OpenVPN Connect, the “official” OpenVPN Inc. app is designed to be more user-friendly for VPN users with little technical expertise. It’s less feature-rich than openvpn for Android, which is targeted toward more advanced OpenVPN users.
Openvpn for Android, a free open-source client created by Arne Schwarzbe, allows users to connect to any VPN service that is compatible with the OpenVPN protocol. If your device doesn’t support the pre-configured VPN applications available on the Google Play Store, this is an excellent alternative. Setup is relatively easy. You’ll need to download the VPN profile files. (The config files are named.ovpn). These files can be downloaded from your VPN provider’s website or openvpnandroid.com/ by contacting live chat support.
After you’ve imported your profile, tap on the server to connect. Once connected you’ll notice that your Internet traffic will be directed via a secure channel to the server that you have selected in the application. You can see your connection’s status and details on the Status tab. The kill switch is on by default. It will shut down your internet connection if the VPN tunnel is lost.
The app provides a per application VPN as and an option to be always on that automatically establishes an automatic VPN connection every time the app is opened and continues running after your device has gone to sleep or switched networks. However, the latter feature requires Android 7.0 or higher and may draw more power from your battery than usual.
