GoKawiilEdgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR Multiple VPN providers are reporting that Android 16 has a months-old bug that can silently break VPN connections without warning.
The issue appears to affect multiple VPNs like Proton, Mullvad, WireGuard, TunnelBear, and possibly other, with users also reporting the bug.
Google has acknowledged the reports but hasn’t provided a fix or clear timeline yet.
Multiple major VPN providers are reporting that Android 16 has a bug that’s quietly breaking their VPN apps and potentially leaving users exposed.
The bug reportedly affects Android 16’s network stack and can trigger after a VPN app is updated, causing the app to stop working properly in the background without any warning to the user.
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Proton VPN highlighted the issue in a series of posts on X, saying it first reported the bug in September 2025, while other providers like Mullvad VPN and WireGuard had flagged similar behavior even earlier. The problem is also not limited to just a few services. VPN provider TunnelBear reports it’s also affected, and comments on Google’s Issue Tracker suggest that users have been encountering the bug as well.
Proton VPN
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