPNs which is why I didn't try out the other ones.