Unless you fully trust your ISP, you should hide your IP address on your Android phone or tablet. The best way to do this is with a VPN, though some providers are better than others. Today, we cover the top VPNs with applications optimized for Android devices and show you how to use one to enhance your privacy online.
An IP address is a unique string of digits that represents your specific device. And we can use it to track your online activities. If you are concerned about privacy or if you want to improve your security. Then hiding your IP address is an important step in improving your overall digital protection.
It is very important to hide your IP address from your phone, as it holds a huge amount of information about yourself and your location as well as your online activities. Android is by far the most popular mobile operating system in the world, so knowing how to hide your IP address on this OS is an immensely valuable skill. Read on for an in-depth tutorial on how to hide your IP address on Android.
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Hide Your IP Address On Android
The best way to hide your IP address on Android is to use a virtual private network. A VPN works when you install an application on your Android device. And this app then encrypts all of the data that your device sends over the internet before it leaves your device. This encrypted data passes via your internet connection as usual. Although no one else can access the data or read it. The data is then sent to a server located elsewhere in the location of your choosing, and at the server. It decrypts and sends on to its original destination. When the data leaves this server, it is assigned with a new IP address that corresponds to the location of the server rather than your actual location.
This process means that your real IP address is masked behind the new address set to you by the server. If you are based in one location. Like Germany, for example – you can connect to a server in another location – such as the United Kingdom – and your German IP address will be hidden behind a United Kingdom IP address. Then, when you visit a site, you will appear to be browsing from the UK and you can access United Kingdom content such as the BBC iPlayer. This also means that your real IP address will be kept safe and private as well.
Using A VPN App On Android
The particular app that you will use to connect to your VPN server on Android depends on the VPN provider that you choose. However, the general principals of these applications are all the same. If you need to get started, check out our guide to installing a VPN onto Android. Otherwise, continue reading below.
When you open a VPN app for Android, you will not yet connect to the VPN. First, you need to find the list of servers that are available in the VPN app. Often this will be on a separate tab in the form of an alphabetical list, or there may be a map showing locations of available servers.
Decide which server that you want to connect to, based on the following factors:
Steps to Hide IP Address
- First of all, consider the country of the server. If you want to access region-locked content. Then you need to select a server in the region where you want to access the content from. Alternatively, if you do not need to access region-locked content. Then you should choose a server that is nearby to your actual location for the best possible speeds.
- Second of all, look at the ping and load of the servers. The ping is an indicator of how fast the server is responding to messages sent to it. So you want a server with low ping so that it will respond quickly and you can get a fast connection. The load indicates how many users are currently using the server. So you want a server with a low load so that you are not sharing limited resources with too many other people.
When you have selected the server that will best meet your needs, click on the name of the server and you should see a message indicating. That you are being connected to that server (it should only take a few seconds for the connection to be made). Once the connection is made, you will see an indicator on the application that the VPN is running, usually in the form of a green light or icon. You will also see a key symbol in your Android status bar to show that you are now connecting to a VPN.
Now your IP address is hidden, and most VPN apps will show you your new IP address if you navigate to the home screen. This means you can now browse the internet safely and privately from your Android device.
Top Three VPNs to Hide Your Android IP
There is a massive selection of VPNs available for many devices, so to help you choose which VPN provider is right for you we have compiled a list of our top VPNs for Android, based on the following criteria:
- Software support for Android and other operating systems, so that you can install your VPN and use it to protect your Windows, Mac, and iOS devices as well as your Android device.
- Excellent security to keep your data safe and private, like the use of strong 256-bit encryption and a no-logging policy. So that your online activities will never be recorded.
- Fast connections so that using your VPN does not slow down your browsing or downloading too much.
- Many servers available so that you can easily find a server in the location that you need, and that does not have a high load on it.
Considering these factors, here are the VPNs that we recommend for Android:
