Monday, 27 February 2017

Best VPN for iPhone/iOS: Our 5 top choices

Apple’s iPhone is widely regarded as a stable and secure smartphone, but that isn’t to say that iOS doesn’t have its own issues regarding security and privacy – particularly in today’s climate of hacking and security breaches. Using a VPN service ensures you retain your digital privacy, while also allowing for other neat features like accessing geo-restricted content and circumventing censorship.

How to choose the best VPN service for iPhone/iOS

There’s no shortage of VPNs with decent iOS support, with many providers offering dedicated iOS apps, which is obviously a main consideration here – and preferably the software will be easy-to-use, and yet provide enough options for more advanced users to be able to tweak things.

Other important considerations include tight security (obviously) and a favourable privacy policy, along with terms of service which make it quite clear what logs and details are stored by the provider. The number of simultaneous connections allowed and the ensuing speeds you get from the VPN provider are also well worth considering, as ever.

Below are the five best VPN services for iPhone/iOS that we've picked out for you.

IPVanish delivers consistently great performance, and indeed actually improved our download speeds by around 15% over long distances, with even faster results when it came to some short hops. The native client supports iOS 8 or better, works equally well on iPads and connects automatically anytime internet traffic is detected. It also suggests the fastest server based on your location and ping time.

When it comes to security, the service offers a broad range of protocols, and on the privacy front, IPVanish doesn’t record any online activity or connection data while using the iOS app. 

In short, the only niggle with IPVanish is its pricing. There is no free trial available and the service is slightly more expensive than others. That said, the three plans include a 7-day money-back guarantee. The 1-year subscription is the most affordable option. The packages available are:

This Switzerland-based provider owns and operates all of its servers, and boasts exceptional performance levels as a result. Our tests revealed an outstanding boost in download speeds, with performance being over twice as fast as our regular rates.

The native app supports iOS 8 and higher, plus it comes with useful features like automatic fastest server selection, iPad compatibility and automatic encryption of untrusted Wi-Fi connections. It’s also worth noting that VyprVPN doesn't restrict your connections by IP address (i.e. you can access the network via your router, mobile phone network via 3G/4G and so forth).

Security-wise, the service boasts the proprietary Chameleon protocol, which is designed to help get around VPN blocking. The privacy policy is clear and straightforward, and this VPN doesn't log or inspect your traffic.

There are only two pricing plans to choose from, and you can be billed either monthly or annually. Going the yearly route offers a big saving. Make sure you use the three-day free trial to properly test the service as VyprVPN doesn’t allow refunds. The packages available are:

SaferVPN offers lots of quality software clients, and the iOS app is no exception. You can connect with a simple tap without any prior configuration as the app automatically determines the best server locations for optimal performance. The client also automatically protects data over any unsecured Wi-Fi hotspot.

SaferVPN manages its own network. In our performance tests, we found speeds were pretty good compared to rivals, and we obtained solid download rates even over longer distances.

On the downside, this VPN records a great deal of session data, although none of this is related to your actual activities online – but it’s still far more information than competitors collect, generally speaking.

The service boasts a free access-all-areas 24-hour trial to check it out. Among the three price plans, the 2-year plan offers the best value. The packages available are:

PureVPN has a simple and straightforward iOS app, but it also offers a number of additional settings that can be tweaked if you’re so inclined. The handy one-click connection feature automatically detects your location to help you get on the fastest server. There are optimised servers for various purposes, and with a huge choice of server locations, PureVPN is great for streaming content.

Indeed, the provider did well in our performance tests – our download speeds were close to twice as fast in comparison to our normal (non-VPN) rates. There is a weakness on the security front, however, namely that the Secure DNS feature didn’t work for us (this is supposed to prevent DNS leaks); but your mileage may vary.

As for the privacy policy, PureVPN scores well here, with everything clearly stated, and there’s no logging of your surfing activity or indeed anything else.

PureVPN has three available subscription plans which aren’t the cheapest around, with the 1-year plan being the clear winner in the value for money stakes. The packages available are:

KeepSolid is a well-known VPN that provides good overall performance levels. In our testing, download speeds were only 12% down compared to our regular rates, which is more than good enough for a stable and fast connection.

The native app supports iOS 8 or better, although certain features may require a newer version: for example, to use the built-in ad blocking for Safari, you must be running iOS 9. You can opt for the optimal/fastest connection or choose a server for a specific purpose.

KeepSolid’s terms and conditions state that the company logs only basic details about service activity, and there's no logging of anything a user might do online. However, one weak point is that you may be able to connect five devices simultaneously, but you can only change one of them once per week.

There's a 7-day free trial to get you started, along with a 7-day money-back guarantee. KeepSolid offers two main plans, although there’s also a lifetime subscription available. Chances are you might not want to make that much of a commitment, particularly seeing as the annual subscription is temptingly cheap. The packages available are:

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