Tor on Android

by ioerror | March 4, 2010

The Tor Project has been working very closely with Nathan Freitas and The Guardian Project to create an Android release. This is an early beta release and is not yet suitable for high security needs. The Android web browser is not protected by Torbutton and we have not yet developed an anonymous browser on the Android platform. Please be cautious with this release, it's probably pretty fragile and it's certainly not ready for serious use.

We've codenamed the Tor on Android project Orbot; Orbot is a single Android package that provides a new Tor controller, Privoxy as our trusty little HTTP proxy, libevent, and Tor itself. This Android package is using the C reference implementation of Tor. Orbot should be orders of magnitude safer than other Tor implementations on Android and it's our official release. Everything you'll need for using Tor is in the package. :-)

We now have an Android webpage that discusses the Orbot Android package in some detail.

Orbot has some commonly used features such as support for bridges. It also has advanced features such as per application Torification on modified devices (commonly called 'rooted' phones). It has been tested on Android 1.5, 1.6, 2.0, 2.1 and on non-standard customized builds of Android. We think we've ironed out most of the kinks but we're looking for some community feedback from devices in the wild. We'd especially like to hear about the UI and what applications you commonly use with Tor.

When Orbot is successfully installed and running, it should provide a few standard interfaces to interface with the Tor network. Privoxy listens on 127.0.0.1:8118 - it's chained to the standard Tor SOCKS proxy on 127.0.0.1:9050. In addition, we have a DNSPort on port 5400. The DNSPort is most commonly used by the automagical per application Torification. These ports may change in the future; if they conflict with other common and popular applications, we'd like to hear about it.

Our official builds are available from our website. As per our usual style of package releases, we're releasing the .apk package with gpg signatures.

If you'd simply like the latest Android package, please visit this url:
http://sedvblmbog.tudasnich.de/dist/android/alpha-orbot-latest.apk

If you have the barcode scanner, you'll be able to directly load the
latest package by scanning the following QR code:

We plan to release Orbot in the Google Market in the near future. The
Orbot package you install from our website and the application in the
Market should be identical. In addition to the GPG signature, the .apk
files contain a digital signature. If you're feeling reasonably
paranoid, it's probably a fine idea to download the .apk from our
website, check the GPG signature, and then install the package on your
device manually.

If you'd like to reproduce our builds from source, we've documented the
build process in
our subversion repository.

If you'd like to read more about Orbot, we suggest you check out the
source and start hacking around:
svn co https://svn.torproject.org/svn/projects/android/trunk/ android/

applications

Comments

Please note that the comment area below has been archived.

This is completely unrelated

This is completely unrelated but how is Tor on the iPhone looking? Never going to happen or still in some stage of development?

Tor works on the iPhone

Tor works on the iPhone directly out of our source tree without modification. Sadly, unless you modify your iPhone, it's not possible to use Tor on the iPhone. It seems unlikely that it would be allowed in the Apple App Store.

There is active development by a dedicated and passionate member of the community. It's possible that he'll be able to whip up a solution but unless you've cracked your phone, it's not going to be simple or very useful.

I would be very interested

I would be very interested in experimenting with Tor on the iPhone. Is it possible to get in contact with this "Dedicated and Passionate Member"?

It's on our download page,

It's on our download page, see https://sedvblmbog.tudasnich.de/download-unix

Tor bridges seems can not

Tor bridges seems can not work in China,the great firewall seems becoming more Strong!

tor now works much slow than

tor now works much slow than before,why ?because of GFW ?

tor now works much slow than

tor now works much slow than before in China and tor bridges seems cannot work,why ?because of GFW ?

It seems more bridges /

It seems more bridges / relays are blocked in China. Any suggestion on this issue? Thanks.

Tor is more difficult to

Tor is more difficult to work well in China, will it be blocked completely by China government in the future?

How do I uninstall this

How do I uninstall this program? It does not work for me and I no longer want it on my computer, but it doesn't show up in add/remove programs.

http://sedvblmbog.tudasnich.de/faq

http://sedvblmbog.tudasnich.de/faq#HowUninstallTor

This is unrelated to the

This is unrelated to the post above but I wanted to report that the Python script here:
https://check.torproject.org/cgi-bin/TorBulkExitList.py

Is not working correctly (again) it keeps throwing out errors and is often not reporting all exit nodes that are live even when forcing it to give a fresh display of data and not cached data.

Can this be fixed? Also is there a way to report these things in future instead of posting comments on the blog?

Thanks

my moto milestone with 2.0.1

my moto milestone with 2.0.1 rooted Android can successfully connected to the Tor network in China Mainland, but I still cannot access twitter, youtude via Dolphin or Chrome lite, even I've rebooted the mobile and enable/disable Transparent proxying.
do you guys have any idea on this issue? thanks.
R.L

I think that tor is hard to

I think that tor is hard to work in China, will you fix this problem?

Thank you indeed for your

Thank you indeed for your great work.
I've been using Tor in China for many times.
Recently I got an Android phone, and will go to China at end of this year....
Hope Tor will help my mobile bypass the **** censorship :)

Yes I like tor and android

Yes I like tor and android both.Hope

Doesnt pass the TOR test on

Doesnt pass the TOR test on the android one.

Am I missing a setting ?

Ive checked the appropriate apps and have rooted the phone.

What else to do ?

The use of Tor on an Android

The use of Tor on an Android phone (such as the nexus) will allow for the use of certain apps outside of the US? I travel a lot and I'd love to be able to still use Pandora!

doesn't pass the tor test on

doesn't pass the tor test on nexus one.

am i alone ? or is it settings ?

Where will

Where will update-notifications on Orbot be posted?

Sorry but i didn't catch: is

Sorry but i didn't catch: is there any version for iPhone at the moment? If Yes - where can i find this file? I think that this kind of version would be most popular.

I was able to connect to ToR

I was able to connect to ToR but I'm not willing to root my phone yet since I upgraded to 2.1 (and this is the first time I've had a reason to root it). I want to run PDAnet through ToR. Is there another way to do this? This seemed like the easiest solution since I spent a while day trying to route all of my traffic through ToR just to get some minor 360 game updates. The droid doesn't like downloading some files. I actually have to tunnel steam through ToR on my PC just to get steam client updates. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Links to the "latest"

Links to the "latest" version of Tor for Android return a FORBIDDEN error.

The text on this blog asks that users test this and let the authors know of problems, but there's no link or reference to a forum to post, read, and discuss issues.

Installation of the 0.2.2.10 version on Android 2.1 Nexus One running Cyanogen's latest fail to run. The log shows:
Couldn't start Tor process:
/data/data/org.torproject.android/privoxy: not found

Checked the device - there is no such directory as /data/data anything.
Note that this ROM makes apps install themselves on the SD card. Checked SD card; no /data/data there either.

Pictures of Tor running on Android are different than the version that is installed with 0.2.2.10, which as concentric circles on the main screen that act as a button.

Basically, there needs to be a forum, and the website's references need to be up to date and correct. The biggest problem is no discernable links to any forum to research problems.

i have the same problem with

i have the same problem with my not rooted nexus one..
did you manage to solve the problem?
can any one help??

There is a fine bug tracking

There is a fine bug tracking system at https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/report. I think most of the original issues have been fixed.

Orbot is not in the android marketplace, so lots of features provided by the market don't exist otherwise.

nice to hear this good

nice to hear this good news!

I'm using tor with firefox on my pc now, hope to use tor on my HTC G2 asap!

How to add advanced settings

How to add advanced settings like proxy, keepalive, etc.? I added these additional settings directly to the torrc but Orbot just ignores them or overwrites torrc with its own limited settings.

We don't support manual

We don't support manual editing of torrc at this point, as you discovered, however I can see this as a necessary and useful feature.

Nathan / Orbot developer
http://guardianproject.info

Transparent proxy option

Transparent proxy option does seem to have any effect for me (Motorola Milestone, rooted Android 2.1).

Which MOD firmware are you

Which MOD firmware are you running?

Are you select apps to run through the Transparent Proxy?

I cannot get a positive

I cannot get a positive reading at check.torproject.org with tor on 2.2 with cyanogen's mod, anyone have a good walkthrough? I dont know what could be wrong.

I am having trouble getting

I am having trouble getting a positive result from check.torproject.org, with cyanogenmod 6 alpha 1, on nexus 1.

does anyone have a walkthrough, or be willing to help me get it configured?

I am having trouble getting

I am having trouble getting a positive result from check.torproject.org, with cyanogenmod 6 alpha 1, on nexus 1.

does anyone have a walkthrough, or be willing to help me get it configured?

In China Tor will not go

In China Tor will not go further, I guess Chinese Government will block it on immediate basis let hope for the best.

Thanks
Faris

X10i rooted tor is

X10i rooted
tor is connecting but it couldn't start privoxy
I couln't find any answer in bug section or else where, any idea?

how can i make it works with

how can i make it works with froyo ? the log showed that it start correctly, but for some reason, transparent proxy (even manual proxying via 8118 or whatever port that it used) never worked.

It donest work in china

It donest work in china now.
supprot tor bridge plz
thx

since october,i couldnt

since october,i couldnt connect the tor network .Can i use the tor bridge to solve this problem?

I'm seeing everything

I'm seeing everything working right out of the box on cyanogenmod 2.2 from the marketplace. Great job! Is it possible to change privoxy settings somehow? I would like to be able to log traffic from the proxy, mostly to see if some of the apps I have installed are sending back confidential information to their hosts. (Contact info/Mail settings etc) Possible?

Doesn't seem to work in CM7

Doesn't seem to work in CM7 on my Nexus One here in the US.

Where I can find the file

Where I can find the file torrc on android?

I figured out how to deploy

I figured out how to deploy Orbot with a custom torrc file, without having to rebuild Orbot from source, and without needing a rooted phone:
1. Download the latest Orbot apk file.
2. Open/extract the apk (it's really just a zip file with a different file extension) with your favorite zip utility.
3. Remove the META-INF folder from the apk.
4. Open the torrc file in the assets/ folder and modify it as you like.
5. Zip it all back up again.
6. Sign the .apk file using keytool and jarsigner according to the instructions at this URL: http://developer.android.com/guide/publishing/app-signing.html#cert
7. Copy to phone and install.

Works like a charm. Tested by specifying strict exitnodes and am now successfully watching the BBC iPlayer on my phone even though I'm in the UK.

You can't edit the torrc on the fly or without reinstalling Orbot using this method, but you don't need a rooted phone and you don't risk getting your torrc file overwritten by the old "default" one by Orbot.

I used this hint to set up

I used this hint to set up Orbot using a http(s)proxy.
It Works !
Nevertheless there should be an option to to that. Perfect were, if this options would map to SSIDs or BSSIDs so it could change automatically if the device is connected to another network.

Thx for the hint.

Milraun

Tor works on the iPhone

I've downloaded Orbot

I've downloaded Orbot yesterday but it force closes upon Internet access on my Samsung Galaxy S I9000 with Android OS 2.3.4. And also it shows to connect(goes Green) even in Airplane mode. What could be done to correct this.

Just installed on my HTC

Just installed on my HTC Hero running Elelinux (which uses CyanogenMod7 base) through the Android Market. Orbot says connected to the Tor network but when I used the "check" button the browser says can't connect to page, I can't connect to any web pages Google, BBC etc, and no other apps can connect to the internet i.e. downloading podcasts etc. Is there a setting I need to change?

I have managed to make it

I have managed to make it work on SonyErricsson x1Mini
all I've done was changing the proxy of the APN to127.0.0.1 port:8118
Just go to:
Settings -> wireless & networks -> Mobile networks -> Access Point Names ->
click the selected name -> Proxy ->127.0.0.1
port -> 8118
Hope this will help
Hamed Ahmad

Thanks mate, your input just

Thanks mate, your input just helped me figure it out!
ion

Hello Hamed..I have an HTC

Hello Hamed..I have an HTC Cha Cha...and I added the proxy settings as you described and it didn't work still..:( please help

HTC Sensation 2.3.4

HTC Sensation 2.3.4 non-root
Orbot Installed and run very well and as I read at Tor WWW I download and install proxy mobile 0.0.8 Add-ons for my fire fox browser and change port and proxy .But steel doesn,t work.Even I instal Orweb and it,s not work too.
You know, I live in Persian and it,s very important to me which can have a proxy.
Anyway thank you a lot because Tor work very nice on my PC.

I have a samsung Galaxy tab

I have a samsung Galaxy tab GT-P1000 , and I wanna use Tor on my tab, I have installed it but I wanna know how can I use it in other web browsers such as Fire fox not only on orweb... can u please help me on this?

hi, just updated my Nexus S

hi,

just updated my Nexus S to ICS. Tor worked great on android 2.x but now on 4.x it's not. any ideas or ways which people have made it work on android 4.x (ice cream sandwhich)?

cheers

I've installed Orbot and

I've installed Orbot and Orweb v2 on my Nexus and downloaded proxy_ mobile-0.0.8 add on but when I click on it to open it and install it, it says cannot open file....what should I do?

Hi, all, On my rooted

Hi, all,

On my rooted Android phone I successfully use Orbot 0.2.3.7-alpha-orbot-1.0.6 to browse through Tor in privacy. Slow but working.

Here is my scenario: With Tor NOT enabled, using BeyondPod to download an audio podcast mp3, the speed is about 7Mbps while downloading podcast.

Then:
- I force quit BeyondPod
- in Orbot settings I enabled "Transparent Proxying" and "Tor Everything," turned Tor on, got green light. Tor is now running.
- restart BeyondPod.
- in BeyondPod I started a download of a different podcast mp3 (just to make sure it's not the same one from when Tor was not enabled) and the download speed is just as fast, about 7Mbps or about 896Kilobytes/s.

That is fast! On a rooted phone with "Transparent Proxying" and "Tor Everything" both enabled, the claim is that Orbot will "send all internet traffic through Tor." Am I REALLY using Tor when downloading podcasts that fast? I am puzzled, since browsing the web with Orbot on is quite slow.

Thank you,
Bryce