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MODS: If you want this on Android Enthusiasts, please migrate.

I am using the Orbot Tor VPN app on Android, and periodically while browsing, I will get a system message at the bottom saying "App Restarted". Then: "Cannot Establish VPN (App Not Prepared)". The app thenrestarts, and traffic resumes through the VPN according to the onion icon in the system panel. I have not run any tests, but it seems to happen when the processor/ram gets overwhelmed. I imagine this is beyond my control, so my primary question is about data leakage, and there is a secondary for any recommendations on how to fix or prevent this from happening, short of an update.

Questions:

  1. If I am browsing a site while this happens, does data leak out in the time it takes to restart the app? Either to the website or to the ISP?
  2. What may be causing this? RAM, resources, conflicting apps?
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    Orbot runs Tor and can provide Tor access as a VPN, Orfox is the Firefox Browser and Orweb is the legacy AOSP browser. I'd recommend probably not using the VPN and using something like Orwall to make iptables enforce Tor proxying in a fail-closed (leak free) manner. I don't know if the VPN "fails open" but they historically have tended to. I'll await a better authority than me to provide a better sourced answer on that, though.
    – cacahuatl
    Sep 5, 2016 at 21:15
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    Orbot is installed. After opening Orbot, there is a purple screen with an onion-headed robot in the middle. Clicking the "Apps" button on the bottom opens a system dialog box indicating that this app is trying to establish a VPN and asks whether or not the user trusts it. After confirming, robot dude raises his hands and begins a connection to Tor. After the connection is 100%, clicking on "Check Browser" opens a webpage in the default browser with the tor check page. Is this not right?
    – user58446
    Sep 5, 2016 at 21:32
  • That's what I'd expect to see, but I do not know if it will fail open if the VPN stops working.
    – cacahuatl
    Sep 6, 2016 at 19:13

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