Tor Browser & Orbot: Anonymity on Android

Your ISP sees everything. Every domain you visit. Every IP connection. A VPN just shifts the problem — now you trust the VPN provider instead of your ISP. Tor solves the problem differently.

With Tor, you don't rely on trust. The network itself ensures that no single point knows both who you are and where you're going. At the same time: Tor is not a silver bullet. Use the tool wrong and you're just as visible as without it.

"Anonymity is not a state. It is a behavior."

How Onion Routing Works

Tor stands for The Onion Routing. The principle: your data packets are wrapped in multiple layers of encryption — like an onion — and then sent through a chain of exactly three volunteer-operated servers.

Each node peels off exactly one encryption layer — nothing more. No single point in the network knows both sender and recipient at the same time. That is the strength: not trust, but design.

Tor Browser: The Browser That Makes You Disappear

Tor Browser is not an ordinary browser with a Tor proxy bolted on. It is a specially hardened Firefox fork that works in concert with the network. The goal: as few distinguishable groups as possible, so that no individual stands out.

Instead of disguising each user individually, it relies on crowd blending: Tor Browser standardizes what could give it away, such as the user agent, so that its users fall into a few large groups.

What It Includes

• Automatic Tor routing — start it and browse, no setup needed
• NoScript: JavaScript control per security level
• Session isolation: cookies and history cleared after every session
• New Identity: fresh circuit + new session at the click of a button
• Access to .onion services (hidden services)

Security Levels — What They Actually Do

Standard is enough for ordinary anonymous browsing — Tor already protects at the network layer.
Safer is recommended on unknown sites or in censored networks.
Safest is for journalists, activists, .onion access — most modern sites will break.

Mistakes That Cost Anonymity

• Logging into personal accounts — Google, social media, email: immediately de-anonymized
• Full-screen mode — window dimensions are fingerprint data
• Installing extensions — every extension makes your browser unique
• Opening downloaded files — they can phone home and leak your real IP
• Torrents — almost always leak your real IP

Orbot: Tor for Android Apps

Orbot is not a browser. It provides other apps with access to the Tor network, either as a VPN or as a local proxy — built by the Guardian Project together with the Tor Project. It routes other apps' traffic through the Tor network. Not just browsing. Any app you choose.

VPN Mode vs. Power User Mode

VPN mode is the simpler path: Orbot creates a local VPN at the system level, intercepts traffic from selected apps, and routes everything through Tor. No app configuration needed — just mark the desired apps under "Choose apps".

Power User Mode (More → Orbot Settings → General) leaves the VPN slot free. Orbot then only provides local proxies (SOCKS on port 9050), which an app has to support itself. This lets Orbot run simultaneously with Mullvad or ProtonVPN. The result is "Tor over VPN": your ISP only sees the VPN connection, the VPN provider only sees Tor traffic — no single point knows both.

Setup on GrapheneOS

Recommended download: F-Droid with the Guardian Project repository. In F-Droid, go to Settings → Repositories and enable the official Guardian Project repository, then install Orbot from there. Alternatively, download the APK directly from guardianproject.info.

Recommended settings after installation:

1. Enable VPN mode
2. Open "Choose apps" → select only the apps you want routed through Tor (e.g. wallet, messenger)
3. For maximum leak protection: Settings → Network & internet → VPN → gear icon next to Orbot → enable "Always-on VPN" and "Block connections without VPN"
   (Note: apps you did not select then have no network at all. They do not go through Tor, they are blocked. Another VPN such as Mullvad cannot run in this profile at the same time.)
4. Enable Bridges if Tor is blocked on your network

BitBox and Other Apps Through Tor

For the BitBox app, the cleanest approach is Power User Mode: Orbot runs without a VPN, and in the BitBox app you enter 127.0.0.1:9050 under Settings → Advanced settings → "Enable tor proxy". The VPN slot stays free, and Mullvad can keep running alongside. Wallets without their own proxy setting can be marked in VPN mode under "Choose apps", and then all their network traffic runs through Tor.

Your wallet communicates with the node without your ISP being able to trace the connection back to you. No IP address leading to you — only anonymized Tor traffic.

Bridges & Pluggable Transports

Standard Tor entry nodes are publicly listed — censors can block them. Bridges are secret, unlisted Tor nodes. Pluggable Transports go further: they disguise Tor traffic as something else entirely.

Important: only use bridges when Tor is actually blocked. In open networks, direct connections are faster and don't consume bridge resources that users in censored regions actually need.

In Tor Browser: Settings → Connection → Bridges → select a built-in bridge
In Orbot: "Choose How To Connect" → pick Snowflake or a bridge

Tor Browser vs. Orbot: When to Use Which?

What Tor Cannot Do

• Exit node traffic: The exit node sees unencrypted HTTP traffic. Always use HTTPS.
• Hiding that you use Tor: Your ISP can see that you're using Tor — just not what. Use bridges if that's a concern.
• Traffic correlation: A powerful adversary monitoring both ends can theoretically link connections.
• User mistakes: Login, full-screen, downloads — no network protects against your own actions.

"The network can only protect what you give it. What you give away yourself, no one can protect."