The amount of leaks iOS intentionally does, let alone the part where they tell you to use their own (not so) Private Relay feature, is enough to stick around on Android.
They didn't bring it to light, it was a user report posted on reddit. They merely investigated it further. Nothing against mullvad, it's a great vpn, but credit where credit is due.
I think the problem is Reddit user (who Mullvad cites) not knowing that the Private DNS feature in AOSP/Android defaults to Google or Cloudflare DNS, and that you need to set a custom DNS of your choice to prevent this.
AdGuard provides a whole list of DNS providers to pick from. Pick a hostname from DNS-over-tls row for any provider, remove the "tls://" part and enter the rest in Private DNS custom option.
If you do this, you'll be using the DNS you assign instead of using the VPN's DNS, as intended. That will make you stand out from the rest of the same VPN users, effectively affecting privacy.
Either stand out or let your ISP or Google/Cloudflare or VPN read all your domain visit queries. It is better to not let ISP or Big Tech decipher your internet history for obvious reasons.
I am not sure what off does. Might need to recheck Android documentation. But I remember the custom one definitely uses whatever you set, and nothing else. No Google/Cloudflare DNS.
For example, if you like AdGuard, you can just enter dns.adguard.com there.
On the desktop it does. But on Android things are maybe different ? Not directly related but I remember (long time ago) wanting to tether from an Android phone with Mullvad VPN app in use, to a computer, only to find out that the Android defaults (In Android not in the Mullvad app) needed a button swiped to make it work correctly on the other device.
Only if your Android connection is set to automatic DNS. Additionally, they are assuming it is an OS bug. However, they also acknowledge that they had to fix something on their app to mitigate. I tried myself with Wireguard instead, killed the network access to it, and nothing ever left my phone, as Android immediately killed all connections due to the VPN always on feature.
So, I'm going to take their claim with a grain of salt until AOSP says something about this and denies or confirms the alleged bug.
Well, yes, I prefer desktop. But you know, in some countries some people have nothing else than phones. I am glad that Mullvad has posted this and hopefully Google can fix the bugs soon.
Well iOS does have its advantages but tbh there are no fully usable alternatives for Android now. Hopefully Linux will get better on phones because I feel like we do need an alternative at this point
And Android runs a shit load of portable devices beyond phones.
Most handheld store scanners are Android based today. Inventory management devices (like warehouses have used since the nineties) used to be Palm-based, are largely Android now, because it's core is Linux. They don't have to run the standard Android shell, they can run their own.
I've used medical monitors that are Android based.
All things I use, besides JavaScript on websites and firmware, is basically open source.
I am lucky to use open protocols for communication only, as when deleting Facebook my friends were willing to use Matrix with me.
I can do many many compromises.
But still, I have OnePlus 6T with mobile Linux and absolutely cannot switch now. I would love to, but working camera and some alternative to Organic Maps is a must I cannot jump around when Android is "just" fine now.