OpenVPN Connect Vs OpenVPN For Android
OpenVPN Connect, the “official” OpenVPN Inc. app, is designed to be more user friendly for VPN users with little technical understanding. It is therefore less fully featured than openvpn for android which is designed for more advanced OpenVPN users.
Openvpn for Android is a free and open source client created by Arne Schwabe that lets you connect to any VPN service that is compatible with the OpenVPN protocol. If your device isn’t compatible the pre-configured VPN applications that are available in the Google Play Store, this is a great alternative. The setup process is fairly straightforward. You only need to import your VPN profile files (the config files have an extension of.ovpn) which you can download from the website of your provider or by calling their live chat support team.
After you’ve created your profile, tap on the server to connect. Once connected, all Internet traffic is sent through a secure tunnel and directed to the server selected by the application. You can check the status of your connection and its details in the Status tab. A kill switch is always enabled by default, and it will shut down your Internet connections when the VPN tunnel is cut off.
The app also has per-app VPN as well as an all-day-long feature that automatically begins the VPN connection when the app is in use and continues to run even after your device is shut down or switches networks. The latter however requires Android 7.0 and higher, and may drain your batteries more than usual.