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Install and setup

NetCage needs Android 8.0 or newer. It does not need root, and it does not need a computer.

First launch​

The app list is the first screen. You can browse and search every app before granting anything.

At the top sits a card reading One tap to start — NetCage needs Android's VPN slot — with a Grant permission button. Tapping it shows NetCage's own disclosure first:

NetCage uses Android's VPN slot

Only the apps you cage are routed into NetCage's tunnel, where their connections are refused straight away — so a caged app reports no internet instead of hanging. Nothing you send is read, stored or forwarded anywhere. Every other app connects normally. Android will now ask you to allow the VPN connection.

Choose Continue and Android's own VPN consent dialog appears. That dialog is the system's, not NetCage's; it is where Android tells you the app can monitor network traffic, which is the warning it shows for every VPN app. Choose Not now and nothing is requested — you can come back to the card whenever you like.

The disclosure is shown once. After you have accepted it, the consent dialog opens directly.

The "Finish setup" card​

Once the VPN permission is granted, a Finish setup card appears at the top of the list whenever a useful grant is still missing. It lists only the steps that are actually open, and offers:

  • All steps — opens the full setup screen.
  • Not now — snoozes the card. It remembers which steps were open when you dismissed it.

The full screen is Settings ▸ Advanced ▸ Setup & permissions, and it re-reads every grant from the system each time you open it, so changing something in Android's settings and coming back shows the truth rather than a cached answer.

The setup steps​

The screen lists them in this order. Steps that do not apply to your Android version are not shown.

VPN permission​

NetCage routes caged apps into a dead end using Android's VPN slot. Their traffic is discarded on this phone — nothing is inspected, stored or sent anywhere.

Required. Nothing can be caged without it.

Battery​

Exempt NetCage from battery optimisation so Android never kills the cage in the background.

Strongly recommended. Without the exemption, Doze can stop the service and the cage silently drops.

Notifications​

Android shows a notification while the cage is up. Allow it so the cage is not killed.

Android 13 and newer. The notification is not optional decoration: Android requires a visible notification while a VPN is active, and it is also where the Pause 15m, Stop and Resume actions live.

Precise timing​

Let day passes and schedules change at the exact minute, even while the phone sleeps.

Optional. Without it, schedules and day passes still work — they are backed by an inexact fallback and may fire a little late.

Always-on VPN​

This is the persistence mechanism worth setting up: it brings the cage up at boot, before your apps start.

Settings ▸ Network & internet ▸ VPN ▸ ⚙ next to NetCage ▸ Always-on VPN

The setup screen has an Open VPN settings button that takes you there.

:::warning Leave "Block connections without VPN" off That switch tells Android to drop all traffic that is not going through the VPN. NetCage's tunnel carries only the apps you caged, so turning it on would cut off every app that is not caged — the exact opposite of what NetCage is for. :::

Android exposes no way for an app to read whether Always-on is enabled, so NetCage never marks this step as done and never nags you about it.

Optional: Usage Access​

Settings ▸ Advanced ▸ Grant Usage Access for data totals.

This unlocks the per-app Data used figures in the detail view, and the "Data used (7 days)" sort order. It is granted in Android's own settings, as an app op, so there is no in-app dialog for it.

Caging never depends on it. Denying it changes nothing except that the totals are not shown.

Optional: start with the phone​

Settings ▸ Behaviour ▸ Auto-start on boot restores the cage after a restart. Combined with Always-on VPN, the cage is up before your apps get a chance to reach the network.

Next​