Cloudflare's Warp VPN is now available to all: a first look

[harlan4096]

Cloud provider Cloudflare launched its privacy-focused DNS service 1.1.1.1 in 2018 and published apps for Android and iOS in the same year.

The company announced its Warp vpn service in April 2019 and invited users from all over the world to join a waiting list to test it.

The once-restricted VPN service is now available to everyone who downloads and installs the company's 1.1.1.1: Faster & Safer Internet application for Android or iOS.

Warp establishes a VPN connection on the device to route traffic through Cloudflare servers; this hides the device's IP address and may improve performance. Cloudflare suggests that Warp+ users see a 30% improvement in performance on average when loading websites.

Tip: if you are looking for a DNS solution, check out Adguard DNS.

Cloudflare Warp

The 1.1.1.1 application installs a VPN profile on the user's device when the option is selected. Cloudflare promises that it collects "as little data as possible" and that it won't "sell, rent, share or otherwise disclose" personal information.

The app displays the terms on first start; these reveal what Cloudflare collects and what it does with the data. Data may include the app installation id, the amount of data transferred through Cloudflare's network, and the average speed.

The registration ID is a unique random number that is assigned to each profile. Cloudflare notes that it is used for the referral system. The basic version of Warp is free and it has no traffic restrictions. Warp+ is an add-on service that improves the performance of connections made on the device by "avoiding traffic jams" and picking the fastest routes.

Users may refer others to receive up to 1 Gigabyte of Warp+ traffic for free per month. Each referral that meets the criteria adds 100 Megabytes to the referring account. The second option that is available is to pay $4 per month to get Warp+ Unlimited which enables Warp+ for the duration of the subscription.

The Cloudflare DNS service 1.1.1.1 is always enabled and it may also be used without Warp if that is desired.
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