When you use your phone, you leave a trace on every website you visit, every video you watch, and every app you download. This digital footprint is the record of your activity. Over time, this footprint gets bigger and bigger until it starts to reveal your behaviors and habits. This footprint can even leak sensitive private information that can lead to identity theft or record breaches.
But how do you stop leaving a footprint? We all use our phones daily to help us work, interact, and schedule our lives. Wouldn’t it be great if we could use our phones without leaking all of our sensitive information to threat actors? You can! You just need the right tool. And that tool is a VPN.
Let’s talk about what VPNs are, why they matter, and why Surfshark VPN for Android is the best current service on the market for Android-driven devices.
What is a Virtual Private Network (VPN)?
A virtual private network (or VPN) tunnels and encrypts your network traffic to give you anonymity when browsing the internet. Since VPNs mask your internet protocol (or IP) address, you can browse the web without leaving a trace. At the same time as tunneling traffic, VPNs use military-grade encrypting measures to ensure that your browsing sessions are safe-and-secure on both home and public WiFi networks. Because of this, many travelers utilize VPNs to bypass local firewalls or reduce their digital footprint in the wake of overbearing government monitoring.
Why Do You Need a VPN?
The vast majority (+80%) of Americans are highly concerned about their digital privacy. The average cost of identity theft is over $1,300, and over 60 million Americans have experienced these aggressive and unlawful privacy breaches. As people becoming increasingly concerned about their digital privacy, finding ways to prevent threat actors from stealing your precious private information is top-of-mind.
This is where VPNs come in handy. VPNs work by encrypting and tunneling your traffic to a private server before releasing it into the world wide web. Imagine the internet as a highway. Every day, billions of people send information packets rushing down that highway. Unfortunately, highway bandits are everywhere. When they see information packets driving by, they steal a few. With a VPN, you’re not taking the highway. You’re taking an underground, private tunnel to your destination that’s free of troublesome highway bandits.
Of course, there are other benefits that come as a natural byproduct of this anonymity. You can use VPNs to bypass regional locks on content streaming platforms. And you can use VPNs to get around pesky firewalls and government blocks. But, at its core, a VPN is giving you privacy while browsing — the other benefits are just a cherry on top of the anonymity pie.
How to Use a VPN on an Android 10 Device
Chances are, you browse the internet on your phone. The majority of internet traffic comes from mobile devices — especially for those streaming content or traveling abroad. Luckily, there are two primary ways to use a VPN on Android 10 devices.
- Manually: Go to settings > Wireless and Networks > More > VPN > + and enter the protocol information provided by your VPN provider.
- Automatically: Some of the more reputable VPN providers allow you to download apps that automatically setup — and, more importantly, maximize — your VPN settings.
The second method is the preferred method. For starters, it ensures that you always have access to the most up-to-date protocols. If your VPN (for some reason) changes IP settings, you’ll be browsing the internet without a VPN, likely unknowingly, when you use manual setup. In addition, you won’t get any of the unique features that are often packaged in these apps, which can help maximize connections and pick the best possible server for you during every connection.
The #1 VPN for Android 10 Devices
Admittedly, there are a TON of VPNs available for Android devices. By now, most people reading this have probably seen an ad or two for VPN services. There are thousands of them on the market. So how do you find the cream-of-the-crop? For starters, you want a VPN that offers an anti-malware service. Since most people utilize VPNs to help them deter threat actors, picking a VPN that gives you anti-malware features will save you from spending cash on another security app.
You also want a VPN that blocks ad trackers. Even after your traffic is encrypted, third-party cookies can still track and monitor your browsing behavior. Guess what? These 3rd party cookies are BUILT INTO web browsers like Google Chrome. What’s the point of using a VPN if “Big Brother” can still track your activity?
You also want a VPN with lots of locations and a fair number of servers. If your VPN has too many servers, you may bounce back-and-forth between them, creating friction when you use an automated app. If you have too few, you’ll lack options, and you may find overpacked servers to be an issue.
It goes without saying that you want a VPN with an Android app. You also want your VPN provider to be audited by a third party to ensure that they produce quality, secure apps.
Finally, you want a VPN that gives you unlimited devices. This is huge! The vast majority (basically all) of VPNs require you to pay for each device. How many people own just one device? You probably have a phone, computer, gaming system, and tablet. At the very least, you have two of these, right? You might even have a few phones in your household. If you choose a VPN that doesn’t have unlimited devices, expect to pay for each and every one of those devices. And that can add up… fast.
So what VPN meets all of those requirements? Surfshark. Why?
- They have a best-in-class Android appand years of experience passing 3rd party privacy audits.
- They have +800 servers in 50 countries.
- They have an ad-blocking and anti-malware extension.
- They allow you to use the VPN on UNLIMITED devices for a single monthly payment.
The choice was tough. There are other big players on the market, like NordVPN and ExpressVPN. But they don’t offer unlimited device support. And some of them don’t offer the full suite of tools that Surfshark does.
Final Thoughts
Don’t browse the web on your phone without the right security measures in place. VPNs can help you remain anonymous while still enjoying the day-to-day operations of your device. All you need is an app.
