Should I turn a VPN on or off?
If you’re using the internet on your iPhone, you should always keep your VPN turned on. There aren’t many cases where having it off is beneficial, but we’ll try and list them anyway.
When to turn a VPN on
When using public Wi-Fi
When carrying out operations that involve sensitive data
When you need to overcome blocks and censorship
When shopping online
When to turn a VPN off
When banking (banking apps can be very fussy about VPN use)
When mobile data usage is of critical importance
When your connection is slow and you want to stream video or just access rich websites
Our advice is to always use a VPN to be on the safe side.
Can you use a VPN for free on your iPhone?
There are two ways a VPN can be free on an iPhone:
By using inbuilt VPN functionality: this means setting up a connection manually and finding your own VPN server to connect to. If you’re asking this question, I assume you don’t have one handy, and getting one isn’t free;
By downloading a free VPN: not all VPN providers are safe, and using free VPN services is such a risky proposition that we wrote a full article comparing free VPNs with paid ones.
But hey, thanks to free trials and money-back guarantees, trying out a premium VPN to see if it fits is a risk-free proposition.
iPhones have built-in VPN protocols for a reason
iPhones are generally secure, but they aren’t immune to privacy issues. Your sensitive data may still be at risk, especially on public Wi-Fi. That’s why you should add an extra layer of security to your iPhone.
Use Surfshark and wonder “what is VPN on iphone?” no more! Surfshark VPN has everything you’ll ever need in a VPN — and for an affordable price!