Hi guys,
Longish post, so grab a good coffee 
I am hoping that somebody here or on the IODE forum (I am cross posting) can help me solve a problem that I’ve had for a while on stock android on a Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra and now have the same issue on my new Brax3.
First off, I am a big fan of Proton in general and have a full subscription with them. I used to use ExpressVPN but didn’t see the point of paying for 2 separate subscriptions when Proton provided everything.
Full disclosure, I also have a subscription with BitDefender but have not used their VPN.
The problem I have is as follows. I have a couple of apps being T-Mobile (Visual Voicemail and T-Life) and the Tesla app that controls my Solar system that will not work at all with the desired level of VPN that I believe is necessary i.e. I set the Kill Switch to be “Always-on VPN” and “Block Connections without VPN”.
After a lot of going around in circles with Proton support, I can get the apps to work on the Samsung by adding them to Split Tunnel exceptions AND toggling off “Block Connections without VPN”, the latter not recommended by Proton. However, this doesn’t work on the BRAX3. The only way that currently I can get these 3 apps to work is by temporarily knocking off the Proton VPN completely, which obviously is a pain as it leaves me exposed while off.
Is there anyone out there who can advise on either a way to fix this issue using Proton or alternatively whether BitDefender VPN might be a better way to go or (least desirable) having to switch to another VPN that requires a subscription?
Thanks for reading this far and in anticipation of any help given.
This is the expected behavior when the kill switch is turned on.
In order for split tunneling to work, the kill switch must be switched off and of course the necessary app has been added under Split Tunneling.
Enable VPN permanently is okay.
I can’t explain why this doesn’t work with the Brax3. DNS problem?
You could take a local IP address for testing instead of names, add them to the split tunneling and see if you can ping them with a ping app, which is also in the Split tunneling of coarse.
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So I’m not using the same apps as you, but I am using Ubiquiti’s UI app Unifi. If I understand your issue, then try the below. My Unifi works as it connects to my router LOCALLY for management, instead of through the VPN. It works with the VPN on, and split tunneling enabled. So let me ask, did Proton tell you to change the MODE setting?
I ran into this a few weeks back. After a round with Proton, I realized that the MODE was reversed, and quite frankly it doesn’t even look like a setting. But touch it and it opens up a window.
In Proton VPN, if you go into SETTINGS - SPLIT TUNNEL and below the Split Tunnel setting you see the word MODE. It’s possibly set to INVERSE. If you Touch it, a window pops up to allow you to select STANDARD. Then you will see below that, EXCLUDED APPS. You add your apps there, then SAVE in the upper-right corner.
Toggle your VPN off and back on and see if that works for your apps.
Again, this is assuming that I understand your issue correctly.
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Hi there. Thanks for your reply. I am already set to Standard on Proton VPN.
An update for the community. In desperation and frustration with Proton support, i installed BitDefender VPN, the free software. I configured it the same was as I did Proton VPN and it works as expected. This tells me the issue lies with Proton VPN not being able to work as expected in the IODE/BRAX3 environment i.e. their problem that they should fix. I remain dubious that they will which is disappointing given the investment I’ve already made in their suite of software
As @volker01 mentioned, this seems to work as expected. If you look on the support page here, at the very bottom of the article, they acknowledge this does not work as you wish… even though I feel they may have a typo (iOS instead of Android). Seems iOS also functions like this.