Although security and privacy are pretty good right out of the box with the iPhone, there are still ways in which they can be improved. Avast Security & Privacy aims to boost protection.

It is a multi-function app that contains several modules and some are free, while others require a subscription. There is enough for free that makes it worthwhile installing on your iPhone, but if you want everything on offer then an annual subscription of US $19.99 or UK £17.99 a year is required. However, this is fairly cheap considering that it includes a VPN to make the web secure and private.

Web monitoring and VPN

Actually, a VPN is installed even if you don't pay to subscribe. Presumably this is part of the web protection that is provided by the app and the VPN is used for traffic monitoring in free mode, not for privacy or hiding your identity or location. Any websites that are visited in Safari or any other app, are monitored and checked to make sure they are not fake and are genuine.

Safari already provides some protection, but it is good to route everything, like other web browsers and apps, through Avast and have the sites checked to make sure they are OK. Avast blocks access to malicious sites to keep you safe.

There are many public Wi-Fi hotspots at shopping malls, cafes, hotels, airports and so on. If the iPhone connects to an insecure Wi-Fi network, a notification is displayed and the Wi-Fi protection module in the app shows a warning. It suggests turning on the VPN.

There is a nice report screen that shows a bar chart of internet activity and the number of internet activities investigated.

Identity protection

The app scans the iPhone for vulnerabilities and reports any issues detected at the top of the app home screen. You can also perform a manual scan at any time.

The Identity Protection module checks your email address against known security breaches and tells you if it was included. It reports the site that was hacked and when, which is both interesting and useful. A Change Password button takes you to the site so you can change the password.

The free app only checks one email address, but paying for a subscription lets you add as many as you need, which is useful if you have multiple email accounts, like work and personal.

Hide your photos

A Photo Vault enables you to hide photos so that if your partner or anyone else has access to your phone, they cannot see the photographs in it. You can take a photo with the iPhone camera and put it straight into the vault. It never enters the Photos app and so is never synced and cannot be seen by anyone but you.

You can also move photos from the Photos library to hide them and this is useful for hiding existing photos that may already be there. Photos does have a hidden album feature, but it is easy to get around. This app locks photos away with a PIN or Face ID.

For free, you can store 40 photos in the private and secure vault. Subscribing removes this limit. That is a low limit for some people, but others may find it OK.

Summing up

Avast Security & Privacy has just enough to make it useful for free, but to take advantage of the VPN requires a subscription. The first year is cheap and I was offered a 66% discount, which makes this a bit of a bargain. There are many more VPNs of course, and you will find several alternative VPNs here.

It is a useful app to have on your iPhone and although Apple keeps most threats at bay automatically, Avast boosts privacy and security just a little bit more. You may rest easier knowing that it is there.