The cloud data storage plan, Google One, has included since 2020 a useful option for securing web browsing from smartphones: a VPN. For four years now, all you have to do is download the Google One application to activate this functionality, available in around twenty countries – including France – and usable in any region of the world. Those who have subscribed to a subscription to store photos and videos online can thus benefit from a VPN, certainly a little less complete than its competitors, since it is not possible to choose the country of the IP address from which we want to connect, but at no extra cost, even with the cheapest subscription billed at €1.99 per month.
This should change fairly quickly, according to the information collected by Android Authority. It is via an official email received by one of the members of this media that we learn that Google “will end VPN through Google One later this year”a choice that the American firm quite simply justifies, with 9to5 Googleindicating that “people just don’t use it”.
If we do not know the exact date of abandonment of the option, it should be noted that owners of a Google smartphone, from the Pixel 7 generation, will continue to benefit from this free VPN. It should be remembered that Google had announced that it would integrate it into the settings of these devices, and that it therefore works in the absence of a Google One subscription. As the function becomes exclusive to them, it should help increase the attractiveness of the Pixel range.
Google One has more than 100 million subscribers worldwide, and recently offered a new AI Premium plan including 2 TB of storage and access to Gemini Advanced artificial intelligence for €21.99 per month. Despite losing its VPN before the end of the year, it nevertheless continues to evolve. From May 15, the day after the Google I/O conference, the Magic Eraser function of Google Photos will be accessible to more products, including the Pixel Tablet, and Magic Editor will be extended to all Pixels, and will not be no longer reserved for Pixel 8.