Hello everyone,
With the first milestone release of Tor Browser (14.5)[0] in the year, I
worked on a few related tasks, namely, updating the Tor Browser User
Manual before the release[1], updating the Support Portal[2] and other
relevant user support documentation on our support channels and the Tor
Forum and user support work post-release. I made progress with writing
documentation for the upcoming Tor VPN Android client[3]. Much of my
user support related work last month, as is usual, was focused on
helping users in regions where Tor is censored.
That's it for the summary, following is a more detailed report about the
tickets our user support team worked on last month.
# Updates
We fixed some issues with our Signal user support channel and it should
be reachable again[4]. To reach our team on Signal, please contact
+17787431312 or @torsupport.89 on Signal.
# Frontdesk (email user support channel)
* 679(↑) RT tickets created
* 691(↑) RT tickets resolved
Tickets by topics and numbers:
1. 383(↓) tickets: instructions to circumvent censorship for Chinese speaking users.
2. 102(-) tickets: circumventing censorship in Russian speaking countries.
3. 15(↓) tickets: help with troubleshooting existing Tor Browser install on
Desktop (Windows, macOS and Linux).
4. 4(↑) tickets: reports of fake apps on iOS AppStore masquerading as official Tor Browser.
5. 4(↑) tickets: help with troubleshooting existing Tor Browser install on
Android.
6. 3(-) tickets: reports of websites blocking Tor connections.
7. 3(↑) tickets: help with installing Tor Browser on Windows.
8. 2(↓) tickets: installing Tor Browser on Linux.
9. 2(↑) tickets: questions about onion services and how to access them.
10. 2(↑) tickets: question about setting up a Tor relay.
11. 2(↑) tickets: users seeing a "proxy refused" error when visiting websites on Tor Browser
for Android using Samsung devices.[5]
12. 2(↑) tickets: reports of Tor bug (tor 0.4.8.16): Bug: conflux_util.h:32: CIRCUIT_IS_CONFLUX: Non-fatal assertion circ->purpose != CIRCUIT_PURPOSE_CONFLUX_UNLINKED failed (#41040) · Issues · The Tor Project / Core / Tor · GitLab
13. 1(↓) ticket: Unable to login on X.com (formerly Twitter) when using Tor
Browser.[6]
14. 1(↓) ticket: circumventing censorship with Tor in Farsi.
15. 1(-) ticket: Websites display in other languages when using Tor
Browser.
16. 1(↑) ticket: question about operating system spoofing in
Tor Browser.
17. 1(↑) ticket: question about the Tor Browser User Survey.
18. 1(↑) ticket: question about contributing and helping with
with localization.
19. 1(↑) ticket: helping users on iOS, using Onion Browser or Orbot, to use censorship circumvention methods.
20. 1(↑) ticket: Bridges website hitting an error while fetching bridges with
WebTunnel pluggable transport.[7]
# Telegram, WhatsApp and Signal user support channels
* 866(↑) tickets resolved
Breakdown:
* 827(↑) tickets on Telegram
* 13(↓) tickets on WhatsApp
* 26(↑) tickets on Signal
Tickets by topics and numbers:
1. 509(↓) tickets: circumventing censorship in Russian speaking countries.
2. 102(↑) tickets: circumventing censorship with Tor in Farsi.
3. 55(↓) tickets: instructions to circumvent censorship for Chinese speaking users.
4. 14(↓) tickets: helping users on iOS, using Onion Browser or Orbot, to
use censorship circumvention methods.
5. 13(↑) tickets: help with using Snowflake with Tor to circumvent censorship.
6. 11(↓) tickets: help with troubleshooting Tor Browser Desktop on Windows, macOS and Linux.
7. 11(↑) tickets: help with troubleshooting Tor Browser Android.
8. 7(↑) tickets: instructions on how to get Tor Browser binaries from GetTor.
9. 5(↓) tickets: help with instructions to use bridges with Tails.
10. 4(-) tickets: questions about onion services and how to access them.
11. 4(↑) tickets: Unable to login on X.com (formerly Twitter) when using Tor
Browser.
12. 3(↑) tickets: Bookmarks are failing to load on Tor Browser
for Android Alpha. (Issue is resolved.)
13. 2(↑) tickets: instructions to download Tor Browser 13.5 legacy for legacy operating systems.
14. 1(↓) ticket: users seeing a "proxy refused" error when visiting websites
on Tor Browser for Android using Samsung devices.
15. 1(↑) ticket: question about operating system spoofing in Tor Browser.
# Highlights from the Tor Forum
1. Tor user support now available in Farsi.[8]
2. Canvas fingerprinting protection in Tor Browser.[9]
3. Download protection in Tor Browser.[10]
Note: (↑), (↓) and (-) are indicating if the number of tickets we
received for these topics have been increasing, decreasing or have been
the same from the previous month respectively.
best,
e.
[0]: New Release: Tor Browser 14.5 | The Tor Project
[1]: Tor Browser 14.5 release - Update Tor Browser User Manual for the Tor Browser release (#182) · Issues · The Tor Project / Web / manual · GitLab
[2]: Update Support Portal with Tor Browser 14.5 release (#390) · Issues · The Tor Project / Web / support · GitLab
[3]: Create new content for the Tor "VPN" app (#370) · Issues · The Tor Project / Web / support · GitLab
[4]: Signal user support channel is not reachable (#40188) · Issues · The Tor Project / Community / Tor User Support Team · GitLab
[5]: Some Android users receiving "proxy refused" error when visiting websites (#42714) · Issues · The Tor Project / Applications / Tor Browser · GitLab
[6]: X.com (formerly Twitter) issues with Tor users
[7]: Bridges website hitting a error while fetching bridges with WebTunnel pluggable transport (#262) · Issues · The Tor Project / Anti-censorship / rdsys · GitLab
[8]: Tor user support now available in Farsi
[9]: Why website display stripes?
[10]: Tor browser blocking downloads