Google has known about a bug that breaks VPN apps for 7 months, leaving users exposed with no warning or error, just a VPN app that stopped working in the background.
If you’re using ANY VPN on Android, you can help us by getting Google’s attention to fix it.
We first reported this bug to Google in September 2025.
Others like Mullvad and Wireguard reported it even earlier, in August.
Google’s response? “I don’t see anything unusual.”
The bug corrupts Android’s network stack at the system level after a VPN update, causing users to blame their VPN provider.
Restarting the app doesn’t help, with the only fix being a full device reboot or VPN app reinstall, something which most users never figure out.
This affects several VPN providers on Android 16, and only Google has the access to diagnose it properly.
After 7 months of waiting, we’re now asking publicly: Google, when are you fixing this?
So that’s why my AdGuard stopped working sometimes since the upgrade. I specifically set it to VPN mode as that used to be more stable than proxy mode.
What you didn’t say was what reason you have for thinking they would do this. “They’re getting shittier all the time” is true, but isn’t an actual reason.
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This is basically like watching the enshittification of our Android devices live
Shit like this is the reason I’ve given money to mobile Linux projects
It’s a feature.
Especially considering the trend, yes, it’s definitely a feature.
So that’s why my AdGuard stopped working sometimes since the upgrade. I specifically set it to VPN mode as that used to be more stable than proxy mode.
Would this affect android-based OSes like lineageOS? Or can they patch something like that?
likely will affect them, but now that it’s been disclosed will probably get patched immediately (but not by google).
Yes to both?
Google will ban VPN apps next, I guarantee it.
What you didn’t say was what reason you have for thinking they would do this. “They’re getting shittier all the time” is true, but isn’t an actual reason.
You’re right, I don’t actually know why they would ban vpns, other than governmental pressures. A bit of a knee-jerk, there. :)