App in secondary user profile detecting VPN usage in owner profile

nubiee

I have 3 three profiles, I use two with VPN and one without VPN. In the profile without VPN, I have installed Digilocker app, e-documents wallet here in India. It is an govt affiliated app, here is its link : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.digilocker.android&hl=en-US. We are required to use this as this allows us to present govt valid documents digitally if they are not with us physically.

I am new for GOS and I don't understand why every time I launch this app, it shows me VPN usage warning and then closes itself. As said earlier, I am not using VPN service in that profile, but other 2 profiles are on VPN. I read this article by GOS team 'Best User Profile Setup on GrapheneOS' (link : https://seprand.github.io/articles/best-user-profile-setup/) where it says : 'Each profile has its own VPN setup, so even if two profiles are running at the same time, they can use servers in different countries, using different VPN providers, or even no VPN at all.'

So, what is really happening here, any idea anyone.

Here are the screenshots : https://postimg.cc/gallery/xTRfgTz

other8026

nubiee this is about Private Space, but if I understand correctly, the same should apply to regular profiles as well: https://github.com/GrapheneOS/os-issue-tracker/issues/5225#issuecomment-2799038011

nubiee

other8026 Thanks for the linked GitHub comment. I was confused as the linked article said 'each profile' - that got me thinking that it also applies to other secondary profiles. So, it's safe to say that if any single or multiple profiles are on vpn, this app won't work on GOS no matter what setup I use? Or is there any other thing/setup that I could try out?

other8026

nubiee I'd imagine that if you set up your three profiles as secondary user profiles and keep the owner profile empty, or if you never set up a VPN in the owner profile, you can end the session of any other running profile that has a VPN running and then the app won't be able to detect any VPNs since then none would be connected.

nubiee

other8026 Yeah thanks for the suggestion, appreciate it.

But I would leave here this comment for those who are wondering in the same scenario. As of 2025, May 29th, the latest update to Digilocker (app version 9.0.3 & 9.0.4), they have introduced SIM card linking like UPI apps require while trying to log in. Meaning, it now requires an additional permission of Phone to verify that the mobile number linked to your account is present in the mobile device you are trying to log into. With this new update, I had to log in again but now I am not seeing the annoying pop-up of VPN usage.

Although, there is no guarantee that they will again introduce such practices what they call security measures, as of this update (app version 9.0.3 & 9.0.4), it working perfectly normal.