Greetings, everyone!
This is a report of the work done by the Community Team in the past month and general user feedback that we've received across our official support channels.
Report Period - June 30 upto July 31, 2021
Tickets resolved in the past month: 192
# New RT templates
We aggregated statistics of what issues Tor users are frequently running into and turned their solutions into templates on the RT. This will assist those working on the RT to better support users. We created/updated the following articles:
1. Saved Logins and passwords are not available in TB 10.5 2. Updated v2 onion deprecation template to include v2 FAQ
Here is a list of issues which got the most attention (at least 2 tickets on RT):
# Tor Browser
Breakdown of number of RT tickets received with respect to operating system:
Windows (10,8,7 ...all the way upto Vista) - 20 macOS - 7 Android - 7 GNU/Linux - 2 iOS - 3
(Note: This includes tickets where the user mentioned the operating system or it was evident from the issue they were running into or enclosed screenshots.)
1. 9 RT tickets - "Tor Unexpectedly Exited": Failure to launch Tor Browser. We point users to the "Seven-point basic troubleshooting" article (template) on the RT to help users.
2. 9 RT tickets - Saved Logins and Passwords are not available. This issue has been covered by the following ticket. [1] We direct users to the "Saved Logins are not available in TB 10.5" article (template) on the RT.
3. 9 RT tickets - Can't access websites; Account suspended. We point users to the "Basic Troubleshooting when users can't access any particular website" article (template) on the RT.
4. 6 RT tickets - Can't connect to the Tor network; "Tor is not working on this browser" 3 of these tickets are with Logs: Tor failed to complete a TLS handshake. We encourage users to use built-in bridges. [2]
5. 3 RT tickets - Can't set multiple pages as home pages. Regarding this we have a ticket on our GitLab. [3]
6. 3 RT tickets - Cannot download files on Tor Browser for Android. Regarding this we have a ticket on our GitLab. [4] A workaround for this recurring issue is to make a new Tor connection and relaunch the download.
7. 3 RT tickets - Fake Tor App on Apple Store. Users are being charged after installing a fake Tor Browser app on iOS. We educate users about fake apps and recommend them to solely use the Onion Browser for iOS.
8. 2 RT tickets - Antivirus interfering with Tor Browser due to snowflake-client.exe. We've a GitLab ticket open to track this issue. [5]
9. 2 RT tickets - Tor Browser for Android: "Quit button not found". We've alot of users on other platforms like Playstore and Reddit, grieving about this lost feature. Regarding this we have a ticket on our GitLab. [6]
10. 2 RT tickets - Reporting bad onion sites. The Tor Project doesnot host or control onion sites, we answer users taking help from the article in our Support portal. [7]
# Onion Services
1. 13 RT tickets - v2 onion deprecation. All of these tickets come from users who misinterpreted onion services with Tor, believing that there was something wrong with their Tor Browser. 'Will i be able to use Tor', 'Can you install v3 for me? just call me and tell what to do why is this so difficult', 'where can I download v3 onions?', 'I don't know if i am an operator?' etc etc are some peeks of the RT.
We help users identify v2 and v3 onions, point them to the "v2 onion deprecation" article (template) on the RT and FAQ on the Support Portal. [8]
# UI/UX and documentation
1. We have updated our documentation (including screenshots and screencaps) in accordance with new connecting experience. [9]
2. Google Play Store - In terms of user experience, reviews mostly revolve around- 'Can't download anything files/images on the latest update', 'can't upload files', 'too many captchas' and 'Tor Browser is slow'. Apart from this, we've recieved good reviews with users being happy after the Quit button is back!
3. Tor Stack Exchange - Statistics of what the discussion has been about (5 most active tags):
hidden-services- 16 questions anonymity- 10 questions security- 8 questions tor-browser-bundle- 7 questions configuration (questions about configuring Tor software)- 7 questions
4. Reddit Discussions have been around Reddit has been rate limiting VPN and TOR users. If you try to post more than once in an ~10 minute timespan, you'll see the familiar "you seem to be doing that a lot" Fedora Block Non Tor Traffic Tor is slow double chained VPN and Tor risk of running javascript How should I use Tor when casually browing the clearnet? Upgrading DuckDuckGo Onion Search to V3 can't access website on Tor
# Anti-censorship We got a total of 4 tickets requesting help to connect to Tor which have been from Iran, China and other countries. We provided private bridges for them.
If you have any suggestions, questions please feel free to reach out to me and/or anyone from the Community Team!
Thanks, Kulsoom IRC - kulsoom_z
Links: [1]: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/40506 [2]: https://tb-manual.torproject.org/bridges/ [3]: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/40497 [4]: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/31013 [5]: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/web/support/-/issues/237 [6]: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/fenix/-/issues/40172 [7]: https://support.torproject.org/abuse/remove-content-from-onion-address/ [8]: https://support.torproject.org/onionservices/#v2-deprecation [9]: https://tb-manual.torproject.org/