[HN Gopher] Tor - Onion Browser for iPhone and iPad
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Tor - Onion Browser for iPhone and iPad
Author : Trouble_007
Score : 44 points
Date : 2022-07-17 17:51 UTC (5 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (onionbrowser.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (onionbrowser.com)
| notRobot wrote:
| Please note that this app ("Onion Browser") is not affiliated
| with the official Tor project [1], and their website never
| clarifies that anywhere. Intentionally very misleading, and
| leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
|
| The code does appear to be open source, but on iOS devices there
| is NO WAY to ensure the code that's on the GitHub page [2] is
| what's running on your device, and sideloading isn't a realistic
| option either.
|
| [1]: https://torproject.org/
|
| [2]: https://github.com/onionbrowser/onionbrowser
|
| CORRECTION: As child comments point out, it appears that this app
| _is_ loosely affiliated with the Tor project, and is recommended
| by them.
| yreg wrote:
| It is made by Mike Tigas from the Tor Project though.
|
| https://www.torproject.org/about/people/
|
| Also, the website says:
|
| >Onion Browser is not affiliated with nor endorsed by The Tor
| Project. Onion Browser carries no guarantee from The Tor
| Project about quality, suitability or anything else.
| notRobot wrote:
| My bad, I didn't see that disclaimer anywhere while browsing
| the website on mobile. Thank you!
|
| Edit: The disclaimer is in the legalese on this page:
| https://onionbrowser.com/legal
| terramex wrote:
| Tor Project recommends using Onion Browser in iOS:
| https://support.torproject.org/tormobile/tormobile-3/
|
| > Can I run Tor Browser on an iOS device?
|
| > We recommend an iOS app called Onion Browser, which is open
| source, uses Tor routing, and is developed by someone who works
| closely with the Tor Project. However, Apple requires browsers
| on iOS to use something called Webkit, which prevents Onion
| Browser from having the same privacy protections as Tor
| Browser.
|
| And here is old post (2016) about it on Tor Project blog:
| https://blog.torproject.org/tor-heart-onion-browser-and-more...
| notRobot wrote:
| Thank you for the correction!
| hawkeyedan wrote:
| This is a pretty great tool, despite the limitations of existing
| in iOS-land.
|
| It obviously has the same problem any Tor browser has though, you
| run into bot blocking on a very large % of the regular (non
| .onion) interwebs.
|
| Worth consideration for putting on your daily driver phone.
| sandGorgon wrote:
| is a browser allowed on iphone app store ? i thought Apple TOS
| meant no other browser could be allowed
| ec109685 wrote:
| The rendering engine has to be apple's but the network plumbing
| can be custom.
|
| Chrome's browser has that ability.
| m348e912 wrote:
| I thought this wasn't possible due to Apple's limitations on what
| browsers can do in the iOS ecosystem. This was understood to be
| the reason why Brave didn't have a tor option in iOS. Interesting
| to see it working now.
| juice_bus wrote:
| Is this even an official offering from The Tor Project?
|
| At the bottom it says:
|
| >Copyright (c) 2012-2021 Tigas Ventures, LLC. All rights
| reserved.
| terramex wrote:
| I checked and it looks like Mike Tigas is a Tor Project core
| member, he is listed here as author of iOS Onion Browser:
| https://www.torproject.org/about/people/#core
| yreg wrote:
| Onion Browser is an independent project created by Mike
| Tigas[0] a member of Tor Project team[1].
|
| [0] - https://github.com/OnionBrowser
|
| [1] - https://www.torproject.org/about/people/
| tomxor wrote:
| > I thought this wasn't possible due to Apple's limitations
|
| It's not possible, it doesn't have critical feature parity,
| resulting in some traffic simply not being routed through tor,
| and If it can't route all traffic for a web page the whole
| thing becomes kind of pointless, because now the website and
| your ISP can identify your access:
|
| > iOS has full control over some network traffic, which may
| result in this traffic (including audio or video embeds)
| routing via your normal connection and not over Tor. [0]
|
| I feel that all of the browser apps for iOS really aren't
| helping the situation. They should just remove themselves, they
| are just confusing to the general public, giving a false sense
| of diversity and freedom of choice on these crippled devices...
| it's caused many confusing conversations with people when it
| comes to iOS browser issues too. "but i'm using Firefox. No you
| are not. Yes I am"
|
| [0] From the article
| dzhiurgis wrote:
| Does it connect to tor via apple's vpn?
| WhitneyLand wrote:
| A problem in the past has been sometimes the app lags greatly
| behind the latest tor library releases which can mean missing
| security updates totally separate from iOS platform limitations.
|
| I know it's tough for one person to do this so it's not a
| criticism as much as it is something to be aware of.
| stevenjgarner wrote:
| No surveillance or tracking on a device that is surveilled and
| tracked? What am I missing?
| lrvick wrote:
| On iOS it is not possible to truly run a custom browser because
| Apple mandates use of Safari. What you get on iOS are mostly just
| skins for Safari.
|
| There is no path to most of the privacy features Tor Browser
| implements on iOS.
|
| https://2019.www.torproject.org/projects/torbrowser/design/
|
| Remember, if you paid for an Apple device, you do not own an
| Apple device.
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(page generated 2022-07-17 23:02 UTC)