Virtual Private Networks are becoming increasingly handy things to have, offering greater security on public Wi-Fi networks, making it harder for websites to track you and accessing content only available in particular countries. Usually you have to pay for these, but the latest developer version of the Opera for Mac has one built right into the browser, and it’s completely free to use.
Until now, most VPN services and proxy servers have been limited and based on a paid subscription. With a free, unlimited, native VPN that just works out-of-the-box and doesn’t require any subscription, Opera wants to make VPNs available to everyone.
If accessing content from other regions is your primary interest, the browser currently allows you to virtually travel to the USA, Canada and Germany, but more regions will follow once the feature makes it into the stable version.
Opera’s developer browser is a free download. Once installed, follow the instructions below to activate the feature.
Mac users just need to click the Opera menu, select “Preferences” and toggle the feature VPN on. A button will appear in the browser address field, from which the user can see and change location (more locations will appear later), check whether their IP is exposed and review statistics for their data used.
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Can anyone download this version?
Yep
Popcorn time has (I think) got a system wide vpn for iOS. Any chance you can check this out and do a review Ben to see if it’s genuine, thanks
Be good if they can get this going for iOS too
Does not work for Netflix :(
Sadly, Netflix are being really aggressive with the VPN-detection, using packet-inspection to see what’s really happening.
Not that fast as I hoped..
As far as I can tell, it only works when you are in the browser, which is a nice service for free. Just keep in mind if you pop over to email, that is not routed thru the VPN. Also, if you hop on a public WiFi network, other users might still be able to access your machine, because only the browser is using the VPN.
This is a great news, a browser with a built-in VPN. However, one very important thing that is missing in this puzzle is that it can only work for the browsing through Opera browser. All the other activities including mail client, cloud etc will remain open for hackers. This is the biggest reason I think people should keep using premium VPNs like Ivacy VPN. However, people who use browser email client like gmail and do not use cloud service can use Opera as it will be useful for them.
I have always loved and trust Opera. I have adored the Opera VPN app for iOS, I have used Opera Mini since it first released, and I loved the email client that Opera has. It is all simple and works. If you like Chrome, give Opera a chance. It is based on Chromium, too, but, is not bogged down by Google’s…Google. lol