In the past few days there as been a growing usage of VPN services in my country (Uganda) after our government decided to put tax on social media platforms payable by citizens. On our WhatsApp community, users have requested recommendation of VPN apps to use in opposition and refusal of these unfair taxes and many VPN apps have made rounds, Samsung Max being the most recommended. I have used it for a week now and I must say it’s one of those apps you’d recommend any user to have on their phones.
By it’s name you’d assume it’s designed for Samsung phones. Not really. It’s available for download on any Android phone. Samsung Max actually was built from Opera Max. Samsung bought Opera Max and changed it’s name to Samsung Max. The apps is advertised as a data saving and privacy protection app. It does both perfectly.
Samsung Max has numerous options that help save data especially for people who have a limited data subscription. My previous favorite application that provided similar service was NoRoot Firewall but Samsung Max does better here. It provides the entire list of installed apps that require internet access and gives options on whether to disable internet access on some or let the entire list of installed applications use internet.
By disabling internet access on some apps whose updates are not necessary, you can sure save a lot of data from being wasted. It also gives alerts on whether you should enable internet access on a blocked application if opened, a neat feature apps that provide similar functionality like No Root Firewall don’t have.
Within the app it has another unique feature “Ultra apps” which essentially provides access to commonly used apps and websites with aim of reducing data usage on these apps and websites. Picture quality is reduced and ads blocked to reduce data consumption. The app also gives full statistics on data consumption of all the apps that have used data.
Samsung Max also provided “Privacy Protection” which is a VPN service built into the app. Your IP address is safely hidden as you browse and use apps anonymously on the internet. It grants full access to any blocked internet service on your network or country.
Samsung Max provides this service free of charge and it’s fast. Many free VPN services tend to be slow and other charge to increase your bandwidth for faster internet access. The only catch is a few ads on your home screen only show when the phone is charging while not being used. You can disable internet access when charging to stop these ads if you wish, but they help Samsung keep the service free of charge for all Android phones.
Try Samsung Max. Let us know what you think in the comment box below.
