Best practices for VPN/free proxy/TOR use on smartphones that is also light on battery and bandwidth

I do not want to keep the Internet connection be always on on my smartphone, just when I need it to save battery. I haven't yet toyed around with mobile VPN offerings yet but on the desktop that would mean every time I turn on Internet connection I have to restart the VPN (not the 'instant on' feeling; yeah, I know; security is always a trade-of, as Bruce Schneier use to say). A proxy on the other hand can be 'always on' even when Internet connection is turned on and off but that is not a VPN.

- Maybe VPN is better when I am on a public WiFi

- I wonder if there are some proxy (free or paid) alternatives as well when on mobile Internet to say web sites I am not here but there?

- TOR is just for fun, too slow as always.

What are your best practices?

 

I know nothing about this. But in Linux, one can add "service openvpn start" to whatever script (/etc/interfaces or the Network Manager stuff) brings up the network interface, and "service openvpn stop" to whatever script takes it down.

 

iPhone supports VoD (VPN on demand). You can specify rules when the VPN should be turned on automatically. If you need this to work with OpenVPN, you need to use the Apple Configurator to set up a VoD profile. see here: https://forums.openvpn.net/topic14808.html

 

And now eve

And now even there is an app for that: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/openvpn-connect/id590379981