Opera Brings Back Its Free VPN Service As An In-built Browser Feature

Opera’s bringing back its VPN (virtual private network) service, although in a slightly different format. In 2016, the company launched a free VPN app for Android (followed by an iOS launch) but the app was discontinued last year.

Image credit: Opera blog

If you remember, last time Opera’s service was offered as a standalone app. But this time Opera will offer the free VPN service again as part its Opera browser for Android. So to use the VPN, you have to download the Opera browser itself hence this feature may lead to increased adoption of the Opera browser-something which the standalone app did not guarantee.

Once you turn the option on, you can choose your virtual location. Although the choices aren’t as good as you would get from a commercial VPN service, you do get to choose whether you want to be virtually located in Europe, America, Asia or Optimal (for optimal location). However, I’m pretty sure that most users will simply stick with Optimal though, which should automatically select the best server to connect to.

Very private

As with all VPN providers, Opera replaces your IP with a virtual IP through which all internet traffic is directed. By doing so, any service provider tracking and logging your activity will only see this virtual IP rather than your actual destination. And as Opera isn’t keeping any logs there’s no record of your surfing habits.

When will you have it

There’s no definite date being given for when the VPN will come out of beta. Opera simply states, “tests for the built-in VPN will continue for some time with a gradual rollout to our beta users.”