It’s can get frustrating when you try to access a website but it suddenly becomes blocked. This often happens whenever your device thinks that a certain website is harmful or unsafe to your security. The general fix for this is to use a VPN to protect your internet activity, however, finding and using a quality VPN service can be pricey. Here, we’ll provide an alternate solution where you can access any blocked websites on your Android phone without needing a VPN.
Method 1: Use Tor Browser to Access Blocked Sites without VPN
Tor Browser allows you to access blocked sites without needing to turn on a VPN app. Unlike famous and widely-used browsers like Google Chrome or Firefox, Tor Browser doesn’t have website blocking mechanisms, which allows you to open potentially unsafe domains.
❶ Go to the Google Playstore to download and install Tor Browser.
❷ Once installed, open the app. Tap on Connect and Tor will set itself up.
❸ Type your website URL onto the search bar. Or, search for keywords relating to your website.
❹ The default search engine for Tor is DuckDuckGo, but it will not limit your search as much as possible. In case your website does not appear on your results, try changing the country and switch off SafeSearch. Those settings are just under the search bar.
❺ Search for the website you want to access in the search engine, or simply copy and paste the URL.
The downside with Tor Browser is that it will take more time to load and connect you to whatever website you want to visit. This is because of certain connection layers. To balance this out, make sure that your smartphone performs well and is connected to a good Wi-Fi network.
Method 2: Use Cloudflare DNS App to Open Blocked Sites without VPN
The second method that you can try is through the Cloudflare DNS App. Similar to Tor Browser, it allows you to bypass security restrictions on any website. The best part? It’s free!
❶ Go to the Google PlayStore to download and install the Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 DNS app.
❷ Once installed, open the app, agree to terms, and turn on the WARP service. Technically, this app will create a VPN profile on your device. However, Cloudflare is not a traditional VPN app. It only uses VPN technology to encrypt your data. It still complies with our need to allow access blocked sites without VPN and not subscribing to a separate VPN service. Unlike Tor, it can’t hide your true location but will still allow access to blocked websites on your Android device.
❸ Go to your phone’s browser and access your previously blocked sites.
Method 3: Using a Proxy Browser to Access Blocked Sites
The third method you can try is by using a proxy browser to access whatever site you want to visit. There are various proxy browser apps that you can download from the PlayStore. They simply function like other browsers, but it makes use of proxy servers to protect you.
❶ In this instance, let’s download Blue Proxy as our proxy browser. Go to the PlayStore and download Blue Proxy.
❷ Once installed, open the app.
❸ Simply enter the URL of the blocked website you want to visit.
Method 4: Using the Tor Proxy Orbot to Unblock Websites on Android
If you don’t like using Tor Browser, Tor has another app called Tor Proxy Orbot, which is more similar to the Cloudfare DNS app. Orbot is open-source and completely free software that hides your location, and it allows you to access any website you want without needing a VPN service.
❶ Go to the PlayStore and look for Orbot: Tor for Android.
❷ Once installed, run the app and press Start.
❸ Toggle on the VPN Mode. This should start Tor’s free VPN service.
❹ Leave the app, then use the browser of your choice and open your blocked site.
Some Reasons Why Sites Become Blocked
➲ Government censorship
One of the biggest reasons why major websites get blocked is because of the national government. They have the ability to block websites that are harmful to certain values and ideologies that their country follows.
➲ The site was victim to a cyberattack and remains unsafe
Websites can also be flagged as unsafe and get blocked on your browser because they have become victims of different malware attacks. Your browsers and things like internet hubs and ISPs are alerted about these attacks that can spread to other users and websites. For your protection, they block you from using them.
➲ The site could be region-locked
The final reason why a website can be blocked is because of your location, otherwise known as region-locking. This can be due to copyright, and it can also be related to culture-sensitive reasons that are done under the discretion of the website’s content providers and creators. This is most common with magazine sites and streaming websites.
Conclusion
So, we hope you’ve learned much from this lesson on How to Open Blocked Websites on Android Without VPN App and are now able to access blocked sites without VPN. VPN Services can be costly and preferably not needed. Fortunately, we have these workarounds. Just select one of the four very easy methods suggested and enjoy.
