Use TOR on an iPhone
This article teaches you how to use a TOR-enabled internet browser on your iPhone to prevent ad services, internet service providers, or cookies from tracking your use. TOR uses encryption to route your iPhone's IP address through different servers all over the world, making it virtually impossible to track your IP address without advanced knowledge or software. Keep in mind that there are sites on TOR that don't appear during usual browsing, and some of these sites house harmful or illegal content; browse at your own discretion.
10 Second Summary
1. Open App Store.
2. Tap Search.
3. Type TOR.
4. Select a TOR-enabled browser.
5. Tap GET and then INSTALL.
6. Tap Open.
7. Tap Connect to TOR.
8. Start browsing.
Steps
- Open the App Store. It's a blue app icon that contains a white "A" inside a white circle.
- Tap Search. It's the magnifying glass icon at the bottom of the screen.
- Tap the search bar. It's at the top of the screen.
- Type "TOR" and tap Search. Doing so will bring up a list of TOR-enable browsers.
- Select a TOR-enable browser. Scroll through the list and select a browser that best suits your needs.
- VPN Browser and Red Onion are both free and well-reviewed options.
- Be aware that some are free and some are not; if you decide to pay for an app, look for well-reviewed apps and read some of the reviews before committing.
- Tap GET. This is a blue button displayed to the right of the app you selected.
- If the app you select is not a free app, the button will display the price instead of "GET."
- Tap INSTALL. This is the same button you tapped to get the app. Your download should commence.
- You may need to enter your Apple ID or Touch ID to start the download.
- Tap Open. After the app has downloaded, the button you tapped to start the download will read "OPEN."
- Tap Connect to TOR, if prompted. The Red Onion app uses this prompt, while VPN Browser does not. Many, but not all, apps will prompt you in some manner to connect to the TOR network.
- Start browsing. You are now connected to the TOR network on your iPhone. TOR helps make your browsing location difficult to pinpoint by randomly routing browser requests across a network consisting of thousands of relays.
Warnings
- Only use TOR-enabled apps with iOS 9 or later. Encryption updates that Apple made in these later versions of iOS are what allow TOR apps to function with increased anonymity.
- Device-wide TOR integration is not yet available for iPhone.
- Some TOR apps will leak your IP address when accessing sites with videos or active content.
- TOR is as anonymous as you make it. Don't give out your IP address or open suspicious links.
