[tor-project] Nina’s Monthly Status Report, October, 2024

[Nina]

Hi! Below is my October’24 report!

In October, I resolved1104(↑110) tickets:
     * On Telegram (@TorProjectSupportBot) - 855 (↑127);
     * On RT (frontdesk at tpo) - 248 (↑59);
     * On WhatsApp (+447421000612) - 1(↓26);
     * and on Signal (+17787431312) - 0 (0).

My main focus - as usual - was to help Russian-speaking users bypass 
censorship and connect to Tor, which often includes troubleshooting. I 
also collected users’ feedback to monitor the censor's activity and to 
help find working anti-censorship solutions.

Apart from user support I also took part in Tor Forum moderation, worked 
with app store reviews, and joined the Tor relay operators meetup.

Most of the tickets were from users in Russia requesting bridges, as the 
ones they received from rdsys distributors weren't working for them. I 
also collected user feedback on other plugglable transports (WebTunnel, 
obfs4, and Snowflake) and added it to the main ticket about censorship 
in Russia[1].

*## New Tor Browser release*

Tor Browser 14 was released in October [2], with the LegacyOS 
users-Windows 7-8 and macOS 10.12-10.14-staying with 13.5.9. So, I took 
part in preparing the instructions for the Legacy OS users to help them 
understand the transition period and make sure that censored users can 
also get access to the Tor Browser version that would work for them [3].

In collaboration with @ebanam, I reported a bug affecting macOS users 
who are trying to open certain .onion websites [4].

I continued taking part in the investigation of the Samsung "proxy 
server refused connection" bug [5].

*## **Google Play Reviews for Tor Browser**(TBA)**and Tor Browser 
Alpha**for Android*

Tor Browser App had a Google Play rating of 4.394-4.396 (↑) stars in 
October 2024, which is higher than in September.

Tor Browser app(TBA)got 691 (↑23)reviews out of 58,498for the lifetime.

Most commonissuesonthe reviews:

  * Samsung users point out the error "Proxy server refused
    connection"on their devices; [4]

  * Tor Browser doesn't work: mostly from Russian users, who are
    struggling to find a non-blockedbridge;

  * Tor speed is too slow.


Tor Browser Alpha (TBA) app had a rating of 4.254 (↓) which is lower 
that in September.

In October, Tor Browserfor Android (TBA)Alpha got 40 (↑5)reviews out of 
8359for the lifetime.


[1] 
https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/anti-censorship/censorship-analysis/-/issues/40046#note_3125365
[2] https://blog.torproject.org/new-release-tor-browser-140/
[3] https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/community/support/-/issues/40163
[4] 
https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/43245
[5] 
https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/42714
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