Librem Tunnel - Interview with the developer of a fantastic app

Did you have any prior development or coding experience?

Yes, our team has many years of experience around mobile. We have developers that have led and worked on many apps and related back-ends including CoyoteGO, AssetItemizer, and Medios. CoyoteGO is an iOS and Android app for truck drivers with load finding and bidding features, AssetItemizer is a native iOS enterprise iPad app for managing resale of used office furniture, and Medios is Motorola's enterprise live TV and video-on-demand viewing app. Our developers have broad experience across many different mobile technologies including Objective-C, Swift, Java, Kotlin, and JavaScript via React Native and Apache Cordova frameworks.

What was the most challenging aspect of developing mobile app?

We had to review upstream apps to make sure they were truly privacy-preserving and check that all components were freely licensed so they could be shared and modified. We also needed to streamline the login process so that our apps are easy for an everyday user to pick up and use, without having to understand complex privacy protocols.

_{David Seaward}

David Seaward is one of the developers of the Librem Tunnel. He is currently serving as the Director of Trustworthy Services at Purism, where he leads the development of a suite of cross-platform privacy services. https://stackoverflow.com/story/d3vid

Name a few of your favorite apps and reason you love them.

The F-Droid client makes browsing and installing free software convenient. And of course, we have high regard for our upstreams, Tusky, Riot.im and OpenVPN for Android.

How long have you been working on this app?

We have been working on the app for a handful of months but this has been a priority project and concept we strategized and worked on for years.

What need of the user did you have in mind when developing this app?

When we developed Librem Tunnel, we wanted to make it easy for users to protect their web traffic if they’re using a wifi access point they don't or shouldn't trust such as the free wifi at an airport or coffee shop. Librem Tunnel offers an encrypted, no-logging, virtual private network tunnel, making sure users’ network traffic is secure and privacy fully protected. This means our users can safely and conveniently use any public hotspot and not have to worry about a private connection. We use standards-based OpenVPN with any compatible client. With the Librem Tunnel, users can be assured that they are not be tracked, and we do not sell user data, and we don’t advertise. https://puri.sm/posts/introducing-the-librem-tunnel/

In what way do you think your app is better than similar apps on the market? Please describe in detail what innovation you think you bring and what you are proud of in your app.

This app is part of a larger bundle, which revolves around creating convenient tools that protect people's privacy. Librem Tunnel offers the convenience of using the same account login details like email, chat, and social to offer VPN that does not track you.

What are your future plans and expected features of the coming new versions of this app?

Our future plans include the ability to easily select the country you'd like to have your VPN originate from. We're also keen on WireGuard, an open source VPN protocol that uses an innovative cryptography approach. It has a lot of potential but we want to wait until it's proven.

Assuming new users of your app are reading this page. What do you want to ask them to do (contact you about X, Share the app, etc.)?

Librem Tunnel is one part of an overall movement around digital civil rights and privacy. At Purism, we’re proud to help users avoid the lack of privacy and corporate surveillance that big tech thrusts on them. With tools like Librem Tunnel, users can enjoy the Internet with the peace of mind that their personal data is 100% controlled by them.