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  1. Home
  2. VPN
  3. Computing
Supported (opens in new tab)

What is VPN on iPhone?

By Nate Drake

Do iPhones need a VPN or are Apple devices secure enough out of the box?

IPhone with Hello on the screen
(Image credit: Unsplash / Tyler Lastovich / Apple)

If you have an iPhone, you probably know that Apple takes privacy very seriously. They’ve even faced down other tech giants like Facebook in order to protect users’ data.

Still, despite Apple’s best intentions, it seems some data collected for diagnostic purposes could actually place data of iPhone users at risk. While Apple keeps a close eye on which apps go on the official store, making it hard to install unofficial programs, bad actors like identity thieves can still target personal information like passwords and banking details.

The easiest way is by monitoring your internet connection. By default your iPhone doesn’t conceal your IP address in any way. Bad actors can find out where you are and target you for hacking attempts. Not all the data you send from your iPhone is encrypted either, so anyone with access to your ISP’s records can see sites you visit and data you enter.

If you enjoy streaming online video on your iPhone your ISP can also subject your phone to ‘traffic shaping’ where specific types of content are slowed down 

Apple’s Private Relay 

If you’re already an iCloud subscriber, you may think you don’t have to worry about any of these things, as you’re using Apple Private Relay. This service does improve security for people who previously connected to the internet directly. It forces apps using insecure connections to junction traffic through it and encrypts it. If you use the Safari browser on your iPhone, you can also hide your IP address and location from most websites, as Apple separates out this information from your DNS requests, which list which websites you’re trying to visit.

But iOS isn’t the safe haven some like to believe. Apple Private Relay doesn’t encrypt all your traffic. It’s also possible to track your approximate location and the service is actually fairly easy to block.

As the iPhone’s iOS operating system isn’t open source, Apple hasn't revealed exactly how they coded this private relay feature, nor which servers they’re using, where they’re based, what specific encryption is being used and so on. The bottom line is that it’s a lot to take on trust.

iPhone improvements

You can never be too secure when it comes to connecting to the internet. One important security feature of the iPhone is that it has excellent support for mobile VPN apps. 

The best VPNs (and reliable free VPNs) establish a secure, encrypted connection between your iPhone and a VPN server. The VPN server then manages connection requests, so as far as the internet’s concerned your IP address and location matches the server.

There are plenty of iPhone VPNs in the App Store. And if properly set up, all internet traffic for your iPhone apps will be encrypted and routed through the server. This means anyone with access to your ISP’s records will only see encoded data that’s almost impossible to hack. As all traffic is unreadable, your ISP also can’t try to deliberately slow down certain types of data like streaming video.  

Getting started 

The Apple App Store is the safes and simplest way to get your VPN. Tap “Get” to install, then enter your Apple ID password if requested. Using your provider’s own dedicated ‘client’ software on your iPhone as a number of benefits: 

  • Setup is usually very simple - most providers just have you enter your VPN username and password on the app, select a server and you’ll be automatically connected.  
  • Using the Apple App Store is extremely safe. The company goes to some lengths to make sure developers are who they say, plus apps are verified by digital signatures. This means, if an app says it’s offered by, for example, ExpressVPN, you can be almost entirely certain that’s true.  
  • Using your provider’s own client software means you can take advantage of any special features of that VPN. For instance ExpressVPN and NordVPN have created their own special security protocols called Lightway and Nordlynx respectively. The only way to benefit from these is through using the providers’ apps.  

 Setting up an iPhone connection 

If your VPN provider doesn’t provide compatible ‘client’ software with your iPhone, or you’re feeling extra cautious about security, you can try to set up your VPN connection yourself.

Modern iPhones have built-in support for 3 different VPN protocols: IKEv2, IPSec and L2TP. L2TP is an older protocol and when used on its own doesn’t offer any encryption, so make sure only to use this if you don’t mind others knowing what you’re doing. Effectively, a Netflix VPN.

Many providers combine IKEv2 and IPSec (imaginatively calling it IKEv2/IPSec) to give you the very best protection in terms of verifying your device really is talking to the right VPN server and encrypting your connection.

In order to set this up, you’ll need to download a special ‘root’ certificate from your provider which you can then use to securely exchange authentication/encryption keys to keep your information safe. 

For more information, see our guide How to download, set up and install a VPN on iPhone (opens in new tab) 

You and your iPhone VPN 

Whichever method you choose to connect to your VPN from your iPhone, you’ll have a much better chance of staying safe online. 

Those who mistake hacking an Apple device and hacking a connection might not be convinced, but you’ll be secure next time you connect to a new website or use public Wi-Fi.  

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Nate Drake
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Nate Drake is a tech journalist specializing in cybersecurity and retro tech. He broke out from his cubicle at Apple 6 years ago and now spends his days sipping Earl Grey tea & writing elegant copy.

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