OpenVPN client for iOS that supports the fragment directive

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tipsforchina
OpenVpn Newbie
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Mar 07, 2016 4:30 pm

OpenVPN client for iOS that supports the fragment directive

Post by tipsforchina » Mon Oct 28, 2019 5:10 am

I know that the official OpenVPN clients for iOS and Android don't support the fragment directive or connecting to servers that use the fragment directive. However, there is an app for Android called "OpenVPN for Android" by Arne Schwabe that does support it.

I'm trying to find something similar for iOS, but I can't find anything.

The main reason that I'm looking for this is because ExpressVPN uses the fragment directive in their manual OpenVPN UDP configs and they recently ended support for manual OpenVPN TCP connections. I wrote a guide on how to set up ExpressVPN manual OpenVPN configurations which is quite popular with users in China. The reason is that the OpenVPN servers use different IP addresses than the ones used by their dedicated apps, so these will often still work when their app servers get blocked by the Great Firewall.

What is the reason for not supporting the fragment directive in the Android and iOS apps? The FAQ says "the fragment directive is not supported due to the complexity it adds to the OpenVPN implementation". However, Arne Schwabe was able to support it in his app. If it's not too complex for his app then why is it too complex for the official OpenVPN mobile apps?

If anyone knows of any other iOS client that supports the fragment directive, please let me know.

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