The best privacy protection apps for Android and iOS

Never have I felt as insecure as in the current digital age, because we can all be tracked from applications that exploit users’ information. From Facebook, Google… to other free apps. Understanding that feeling, so today, AnonyVIet will introduce you to the best privacy protection apps on Android or iOS. While most of these apps are available on both platforms, some are not yet available on iOS.

Why do you need private apps?

Since the day Edward Snowden announced the wiretapping from the US Government, privacy concerns have always haunted people. Anyone can be eavesdropped or read messages. Privacy protection apps give you peace of mind knowing that your data is secure. If you don’t want others to track your web activities, then these security apps are the best choice for you. Best of all, most of these apps also offer free versions, so you won’t have to spend extra money to protect your data.

Finally, the apps on this list are not only to protect your privacy, but they also allow you to monitor your phone’s data consumption, keep passwords safe, and save your device’s memory.

The best privacy protection apps

Here are some of the best Android and iOS apps you can download right now. You can use these apps to send secure messages, browse the web without tracking, keep your passwords safe, and much more.

Signal

Research by the Pew Research Center shows that more than 75% of people use their phones to text. If you’re worried about the privacy of your messages, Signal is the privacy guard app for you. Signal is an open source application that works on a 2-way message encryption protocol. Since the application is open source, any errors are handled extremely quickly and the overall experience is smooth.

This app takes privacy so seriously that even your stickers are encrypted. Endorsed by Edward Snowden and billionaire Elon Musk This is one of the best free secure messaging apps out there. You can get apps for Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, and Linux-based distributions.

Telegram

This is a more popular secure messaging app than Signal. Telegram is one of the best messaging apps for large groups and sharing media (videos, etc.). Like Signal, Telegram is also open source and it uses the MTProto encryption protocol. There is no limit to the size or amount of media you can share on the app.

You can add up to 2,00,000 participants to a group, which is a bit overkill, but it’s a nice feature.

AnonyViet has a post privacy comparison between Whatsapp, Telegram and Signal to give you a better overview.

ProtonMail

Just like Swiss banks, ProtonMail is a privacy-focused email service based in Switzerland. You can sign up for the service without providing any personal information and completely anonymously. ProtonMail allows you to send encrypted and password-protected emails. I tried to check the header of the proton mail to find the sender’s IP but it didn’t work. It’s a pretty good secure email service.

ProtonMail is an open source service so you can use the free version or upgrade to one of its premium plans. You can download this app on Android and iOS.

DuckDuckGo

When you search for something on google, like headphones for example, believe me, 5 minutes later Facebook will display all ads for the headphones you just searched for. Therefore, DuckDuckGo was born for those who want to avoid being bombarded with advertising. It is one of the top security apps for Android and iPhone.

DuckDuckGo does not link your search results to advertisers. It keeps your privacy and personal data intact. You can download the DuckDuckGo extension for your web browser or download the app from the Play Store or the App Store.

Firefox Focus

You might think Firefox Focus is a regular browser focused on privacy. It blocks ads and comes with a bunch of web trackers by default. So whatever you do on the web is entirely up to you. Unlike Tor, Focus is fast, reliable and not blocked by any website. If you are looking for absolute anonymity, you can use the Tor browser, but it is slower and many websites block access from Tor.

You can download privacy protection app Firefox Focus from the Play Store or App Store and use it as a standalone browser or add an extension to the Safari browser on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

Friendly Social Browser

Friendly is a tool to manage all your social accounts. Friendly social browser is designed to run social networking applications, so you don’t need to use a separate application for each social network. Some good features include the ability to organize the feed by keywords. If you are looking for a privacy-focused browser for your social media accounts, then Friendly is a good choice.

This browser also allows you to change the color theme and remove unwanted elements from your Facebook. You can download the free version from the Play Store or the App Store.

Bitwarden

From email to social media, everything requires a password. Passwords are one of the most important factors in today’s technological life. According to a Verizon report, 80% of data mining incidents in 2019 were caused by compromised passwords. So that’s why you need a password manager app to keep your passwords safe.

Bitwarden is a free, open source password manager available on the Play Store as well as the Apple Store. It helps you create and manage strong passwords to keep your online accounts secure.

Resilio Sync

Resilio Sync is a peer-to-peer data synchronization app that doubles as your cloud storage. You can download Resilio on your PC and install the accompanying app on your phone. This way you can sync your entire computer with your phone.

If you don’t want to save your data in the cloud and if you have a spare computer, you can use Resilio to turn that computer into a server. That way, you can sync your phone directly to your computer. The advantage of doing this is that you are only limited by the memory on the server. You don’t need to pay extra to buy cloud storage when you can create your own server.

Some other privacy apps

There are several other security apps that you can use to make your phone more secure. Hushing is one such application. Hushing is a paid app that gives you an extra (temporary) phone number that you can use in different places. You can download the app Hushing above Android as iOS.

Another service is called Email On Deck. It gives you a disposable email address. If you don’t want to use your personal email to sign up for a demo, then this is the app for you. In two easy steps, you can get a temporary email ID that allows you to receive verification mail or OTP. You can use it directly through a webpage.

Finally GlassWire. This is a paid data monitoring app for Android and Windows with built-in firewall. If an app is using background data, you can use GlassWire to manage that app.

In short, you can protect your privacy by using these free security apps. If you don’t like to protect yourself and want to hack others, then 14 hacking apps in this article is the choice for you