Stack review - Google one VPN + android torrent client + VLC + Chromecast Ultra

Update There was a recent finding about DNS traffic can leak outside the VPN tunnel on Android so please be careful!

Main article Can you watch a downloaded movie on your TV using just your Android phone and privacy safeguards? Let’s say you want to watch 12 Angry Men (1957), but your connection has interruptions and you want to download it first. You also don’t want your ISP to know that you downloaded it, because you’re privacy-oriented and don’t trust them selling this data. And you don’t have a PC connected to your TV. Is android ecosystem good enough?

Maybe. Let’s review each of the steps:

1. Google One VPN

   1. Pros:

      1. You get it for free with your Google One subscription.
      2. It has apps for phones and computers
      3. It looks private enough, see it’s description

   2. Cons:

      1. You have to trust google
      2. Android client is pretty bad: the connection goes via android one app, there’s a kill switch inside but if you force quit the app or something happens with it - your IP is exposed
      3. Somehow this apps blocks enabling kill switch in the android settings too (under settings→ network and internet→VPN→google one VPN settings). It’s just grayed out.

2. Android torrent client

   1. Unfortunately, there’s only one android client with a Network Interface Binding - BiglyBT. See this reddit post for a setup, it’s not obvious.

3. Media player

   1. I chose VLC and tried a couple of other ones, but they all had same problems:

      1. No way to speed up the video quickly (have to go to the settings, I would like to set 1.5x as default or at least speed up quickly with a hotkey like on YouTube)
      2. Some codec problems - see below

4. Chromecast

   1. Casting mkv videos from the player didn’t work, I had green stripes instead of the video. I had to cast my phone screen, which makes the phone battery drain quickly
   2. I’m not sure how safe it is, maybe it goes outside of my VPN and leaks my IP? Please leave a comment if you know!

Summary: While the Android ecosystem offers potential tools for downloading movies and protecting your privacy with a VPN, the process has its limitations. Google One VPN, while convenient, comes with reliability concerns on Android. The torrent client setup can be tricky, and media players may lack necessary features or have codec issues. Chromecast integration adds further uncertainty about potential privacy leaks. Experimentation is key, and there’s room for improvement within the Android ecosystem for this use case.