Google now offers VPN for Android devices, free on Google One 2TB plan and above

Google has announced a new perk for its Google One subscribers on its 2TB plans and higher: a VPN. Available for Android devices, the new private network service, is said to provide “an extra layer of online protection” and provide “peace of mind knowing that your data is safe”.

The search giant said in a blog post:

We already build advanced security into all our products, and the VPN extends that security to encrypt all of your phone’s online traffic, no matter what app or browser you’re using. The VPN is built into the Google One app, so with just one tap, you can rest assured knowing your connection is safe from hackers.

For those unfamiliar with how VPN services work, they typically route your internet traffic through strongly encrypted tunnel to ensure that your data cannot be intercepted. This enables more secure use of public WiFi networks which comes in handy if you need to do some online banking while on the go. This is not the first time Google is offering a VPN to its customers as it did the same its Google Fi cellular subscribers back in 2018.

Google One, for the uninitiated, is a subscription plan that the Mountain View-based company launched back in 2018. The service gives subscribers more storage to use across Google Drive, Gmail and Google Photos.

Google One is already available in Malaysia with plans starting at 100GB for RM8.49 a month and 200GB for RM11.99 a month for expanded Drive and Photos storage. However, the new VPN service is only offered to subscribers of Google’s 2TB plan that costs RM42.99 a month or RM429.99 annually. Google’s VPN is also available for higher tier plans including its 10, 20 and 30TB plans.

Google explained that all a user needs to do is launch their Google One app and hit the enable button on to start using the VPN service. Following that, all the internet data on the device is encrypted.

Google added that for subscribers that have shared their 2TB (or higher) Google One Plan with family members (up to five additional people), those users will also enjoy the VPN service and can enable it on their own devices at no extra cost.

The VPN by Google One will roll out in the US for now although the search giant said it has plans to expand the service to more countries as well as bring it to devices running on iOS, Windows and Mac in the coming months.

For more information visit Google’s website.

[SOURCE]

Related reading