Tor Browser for iPhone: Onion Browser, Orbot and Android

The Tor Project says there is no Tor Browser for iOS

The Tor Project’s installation page begins by listing where Tor Browser is available: Android, Windows, macOS and Linux. iOS is not in that list. Further down, in the tab for iOS, the page says “There is no Tor Browser for iOS.” and recommends an app called Onion Browser, which it describes as open source, built on Tor routing and developed by someone who works closely with the Tor Project. The download page for Tor Browser for Android repeats the point under a heading that asks whether you are looking for iOS: Tor Browser is not available there, and the Tor Project encourages you to try Onion Browser by Mike Tigas and Guardian Project instead.

The installation page gives one reason. Apple requires browsers on iOS to use WebKit, and that prevents Onion Browser from having the same privacy protections as Tor Browser. The Onion Browser website gives the same reason in more detail: Apple requires every browser app to use one core web rendering engine, so the app cannot include its own engine based on Firefox Gecko, which is what Tor Browser on desktop and Android is allowed to use. The Tor Project says Tor Browser for Android is based on Firefox for Android.

A 2016 post on the Tor Project blog, signed mtigas, goes into older and more technical reasons. It says apps on iOS are not allowed to start subprocesses, so Tor has to be built into the app itself. It says the older UIWebView interface let an app set the SOCKS proxy that sends a browser through Tor, while the newer WKWebView always uses the system proxy settings. It says WebKit gives little control over how pages are drawn and run, which made a Tor Browser-style security slider very difficult to build, and that the native iOS video player does not use the same network stack as WebKit, so anything that launches it may leak traffic outside Tor. The same post said a system-wide Tor app, like Orbot on Android, was “simply not possible” on iOS. That sentence is from 2016: the App Store now lists Orbot for iOS, covered below, so it no longer describes the platform. We use the post only for the history of why the problem is hard, not for how things stand today.

What Onion Browser is, and what its own page admits

The App Store page for Onion Browser names Mike Tigas as the developer. The app is free with in-app purchases, takes 90.3 MB, runs on iPhone and iPad and carries an age rating of 16+. Its description calls it the original free and open-source Tor-powered web browser for iOS. It says the app reaches .onion sites and can block scripts and clear cookies and tabs, depending on your preferences. The listing ends with three disclaimers: browsing is much slower than in a normal browser or through a VPN because traffic is encrypted and relayed through the Tor network; the app might not work on networks with advanced restrictions, in which case it suggests trying bridges, or a different type of bridge, then force-quitting and restarting the app; and use is at your own risk, because sensitive data does not always belong on a mobile device. Bridges are explained on our page about bridges and censorship.

The app’s own website, onionbrowser.com, is more specific. Its disclaimer says that using Onion Browser does not guarantee security or privacy on its own, and it lists what to remember:

• The engine. Apple’s WebKit rule means the app cannot ship the Firefox-based engine that Tor Browser uses on desktop and Android.
• Only the app is covered. The app tunnels traffic within itself; network traffic outside the app is not protected and keeps using your normal connection.
• Logging in. If you use the app to log in to a website you also visit outside Tor, the site may be able to identify you and know that you are using Tor. The page adds that in some circumstances, political dissent in repressive nations among them, that fact can be incriminating in itself.
• What iOS controls. iOS has full control over some network traffic, and the page says this may send it, audio and video embeds included, over your normal connection instead of Tor.
• Location and HTML5. Websites may use the HTML5 Geolocation API and other new HTML5 features unless the “Strict” security mode is set, and the page asks users to watch for pop-ups that ask for location access.

The version history on the App Store page shows that the app is being updated. Version 3.4.2, listed for October 13, says it fixed “IP leaks during DNS prefetch”, and version 3.4.4, listed for October 20, updates the Tor component. The lines we read give a month and a day only, so we do not give a year.

How much protection the app lacks is not put in numbers by the pages we read. The Tor Project’s comparison of apps gives Tor Browser a yes on blocking trackers, resisting fingerprinting and having several security levels. Its table for community apps, which includes Onion Browser, has no rows for those three features, and the pages we read do not say whether Onion Browser’s Strict mode matches the Safest level in Tor Browser. The 2016 blog post called a security slider of that kind very difficult on iOS, so the two descriptions are not the same thing.

Orbot on iPhone

Orbot’s App Store page names The Tor Project as the developer and gives it the subtitle “Tor VPN”. It is free, takes 125.1 MB and is listed for iPhone, iPad and Mac. The description calls it the original free and open-source Tor-powered VPN for iOS and macOS, which lists three features, fewer than the Onion Browser listing (it does not mention blocking scripts or clearing cookies and tabs): browsing over Tor, protection on insecure wireless networks and from internet providers, and access to .onion sites. Its disclaimers echo Onion Browser’s: browsing is much slower than through a normal VPN, the app might not work on networks with advanced restrictions, where bridges can be tried, and sensitive data does not always belong on a mobile device.

The Tor Project’s comparison table lists Orbot as a VPN for Android and iOS. It names the Guardian Project as maker and as the source of user support, and The Tor Project as publisher. That is a different split from Onion Browser, which the same table lists as made by Mike Tigas and Guardian Project, published by Mike Tigas, with support from Guardian Project. For the Tor VPN app on Android, which is in beta, the table answers no to blocking trackers, resisting fingerprinting and having multiple security levels, and the Tor Project describes that app as one that routes several apps through Tor and pairs with whichever browser you choose. Those three answers are given for Tor VPN on Android; the pages we read do not give them for Orbot on iOS.

A Guardian Project article of July 25, 2023 describes using the two iPhone apps together. The article, by a summer intern, describes testing Orbot, Onion Browser and OnionShare against a test plan. In that account you open Orbot first and complete the VPN setup, then press start to use the default connection, or choose “Choose how to Connect” for other options, and only then use Onion Browser. The article also says OnionShare makes a .onion link that opens in Onion Browser or Tor Browser. It is a description of a test by one group, not a guarantee of how the apps behave for you. Orbot’s version history points the same way: version 1.14.0, listed for October 15, fixed a bug that stopped other apps, Onion Browser in particular, from requesting access to Orbot on iOS.

The Tor Project’s own installation page for iOS mentions Onion Browser only; it does not name Orbot. The pages we read do not say whether the Tor Project’s rule for Android, not to use a separate VPN with Tor, extends to Orbot. For turning an ordinary VPN on, see our page on turning on a VPN on iPhone.

Android: where Tor Browser itself is

On Android, the Tor Project’s installation page says, Tor Browser is based on Firefox for Android and needs Android 8.0 or newer, on Aarch64, Arm or x86_64 hardware. It is available from Google Play, F-Droid, the Tor Project website and GetTor. If you are unsure which architecture a device has, the page advises installing only from an app store, meaning Google Play or F-Droid. For F-Droid the page says the Guardian Project provides the app through its official app repository, and gives these steps:

1. Download the F-Droid app on the Android device, install its package file and launch it.
2. Tap Settings, then Repositories under My Apps, then the plus sign to add a repository.
3. Add the Guardian Project App Repository and confirm with Add Repository; the list of apps may take a few moments to load.
4. Go back to the home page, tap Search, look for Tor Browser for Android, tap it and tap Install.

The Tor Browser for Android download page offers a Google Play button and a link to signatures and APKs. It lists Tor Browser 16.0 as the stable release and 16.0a14 as the alpha, with APK downloads and signatures for aarch64, armv7, x86 and x86_64, and instructions for F-Droid. A news item in the sidebar of a Tor Project page we read, dated October 29, 2026, announces Tor Browser 16.0 with an interface built on Jetpack Compose for Android. The download page also sets three ground rules for using Tor Browser: do not use a separate VPN with Tor, do not install extra plugins or add-ons, and do not torrent over Tor.

The Tor Project’s page on security levels says Tor Browser for Android has the same three levels as the desktop browser (Standard, Safer and Safest), and that Standard is the default. Safer turns JavaScript off on non-HTTPS sites and makes audio and video click-to-play; Safest turns JavaScript off by default on all sites. On Android the route is the three-dot menu, then Privacy and security, then Security Level; after you pick a level you tap Save and restart. The page says higher levels may stop some pages working and that you can undo the change at any time by choosing another level and restarting.

Where Tor Browser for Android runs, the Tor Project’s comparison table gives it yes on blocking trackers, resisting fingerprinting and multiple security levels, and describes it as best for anonymous browsing. That is the browser the iOS page says does not exist for iPhone.

Apps with Tor Browser in the name

The App Store has apps whose titles begin with Tor Browser. We read one listing, “TOR Browser: OrNET Onion + VPN”, whose developer is Stronger Apps. It is free with in-app purchases, takes 300.8 MB, and is listed for iPhone and iPad with an age rating of 16+. Its description says the product is produced independently from the Tor anonymity software and carries no guarantee from The Tor Project about quality, suitability or anything else.

Two statements sit side by side here. The Tor Project says there is no Tor Browser for iOS and recommends one app by name; an App Store listing carries Tor Browser in its title and says it is independent of the Tor software. The pages we read do not say how the Tor Project regards apps such as this one, and they do not call any of them a scam, so we do not either.

What the pages do give is a name to look for. The App Store pages we read each show a developer: Mike Tigas for Onion Browser, The Tor Project for Orbot and Stronger Apps for OrNET. The Tor Project’s table gives the publisher of Onion Browser as Mike Tigas and of Orbot as The Tor Project, and gives onionbrowser.com and orbot.app as where the two apps are available. The App Store descriptions of Onion Browser and Orbot send readers to those same two addresses. We did not use the star ratings or the written reviews on any of these pages as evidence of what an app does.

What a phone changes, and what we did not read

On the phone itself, Onion Browser’s website lists traffic that stays outside the app and traffic that iOS handles on its own. The App Store listings of Onion Browser and Orbot each warn that sensitive data does not always belong on a mobile device. The 2016 blog post says any action that launches the native iOS video player may possibly leak traffic outside Tor. The pages we read do not turn these points into a rule for what to do on a phone, and we do not add one.

For the questions that a phone does not change, our pages on this subject go further. Is Tor Browser safe? sets out the habits the Tor Project says undo its protection and who can see that you are using it. Opsec, in plain words applies a five-step method to one person. Bridges and censorship covers the connection options that matter when a network blocks Tor, and the Tor Browser entrance page collects them all.

We tested nothing on a phone. We did not read the App Store listings of two other apps with Tor Browser in the title. The pages we read do not mention Lockdown Mode, and they do not say whether Onion Browser or Orbot protects against any particular adversary.