Oops! I got the App's name turned around it should be Firewall iP not IP Firewall! It is now fixed!

A Firewall on you iPhone?

Firewall iP (FiP) is one jailbreak App that puts the lie to those that say jailbreaking your iPhone makes it less secure.

As FiP has just been updated on Cydia to version 1.2-4, I feel it's high time I did a review.

FiP allows you to control which of your iPhone's Apps can access the Internet and how they can do it.

FiP is, in my opinion, the best iPhone security App available.

FiP Uses

It can be used to protect your personal information by blocking access to Aggregation Sites that secretly harvest that information via specific iPhone Apps.

It can be used to revel Apps that covertly access the Internet by showing and logging all of their Internet activity.

And it can be used to reduce your iPhone's Internet usage by blocking Apps from downloading unwanted Ads.

How it Works

FiP inserts itself into any running iPhone App (except for vital Apple and Cydia Apps) and actively monitors and controls those Apps' communications with the Internet.

When a communication attempt is detected, FiP checks its list of rules to determine if the App is authorised to make the connection (the rules tell FiP if it should allow or deny the communication).

If no rule is matched, FiP pops up the Alert Dialog and asks you to Allow or Deny the communication. You can tell FiP if it should remember your selection or tell it to apply your selection temporarily (if the selection is temporary, you can tell FiP to apply it once or until the App is closed). Alternately you can choose to Allow or Deny all communications by the App (this selection is always remembered).

When you tell FiP to remember a selection via the Alert Dialog, FiP will automatically create or update an App Rule in its rules list.

IPF Rules

There two main classes of rules. Global Rules and App Rules.

Global Rules apply to all Apps where App Rules only applies to their associated App.

Global Ruless are checked first by FiP then if unmatched FiP checks for the App Rule the matches the App trying to communicate.

If no App Rule exists FiP displays the Alert Dialog and asks you what to do next.

Note: FiP blocks the App from making any communication until either a pre existing rule is matched or you make a selection from the Alert dialog.

Defining Global Rules

The are two specific Global Rules, the Global Allow Rule and Global Deny Rule. Each can contain a list of URL's.

Note: The Global Allow Rule is checked first before the Global Deny Rule is checked.

For the Global Rules to function, you must manually add URL's to their lists via the FiP App.

Note: Global Rules should be used with care but are the best place to manage access to Aggregation Sites or well known Ad Repositories.

Defining App Rules

Though App rules are mostly created or updated via the Alert Dialog, they can also be managed via FiP.

Unlike Global Rules, that always exist and can only be edited, App Rules can be manually created by adding them to FiP 's rules list.

This is be done from the Main Screen by tapping the Edit Button and then the '+' Button.

From the Main Screen, existing App Rules can be viewed, edited and / or deleted through the usual methods that are common to most iPhone Apps.

Unlike Global Rules, which are simple lists of URL's, the App Rules are more detailed.

First an App Rule has a main switch that controls if FiP is active for that rule's related App (it is useful to deactivate FiP for a specific App when it is determined that the App is not compatible with FiP).

Next there are two switches that can be turned On or Off to allow or deny all communications with the Internet made by the App. These are the Allow All Connections and Deny All Connections switches (only one of these can be On at a time, turning one On turns the other Off).

The App Rule also contains two URL lists. These are the Allow Defined and Deny Defined lists. They control the URL's that the rule's App can access.

Finally there is the Still Apply Detailed switch that is only available when either Allow All Connections or Deny All Connections switches are turned On. Once it is turned On, it causes the App Rule's relevant URL list to override the All Connections setting (I'll explain how and why you might use this later).

FiP Settings

The FiP Settings are controlled through the FiP App, via the Info Button on the top right of the Main Screen. If tapped this will open the Information Screen.

The Information Screen allows you to turn the FiP On or Off for all Apps; set the colour of the Alert Dialog to either Red or Blue; turn on the Global Activity Log (best used if you need to debug a problem with an App as it will get very large very quickly. If in doubt leave it off); check out more information about the App and its developer; and block all Internet access unless it is made via Wi-Fi (new to this version, 1.2-4 and be careful with this setting).

Tips

When the Alert Dialog is showing you can see a Who Is Search for the URL shown but tapping on it.

To edit an existing URL's just tap on its text.

URL's can use a '*' character as a wild card as in "*.securityundertow.net".

If you want to allow an App to communicate with everything except a defined set of URL's, then set both Allow All Connection and Still Apply Detailed to On and add the URL's to the Always Deny list (this can be reversed to block all communications except for the defined set of URL's).

Conclusion

I rate Firewall iP at 5 Stars.

This App is worth the price AU$2.49 on Cydia.

If you value your privacy and the security of your iPhone you should purchase this App immediately.

If you want to trial the App, you can do so via the Rock Your Phone App (RockApp) it will give you ten days to try the App.

Note: if you purchase it on Cydia you need to use Cydia to update it. If you purchase it via RockApp you need to update it via RockApp. The only problem with RockApp is it can take a number of days for new updates to show up, so for this one App I would suggest trying it via RockApp and buying it via Cydia, but it's your choice really).

Safe Surfing!