Honestly every single Google product should be added to it with a “TBD” or “Coming Soon” on the death date.
explodes@lemmy.world
on 14 Apr 2024 16:13
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Anyone here even use this?
baronvonj@lemmy.world
on 14 Apr 2024 16:33
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I have, yeah. While I was traveling internationally and the roaming mobile data rates were insane. So I used the VPN while connecting to hotel/public wifi.
Oh like the vpn is just to encrypt traffic on the public wifi it doesnt help with roaming itself. That makes sense
baronvonj@lemmy.world
on 14 Apr 2024 19:13
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Right. Not about to use public WiFi naked!
Andromxda@lemmy.dbzer0.com
on 15 Apr 2024 16:00
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Just use the free tier of Proton VPN, it’s a million times better
kescusay@lemmy.world
on 14 Apr 2024 16:40
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I’ve never even heard of it. They sure weren’t putting their VPN front and center.
Jimmycakes@lemmy.world
on 14 Apr 2024 18:19
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If you have Google one you can download the Google one app there’s a list of things you get in there and to redeem it from the app
AbidanYre@lemmy.world
on 14 Apr 2024 16:43
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A way to give Google even more of my personal data? I’m good, thanks.
flumph@programming.dev
on 14 Apr 2024 17:32
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I use it when I’m traveling and am on insecure WiFi.
However, it doesn’t let you pick your egress location,.so if you’re trying to get to PornHub in Texas, it won’t help.
Jimmycakes@lemmy.world
on 14 Apr 2024 18:15
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Yeah I use it all the time. For one you can download torrents at full speed with it. And it’s great for when you are connecting to random wifi connections at restaurants and other businesses. Everyone in all of the threads has been like huurrr durrr Google for privacy hyuk hyuk, while giving themselves a reach around for being so smart. That’s not the point of this VPN. It was a great tool that was a good value add to a storage service I already pay for.
A quick lightweight security tool for situations that require minimal security, which frankly for the public at large is all they ever need, the boogeyman is in fact not hacking your local coffee shop wifi work zombie access nodes, relax. It was also pretty handy when tmobile wants to throttle YouTube you could pop this on and get back to videos without buffering.
CosmicTurtle0@lemmy.dbzer0.com
on 14 Apr 2024 20:43
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I didn’t trust Google enough to torrent but definitely used it on my pixel while traveling. Especially when at relatives houses. I don’t need my DNS requests being logged by their router.
I very much felt like you: it’s a convenient feature-add for something I was paying for. I did not use it for privacy. I used it for convenience.
Most people who truly care about privacy wouldn’t use google products at all, including their remote storage or whatever you’re using that makes this an inexpensive add-on.
There are plenty of affordable remote storage and vpn services that aren’t google that have much better track records on privacy and don’t owe $7,000,000 in fines for an antitrust case.
It’s nice that you’re saying people believe they’re super smart and make 4chan style noises because they write that they don’t like google for a privacy product, but I have to tell you: you do not need to give yourself a reach-around. Your genitals are on the front of your body.
HaywardT@lemmy.sdf.org
on 14 Apr 2024 19:47
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I do when on unencrypted wifi
RobotToaster@mander.xyz
on 14 Apr 2024 16:30
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So those of us that pay for google one yearly will get a partial refund?.. right?
They didn’t refund nest thermostat users when they verified those devices.
ITeeTechMonkey@lemmy.world
on 14 Apr 2024 17:05
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Google is removing the VPN and free shipping (which was only available on some photo orders) to make way for more “in demand features”?
I could understand if this was coming from a smaller company with more limited resources and staff, but that’s not Google by any means.
They really don’t care about the poor reputation the general public has of them regarding shutting down services on a whim.
What’s worse though is they don’t seem to realize that, with the exception of Android and maybe Google Docs, their services/products are easily replaced by competitor offerings.
In my opinion it’s a good thing if Google gets knocked of their high horse and allow competition to flourish in their place.
Eheran@lemmy.world
on 14 Apr 2024 17:21
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What’s actually is worse that people do not care and continue using Google, being arbitrarily dependent on them.
kbin_space_program@kbin.run
on 14 Apr 2024 17:36
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Google docs is only good for collaboration. Otherwise its insane that MS Office is still superior to it.
Hell, Libreoffice is admittedly slightly behind MS for features, and its still superior to Google Docs.
The big advantage of google docs is that it is free and good enough. Most people don’t need advanced formatting options, font size and a few choices are sufficient.
kbin_space_program@kbin.run
on 15 Apr 2024 16:02
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Why wouldn’t you? They’re super convenient, being small and lightweight, with high quality keyboards that make them more laptop like, plus they support standard USB and Bluetooth keyboards. They aren’t full laptop replacements, but basic office productivity tasks they surely are, and have first class support from Microsoft office, google docs, and Apple’s office tools. In a meeting for example, they can be used to take notes, and then quickly screen mirror to a TV wirelessly or with a wired adapter and be used as a drawing tablet for sketching ideas or drawing diagrams. Extremely versatile, there’s nothing really like it (well, besides other tablets).
They certainly don’t replace a real laptop in all aspects, but they do for most people most of the time, hence why it’s common for people to use smartphones and tablets as their only computer.
Infynis@midwest.social
on 14 Apr 2024 17:34
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Google is probably the last company I would pay for a VPN from
kina@lemmy.dbzer0.com
on 14 Apr 2024 22:22
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It’s bundled with Google One, so if you pay for more Google Drive storage you get it for free. tbf it’s a shit VPN that doesn’t even let you choose your country. I could see it used when on public wifi, but other than that I don’t see the point.
JudahBenHur@lemm.ee
on 14 Apr 2024 22:33
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Facebook VPN
Rozz@lemmy.sdf.org
on 15 Apr 2024 00:11
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TexasDrunk@lemmy.world
on 15 Apr 2024 11:20
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Sort of. Texas and others instituted laws where websites have to age verify anyone looking at porn. So a bunch of websites just geofenced off those places. The easy way to watch porn is to connect to a VPN or go to shittier sites.
woelkchen@lemmy.world
on 14 Apr 2024 19:20
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wafflez@lemmy.world
on 14 Apr 2024 22:18
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Shocker
xia@lemmy.sdf.org
on 14 Apr 2024 23:59
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Kinda makes one not want to become dependant on google products.
eronth@lemmy.world
on 15 Apr 2024 01:18
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For sure. I no longer buy into new Google products because they’re going to die. It also makes it hard to recommend anything Google. They’re literally killing their ability to expand by constantly doing this.
laurelraven@lemmy.blahaj.zone
on 15 Apr 2024 06:21
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Makes me think of when they brought out Stadia… Friend of mine was all into it, and didn’t understand why I just shrugged and didn’t bother with it.
I think he learned a valuable lesson there… Oh well, at least they refunded people’s money
kambusha@lemmy.world
on 15 Apr 2024 11:38
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jayandp@sh.itjust.works
on 15 Apr 2024 03:23
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The only plus in this situation is that switching VPNs is far easier than other services since it’s just a pipe you’re swapping out.
Still annoying though, since Google VPN was nice if you were already paying for Google One. Now people will have to pay extra for something else.
Woozythebear@lemmy.world
on 15 Apr 2024 19:06
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Vpn’s aren’t that expensive, the one I use is $55 for 2 years.
jayandp@sh.itjust.works
on 15 Apr 2024 20:10
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Yeah, but that’s still an extra expense. Most people using Google VPN were using it because they were already paying for Google One.
Woozythebear@lemmy.world
on 15 Apr 2024 20:28
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It’s $2 a month… I think you’ll be fine.
twig@lemmy.dbzer0.com
on 15 Apr 2024 21:36
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Which is that?
Woozythebear@lemmy.world
on 15 Apr 2024 22:11
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Surfshark, I don’t know much about VPN’s but I’ve been told they are pretty secure and don’t share your info. I mainly use VPN’s to pirate shows and movies and for that it’s worked well, havnt gotten any letters from my ISP.
I’m not endorsing them just to be clear as I am not knowledgeable enough to know if it’s good or not but it was recommended by someone I trust with that stuff like 3 years ago.
Oh, I’m with you. I don’t think anyone using Google VPN was using it because it protected their privacy on the Internet generally. At least I hope not.
laurelraven@lemmy.blahaj.zone
on 15 Apr 2024 06:19
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This is shocking.
I’m shocked.
This is my shocked face I have on right now.
0nekoneko7@lemmy.world
on 15 Apr 2024 11:15
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People have trust issues with Google services.
werefreeatlast@lemmy.world
on 15 Apr 2024 13:55
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I am part of people… I hate google, Microsoft, Apple. So you’re right. We need a new hero.
Test_Tickles@lemmynsfw.com
on 15 Apr 2024 21:33
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The young upstart Microsoft fatally wounded the International Business Machines behemoth and brought us an OS for the common man. Something simplified that could provide a GUI and run on just about any hardware a normal person could afford. And thus everyone lived happily ever after.
The scrappy competitor stepped in with better design and a great deal of care about the customer experience to knock the dominant OS bully off… Whoops, the scrappy competitor stepped on his own dick… And again, and again… And then the scrappy competitor had to be bailed out by the OS bully. And thus everyone lived not un-happily ever after.
Until, the people’s hero entered the ring with their open phone OS, a replacement for the Netscape browser but this time with real money backing it, and a moto of righteousness, “Don’t be evil”. Once in the ring they began kicking all the Goliaths in their dicks… Cellular teleco, oppressive OS makers, even home Internet providers. There was no monopoly whose reproductive organs were safe from the swift boots of our savior Google. And thus everyone lived happily ever after.
You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
on 15 Apr 2024 21:50
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The young upstart Microsoft fatally wounded the International Business Machines behemoth and brought us an OS for the common man.
Everyone knows that The OS For The Common Man was Apple, because the Common Man is Bad At IT.
Test_Tickles@lemmynsfw.com
on 15 Apr 2024 22:37
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The scrappy competitor had the superior OS, but they never delivered. They insisted on running their OS on their proprietary hardware. They couldn’t stop stepping on their own dicks right up until they needed Microsoft to bail them out.
Windows was not the OS we needed, but was the OS we deserved.
Andromxda@lemmy.dbzer0.com
on 15 Apr 2024 15:57
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Pretty reasonable
smolyeet@lemmy.world
on 15 Apr 2024 20:35
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I feel like it would be weird to if you got a vpn for the purpose of downloading isos or making it harder to track you. It wasn’t always available to iOS users either ( I have an iPhone so that’s why I’m mentioning it) , so you already neutered those two bases. It seemed like a niche offering to begin with
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
on 15 Apr 2024 21:48
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Me, deeply cynical: “Google is just using their VPN to spy on you. They’ve got an entire department dedicated to checking what websites you visit while using the VPN and building a profile on each individual, which they will turn over to the authorities the moment society collapses into a state of anarchy and military law must be imposed.”
Google CEO: “Shut down the secret VPN counterintelligence program that tracks all the future domestic terrorists in the event of a widespread domestic insurgency. Its not making us enough money.”
mynamesnotrick@lemmy.zip
on 16 Apr 2024 00:18
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What’s crazy is in this time line that sounds plausible.
kaine@lemmy.blahaj.zone
on 15 Apr 2024 14:25
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Why would anyone use this shit?
Copernican@lemmy.world
on 15 Apr 2024 20:28
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It’s cheap and easy for me to use it while traveling around and going on god knows what public wifi network. I am not using google VPN for privacy, but using it for some sense of security out of my home. Already paying for Google One storage, so this was a nice perk.
threaded - newest
If you’re using Google as your primary anything, sorry but youre going to get screwed over.
Never. Trust. Google.
But. But. But it says “do no evil,” right on the box! ಠ_ಠ
They’ve updated that box in about 2010 to remove that phrase.
And as it turns out, Google is pretty evil.
It’s already been added to the Google Graveyard.
Honestly every single Google product should be added to it with a “TBD” or “Coming Soon” on the death date.
Anyone here even use this?
I have, yeah. While I was traveling internationally and the roaming mobile data rates were insane. So I used the VPN while connecting to hotel/public wifi.
Wait how does that help with roaming charges?
Instead of using mobile data he used public Wi-fi through VPN.
Oh like the vpn is just to encrypt traffic on the public wifi it doesnt help with roaming itself. That makes sense
Right. Not about to use public WiFi naked!
Just use the free tier of Proton VPN, it’s a million times better
I’ve never even heard of it. They sure weren’t putting their VPN front and center.
If you have Google one you can download the Google one app there’s a list of things you get in there and to redeem it from the app
A way to give Google even more of my personal data? I’m good, thanks.
I use it when I’m traveling and am on insecure WiFi.
However, it doesn’t let you pick your egress location,.so if you’re trying to get to PornHub in Texas, it won’t help.
Yeah I use it all the time. For one you can download torrents at full speed with it. And it’s great for when you are connecting to random wifi connections at restaurants and other businesses. Everyone in all of the threads has been like huurrr durrr Google for privacy hyuk hyuk, while giving themselves a reach around for being so smart. That’s not the point of this VPN. It was a great tool that was a good value add to a storage service I already pay for.
A quick lightweight security tool for situations that require minimal security, which frankly for the public at large is all they ever need, the boogeyman is in fact not hacking your local coffee shop wifi work zombie access nodes, relax. It was also pretty handy when tmobile wants to throttle YouTube you could pop this on and get back to videos without buffering.
I didn’t trust Google enough to torrent but definitely used it on my pixel while traveling. Especially when at relatives houses. I don’t need my DNS requests being logged by their router.
I very much felt like you: it’s a convenient feature-add for something I was paying for. I did not use it for privacy. I used it for convenience.
Most people who truly care about privacy wouldn’t use google products at all, including their remote storage or whatever you’re using that makes this an inexpensive add-on.
There are plenty of affordable remote storage and vpn services that aren’t google that have much better track records on privacy and don’t owe $7,000,000 in fines for an antitrust case.
It’s nice that you’re saying people believe they’re super smart and make 4chan style noises because they write that they don’t like google for a privacy product, but I have to tell you: you do not need to give yourself a reach-around. Your genitals are on the front of your body.
I do when on unencrypted wifi
So those of us that pay for google one yearly will get a partial refund?.. right?
They didn’t refund nest thermostat users when they verified those devices.
Google is removing the VPN and free shipping (which was only available on some photo orders) to make way for more “in demand features”?
I could understand if this was coming from a smaller company with more limited resources and staff, but that’s not Google by any means.
They really don’t care about the poor reputation the general public has of them regarding shutting down services on a whim.
What’s worse though is they don’t seem to realize that, with the exception of Android and maybe Google Docs, their services/products are easily replaced by competitor offerings.
In my opinion it’s a good thing if Google gets knocked of their high horse and allow competition to flourish in their place.
What’s actually is worse that people do not care and continue using Google, being arbitrarily dependent on them.
Google docs is only good for collaboration. Otherwise its insane that MS Office is still superior to it.
Hell, Libreoffice is admittedly slightly behind MS for features, and its still superior to Google Docs.
The big advantage of google docs is that it is free and good enough. Most people don’t need advanced formatting options, font size and a few choices are sufficient.
And Libreoffice does that better
And, you know, is actually free
Sure but I can’t run libreoffice on my iPad, and that’s a deciding factor for more people than the licensing.
Oh sweet green earth. Why the hell would you ever edit documents on an ipad
You need a job with a sane IT policy.
Why wouldn’t you? They’re super convenient, being small and lightweight, with high quality keyboards that make them more laptop like, plus they support standard USB and Bluetooth keyboards. They aren’t full laptop replacements, but basic office productivity tasks they surely are, and have first class support from Microsoft office, google docs, and Apple’s office tools. In a meeting for example, they can be used to take notes, and then quickly screen mirror to a TV wirelessly or with a wired adapter and be used as a drawing tablet for sketching ideas or drawing diagrams. Extremely versatile, there’s nothing really like it (well, besides other tablets).
They certainly don’t replace a real laptop in all aspects, but they do for most people most of the time, hence why it’s common for people to use smartphones and tablets as their only computer.
Google is probably the last company I would pay for a VPN from
It’s bundled with Google One, so if you pay for more Google Drive storage you get it for free. tbf it’s a shit VPN that doesn’t even let you choose your country. I could see it used when on public wifi, but other than that I don’t see the point.
Facebook VPN
Touché
.
X
Nestlé VPN
Fuck Nestlé
Stealing all my streams
NSA VPN
If you really just are worried about China or Russia spying on you and definitely don’t want them to see what you write then that’d be a good option.
Russian, Chinese or Iranian dissidents might be happy to use one hah.
The NASA VPN, on the other hand
I’m usually interested in a VPN for privacy, using a VPN provided by Google feels like I’d have been less privacy.
It’s an easy way to bypass dumb states anti porn laws for those that already pay for extra space.
There are anti-porn laws?
Sort of. Texas and others instituted laws where websites have to age verify anyone looking at porn. So a bunch of websites just geofenced off those places. The easy way to watch porn is to connect to a VPN or go to shittier sites.
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.ebaumsworld.com/mediaFiles/picture/730195/86321408.jpeg">
Shocker
Kinda makes one not want to become dependant on google products.
For sure. I no longer buy into new Google products because they’re going to die. It also makes it hard to recommend anything Google. They’re literally killing their ability to expand by constantly doing this.
Makes me think of when they brought out Stadia… Friend of mine was all into it, and didn’t understand why I just shrugged and didn’t bother with it.
I think he learned a valuable lesson there… Oh well, at least they refunded people’s money
Free controllers
And all 3 of them are great for the Steam Deck.
The only plus in this situation is that switching VPNs is far easier than other services since it’s just a pipe you’re swapping out.
Still annoying though, since Google VPN was nice if you were already paying for Google One. Now people will have to pay extra for something else.
Vpn’s aren’t that expensive, the one I use is $55 for 2 years.
Yeah, but that’s still an extra expense. Most people using Google VPN were using it because they were already paying for Google One.
It’s $2 a month… I think you’ll be fine.
Which is that?
Surfshark, I don’t know much about VPN’s but I’ve been told they are pretty secure and don’t share your info. I mainly use VPN’s to pirate shows and movies and for that it’s worked well, havnt gotten any letters from my ISP.
I’m not endorsing them just to be clear as I am not knowledgeable enough to know if it’s good or not but it was recommended by someone I trust with that stuff like 3 years ago.
3 years (and more since some of my friends used my link to sign up) of NordVPN for 78 dollars.
Google had a VPN?
Yeah I can see why people weren’t using it lol. Google is entirely the person they’re trying to hide from.
Yeah voluntarily using a VPN from Google (the largest tracking and Adtech company), is like voluntarily seeking out Mob “protection”
Reasonable when the alternative is literally getting mugged on the daily?
I would argue that you could negotiate with muggers much easier than with mobsters.
Considering that in this analogy you’d be asking the mugger to be your protector it is still unreasonable.
Particularly considering there are plenty of reputable and privacy respecting vpn providers
Oh, I’m with you. I don’t think anyone using Google VPN was using it because it protected their privacy on the Internet generally. At least I hope not.
This is shocking.
I’m shocked.
This is my shocked face I have on right now.
People have trust issues with Google services.
I am part of people… I hate google, Microsoft, Apple. So you’re right. We need a new hero.
The young upstart Microsoft fatally wounded the International Business Machines behemoth and brought us an OS for the common man. Something simplified that could provide a GUI and run on just about any hardware a normal person could afford. And thus everyone lived happily ever after.
The scrappy competitor stepped in with better design and a great deal of care about the customer experience to knock the dominant OS bully off… Whoops, the scrappy competitor stepped on his own dick… And again, and again… And then the scrappy competitor had to be bailed out by the OS bully. And thus everyone lived not un-happily ever after.
Until, the people’s hero entered the ring with their open phone OS, a replacement for the Netscape browser but this time with real money backing it, and a moto of righteousness, “Don’t be evil”. Once in the ring they began kicking all the Goliaths in their dicks… Cellular teleco, oppressive OS makers, even home Internet providers. There was no monopoly whose reproductive organs were safe from the swift boots of our savior Google. And thus everyone lived happily ever after.
You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.
Everyone knows that The OS For The Common Man was Apple, because the Common Man is Bad At IT.
The scrappy competitor had the superior OS, but they never delivered. They insisted on running their OS on their proprietary hardware. They couldn’t stop stepping on their own dicks right up until they needed Microsoft to bail them out. Windows was not the OS we needed, but was the OS we deserved.
Pretty reasonable
I feel like it would be weird to if you got a vpn for the purpose of downloading isos or making it harder to track you. It wasn’t always available to iOS users either ( I have an iPhone so that’s why I’m mentioning it) , so you already neutered those two bases. It seemed like a niche offering to begin with
Me, deeply cynical: “Google is just using their VPN to spy on you. They’ve got an entire department dedicated to checking what websites you visit while using the VPN and building a profile on each individual, which they will turn over to the authorities the moment society collapses into a state of anarchy and military law must be imposed.”
Google CEO: “Shut down the secret VPN counterintelligence program that tracks all the future domestic terrorists in the event of a widespread domestic insurgency. Its not making us enough money.”
What’s crazy is in this time line that sounds plausible.
Why would anyone use this shit?
It’s cheap and easy for me to use it while traveling around and going on god knows what public wifi network. I am not using google VPN for privacy, but using it for some sense of security out of my home. Already paying for Google One storage, so this was a nice perk.
.
Same reason I’d use any cheap easily accessible VPN.
To get AT&T off my back every time I pirate some anime or a new movie.
I don’t know about you but trusting google with that sorta thing just seems risky to me
I trust Google’s VPN more than I trust AT&T’s internal tracker, as Google’s never sent me an angry email complaining about my network traffic.
One one hand fair, on the other, why trust either?
Its not trust but utility. I need a VPN. Google has a VPN. I use their VPN.
Didn’t they advertise this as one of the benefits of buying a pixel phone?
Less than a year and it’s gone… Not that it was much of a feature in the first place
<img alt="" src="https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/pictrs/image/15d37200-4325-4a17-8772-e6750222545f.png">
It will remain a feature for Pixel 7+ users
That’s not a feature. Just clarifying that.
But… Why are they taking it down if they still support it?
Kind of funny that they sent an email with like 3 benefits of Google One being dropped but nothing added back.
They should drop Google One. It’s literally just storage afaict.