Many Google products start as a public beta. In some cases, it can take years, and this is an important milestone when they leave the brand behind. Today, Google Fi’s VPN is no longer beta. Not only does this mean it gets a new place in a redesigned “privacy and security” section of the Google Fi app, it also means it’s coming to iPhones.
The news is due to a blog post published by Google earlier today. If you were not familiar, Google Fi has a VPN available for customers to help them save money. I know, it sounds weird, but Fi encourages customers to connect to public Wi-Fi access points so they can reduce mobile data usage. To ensure that customers can trust the connection, the company offers a complimentary VPN that maintains their security, even if they enjoy the free bits. And voila: Google Fi saves customers money.
You can read the Google documentation for more information on how the VPN works. But the short version is: you can trust it as far as you can trust Google, and any other devices on those open networks can not see what you are doing under the veil of encryption. Google also offers a similar service to Google One subscribers as a VIP benefit.
The improved network VPN has been explicitly described as a ‘beta’ for centuries, but Google is changing it today. After years of use and trust, customers on Google Fi can depend on it. As part of the change, the VPN will also launch iPhone users using Fi subscribers later this spring, and it will be moved to a new “privacy and security” section in the Google Fi app, which looks like the existing one ” privacy merges “,” “spam” and Fi Network Tools sections into a single menu. It’s not live for us yet, but Google says it’s going to roll out today – probably via an app update or a flag to the server.
As part of the announcement, Google also highlighted other privacy enhancements that Fi customers can enjoy, such as avoiding spam calls and protection against SIM swap attacks, thanks to account change notifications and two-factor authentication associated with your Google Account.
