As announced in April, users are beginning to lose access to VPN by Google One today. Google first unveiled the VPN...
    • 9point6@lemmy.worldEnglish
      992·
      6 months ago

      Tbh at least this one makes sense, who is going to use a VPN (an internet privacy tool) from Google?

      • Socsa@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        321·
        6 months ago

        My purpose for a VPN is more about connecting to WiFi APs I don’t control. Google VPN worked just fine for that.

        • mint_tamas@lemmy.worldEnglish
          72·
          6 months ago

          These days you don’t get much extra benefit on a VPN over TLS which you get on 99% of websites.

      • DefederateLemmyMl@feddit.nlEnglish
        25·
        6 months ago

        who is going to use a VPN (an internet privacy tool) from Google?

        Exactly. That would be like using a web browser made by Google so they have direct access to your internet browsing history. Ridiculous!

      • nutsack@lemmy.worldEnglish
        144·
        6 months ago

        when traveling Communist countries in Asia with google fi it was really nice to have

        but then they revoked my data service while charging me the same amount every month, because they said I’m traveling too much.

        • shoresy@lemmings.worldEnglish
          5·
          6 months ago

          Google VPN is/was only available in select countries.

          https://support.google.com/googleone/answer/7582172

          There are 2 lists of countries applicable here. The list of countries where the VPN is included with a Google One subscription and the list where you could use the VPN while traveling.

          You’ll notice that countries known for internet censorship are missing from both lists, so using it for that purpose wouldn’t work at all.

      • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.caEnglish
        51·
        6 months ago

        Yeah right? I have a VPN to prevent Google (amongst many others) from having too much of my data.

    • Archer@lemmy.worldEnglish
      21·
      6 months ago

      Whenever Google launches a product or service wait at least 5 years before even trying it to see if they’re serious, got it

      • Cryophilia@lemmy.worldEnglish
        6·
        6 months ago

        It’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy at that point. Like Netflix with new shows.

        Netflix: here’s this new show

        People: yeah you guys always cancel stuff after the first season or two, I’m not gonna get invested in something that will just get canceled

        Netflix: man, these viewership numbers are low. CANCELED!

      • qwioeue@lemmy.worldEnglish
        13·
        6 months ago

        I had to help out a client this week because this migration broke their website. Turns out that Squarespace’s omain forwarding feature drops query params. This brokes thousands of links. Fun times.

      • TheTeej107@lemm.eeEnglish
        2·
        6 months ago

        Yeah I’m in the same boat. I haven’t used squarespace and I have no idea if I should stay with them.

        • kautau@lemmy.worldEnglish
          7·
          6 months ago

          They are not primarily a domain registrar, they are a website builder SaaS. So they will probably try to sell you on that product when you renew, but many registrars will try to upsell you, so that’s not uncommon. If you are planning to transfer away, I can certainly recommend Namecheap, I’ve used them for many years without issue

  • buddascrayon@lemmy.worldEnglish
    74·
    6 months ago

    Google: people weren’t using it.

    The People: you cancel literally everything you create, so why should we bother?

      • buddascrayon@lemmy.worldEnglish
        11·
        6 months ago

        I loved Allo. I was really depressed to have to use Whatsapp after Google cancelled it. And one of my favorite things to do was use my Google rewards points to buy music.

        And they wonder why no one invests time and interest in any of their new “experimental” products.

      • Zanz@lemmy.mlEnglish
        8·
        6 months ago

        Allo didn’t ever make sense. What about Hangouts. Hangouts worked with imessage. And also works better than allo did And also works better than aloe did at any pointat any point.

        • flop_leash_973@lemmy.worldEnglish
          5·
          6 months ago

          Whats crazy is Hangouts is still going (in the form of Chat and Meet). I’ve had the same group chat going with a few buddies on it for years and years now. And it is still better than anything outside of Signal in my opinion for messaging.

    • RecluseRamble@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      11·
      6 months ago

      Google’s business model also doesn’t really fit to what VPN customers are looking for. They hardly would implement a zero log policy, for example.

  • dohpaz42@lemmy.worldEnglish
    55·
    6 months ago

    At this point, I’m surprised anybody (including myself) still buys/uses Google services, given how risky it is that you’ll become dependent on them and then they kill off the product(s). I really need to get off my ass and switch mail providers.

    • narc0tic_bird@lemm.eeEnglish
      9·
      6 months ago

      Most people will use whatever the default on their device is. Most phones that aren’t iPhones come with Google apps and services set as default.

      The only Google services I still use are YouTube and in rare cases Google Maps. But if YouTube continues to enshittify I’ll stop using that. I’ve been using Google Maps mainly to get information about places to eat/sleep in cities, not really for navigation.

      • zippythezigzag@lemm.eeEnglish
        6·
        6 months ago

        If there wernt better YouTube frontends id probably stop using it altogether too. The base site is horrible and idk how anyone could possibly enjoy using it.

      • NakamuraEmi_bias@lemmy.worldEnglish
        4·
        6 months ago

        There was a time when the Google apps just worked, the applications were optimised for UX. Maybe I’ve just only noticed it now but the directions (and assistant in general) aren’t as useful, reliable, and filled with sponsored stuff.

        what do you use for navigation and how does it compare?

        • narc0tic_bird@lemm.eeEnglish
          21·
          6 months ago

          Google Maps was a great app and service, it had decent navigation and always a lot of information on a lot of places. Nowadays it’s cluttered with features including a “news feed” with social network-like posts made by people on places in the area.

          On iOS devices I can highly recommend Apple Maps nowadays. They completely overhauled their maps a few years ago and I got great results navigating with it. The app isn’t bloated, it’s fast, the map material looks great and their version of Street View is a lot more sophisticated.

          For strictly navigating you can also check out TomTom AmiGO. It’s a free variant of TomTom’s navigational system. I wouldn’t really use it outside of car navigation though.

          I used to use Sygic a few years back, but they switched to a subscription model and keep nagging existing “lifetime” buyers to subscribe.

          • SOMETHINGSWRONG@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
            8·
            6 months ago

            Apple Maps also straight up gives objectively better audio guidance (e.g. “move to the right lane to turn right at the next light” vs “turn right in 300 feet”).

            Additionally the “directions” portion of the screen has large font and is clearly visible compared to Google’s tiny font on a window the size of 10% of the screen to show you more ads. (Yes, the reason some business appear at all zoom levels while others only pop up at street level is ads)

            What a fall from grace. I remember when Apple Maps would direct people to drive through halfway built overpasses with 500 feet of open air at the end because it’s not built yet.

          • Alborlin@lemmy.worldEnglish
            2·
            6 months ago

            I hate sygic for this, i bought lifetime för my part of World, and now it mails me every day to get subscription. never i will get it, every time i need it i will use cracked one. It was one of the good company, but now its just a nag.

        • sem@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
          2·
          6 months ago

          Hoping they answer. I try to use OSMAnd for navigation but it doesn’t know where things are

    • subtext@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5·
      6 months ago

      I would recommend Fastmail. They have a fantastic app that I prefer over the iOS mail app.

    • Babalugats@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5·
      6 months ago

      I’m surprised anyone uses Google services considering how they infiltrate your privacy.

      A Google VPN is as private to me as giving a six year old a cardboard box and asking them but to look inside.

        • Kimano@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          6 months ago

          Protonmail is encrypted and they literally cannot decrypt to record your data.

          • buddascrayon@lemmy.worldEnglish
            11·
            6 months ago

            What is in your email isn’t the only data that sending one can generate. There’s the IP address where it was sent from and where it’s going, there’s the time of day it was sent, there’s a load of metadata attached they can read and glean information about you and your recipient. And there’s advertisement opportunities in the interface that many services use to collect info on you. There are so many ways to collect data on you through your interactions online it’s not even funny.

            But yeah, keep pretending like you’ve found the only mail service that doesn’t collect any data on you at all if it helps you cope.

    • WIZARD POPE💫@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      6 months ago

      The only reason I have a google account in the first place is android. You cannot use the fucking play store without one.

  • normalexit@lemmy.worldEnglish
    41·
    6 months ago

    I get on my VPN to provide less data to Google. Routing my traffic through an advertising company always felt like a bad idea to me.

  • Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
    18·
    6 months ago

    Google One was a pretty sweet deal on paper.

    But unfortunately, Google’s superpower of making really cool things and then killing it off continues to exist.

    • Alborlin@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5·
      6 months ago

      And guess what , when I asked what is replacing VPN as part of services, they say they don’t know and tried to move me over to 20 eur a month plan. So reducing the service and staying same prices …

  • charade_you_are@lemmy.caEnglish
    16·
    6 months ago

    So no one spoke up or no one listened to guy who said “this is a bad idea, no one really trusts us”

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldEnglish
    14·
    6 months ago

    But how am I going to prevent someone from hacking my Google Glass if I click the wrong link in a Google Group now?!

  • Todd Bonzalez@lemm.eeEnglish
    101·
    6 months ago

    RIP to the only VPN that reliably let you watch streaming services overseas.

    Here’s to enabling the OpenVPN / Wireguard feature on your router.

  • narc0tic_bird@lemm.eeEnglish
    7·
    6 months ago

    May as well call it “Google Drive Storage Plans” again then? Aside from some dysfunctional AI features that’s pretty much the only thing you get, no?

  • Sparky@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    7·
    6 months ago

    If you don’t care about “moving your virtual location” using vpns, check your router settings, you might just find an option to enable a VPN server. It’ll be fast, and guess what… It’s free

    Also did I mention that you control the data flowing trough it