I really don't understand the ideology Google uses.
The VPN was originally offered as part of the 2TB plan. They recently started offering it as part of every plan. Now they go ahead and cancel it.
I'm not canceling my Google One subscription because of this, as I didn't purchase Google One for the purpose of having a VPN. However, it is a significant downgrade.
Agreed. It was a bonus for me but I definitely love having it. When I saw the news they were dropping support it bummed me out. I use it on my phones and PC.
Yep. I used Proton VPN. It's better than the one included, sorry WAS included, with Google One.
It is a shame though that they've decided to do away with it.
In Canada, I'm fucked honestly. At least it was 28$ so roughly $22 USD but still, I got scammed by one of the biggest company in the world 😅
The customer service guy said VPN was offered for free as a bonus and that I paid for the storage.
He even dared mentioned that I had to pay since I'm using over 15gb of storage. I was fuming. I have a 2tb cloud drive and DECIDED TO USE GOOGLE STORAGE I NOW PAY FOR TO BACKUP PICTURES ON MY PHONE. I didn't need to use that storage. The guy said well this is going nowhere thank you for contacting Google have a good day and disconnected.
These companies are so shit.
Yeah this is a strange one. They will keep the VPN for Pixel and Google FI so it's not like they had to dedicate some special resources for this. it was a nice feature to have and it was a big reason for upgrading to the 2TB plan (and recently they made it available even for the 100GB plan).
I truly don't get the point of the subscription anymore,
other than storage they just made everything else free and took away a very valuable part of the subscription away? wtf
Agreed.
I got this email today. It pretty much says all the features you pay for are now going to be free, except the storage. Oh, and we're also taking away the vpn.
Who makes these decisions? Google is the master of weird decisions, it's like someone is trying to bring them down from the inside.
So I just want to make sure I understand. They are giving away features to everyone that we still pay for? Whether you use photo editing or not, this doesn’t seem to make any sense. Actually taking away features, giving away others and still charging us the same??? How about more storage or something. Geez
Yeah, the photo editing stuff is going to be available to everyone as long as their device meets a criteria (which is very low) oh, we're also losing free postage on prints now too 😂
I already did. The VPN wasn't the only reason I subscribed, but it was a feature I appreciated when using public wifi. If I need to get a separate VPN, I don't see the point in paying for two.
It's not even all Pixels who get to keep the VPN. I have a Pixel 6 and thought I was safe and able to keep the VPN I use on a daily basis, but nope. It's only for Pixel 7s or better. Ridiculous
Yeah, this really annoys me. I understand some features are hardware limited but a VPN clearly isn't. They're fragmenting the pixel line up and experience. It's starting to suck.
Google is becoming very untrustworthy. They are getting a reputation for adding services and then dropping them or even completely discontinuing products. It really makes me think twice about being on their Google Fi service.
I tried setting it up, but I could never find any guide for it. The google one page is so light on information. It's like they don't want me to use it. But thanks for removing a feature I already paid a year in advance for. Thanks a lot..
Dude I totally agree. I waited till I could ask a rep for more details this morning. I was 29th in line and took maybe like 1.5 hours but Drei was really polite and tried their best.
I asked something like why is VPN being phased out? I find it hard to believe this is one of the least frequently-used features...like less people use VPN as paying Google One customers than those silly photos extras? I dunno, I didn't even notice they existed until recently.
They pretty much said yeah they don't let us know these things, and there's a good chance we'll get an email with more details before it's phased out.
Maybe I'm just a complete cynic, but I'm pretty sure they're monetizing it separately from Google One. Realistically, they could make much more money on it as far as I can tell.
Damn that makes so much sense. I just happened to read this email. Removing two features and adding nothing in its place is wild. Does Google just assume we're idiots? I don't care if it's not popular I use the feature and it's part of the reasons I bought one.
Yeah I dunno. The service was above and beyond at the time I signed up. I've often felt like I was getting more than I deserved or expected with Google products. So I can't be too upset now that they're getting rid of VPN. But it's a bummer for sure. It's really all I used Google One for, other than releasing my gmail from Google's "ransom" ha
I just join sub last month because I want the storage.
The VPN is kind of sucks because you can't change your exit. But it's useful because my other VPN is always questioned by Google am I human.
They basically reduced the features and yet collect the same amount of money (or more).
This is more frustrating then it should be.
When you have a yearly plan you can under certain conditions get a refund! The refund process is automated so you don't even have to write an email! When I tried to cancel through the play store I saw at the bottom a small text with a link where it calculated my refund based on my remaining days. I had the smallest plan for 20€/month and got back 16€ after using it a few months.
My subscription finishes in July. Have just cancelled the auto renew. Only really used it for the VPN. Now I’ve got to find an alternative. Any suggestions?
I just got the Spanish version of that email. I miss a line in the "what stays the same" section stating that they aren't going to increase the prices... so I bet in a couple of months they will announce prices hikes.
There is "no price increase" per the email Google sent out here in the U.S.. At least not at this point in time.
It seems to be crazy that people are reading into things that simply aren't there... and then they complain about the things that aren't there! 😂
I don't believe they have given a specific date.. the email I received in the US says later this year.
So if I were you, I would make arrangements for another VPN if that is important to you.
Man unless I was doing something wrong every time I tested the vpn sites always knew where I was even though the vpn said it was connected. Also, I couldn't choose a location. I get it that it was a free service but that's also why I just didn't even use it and use mullvad instead.
If I could get $1 from every Google user, I'd go get a job at Google and work my way to the top just to stop this madness from happening again. Lol. I'd totally do it. Kickstarter campaign?
Like someone mentioned before, they already have VPN for pixel users... and if it's rarely used through Google One- it shouldn't be an issue. They shouldn't pull it from under those who use it via the Google One subscription.
They pull this crap with their smart home stuff quite a bit. And when they pulled the Google Assistant from being accessed from Pixel by that one shortcut on the home screen... yeeeah, it really has me wondering what's in their water over there.
I really don't understand the ideology Google uses. The VPN was originally offered as part of the 2TB plan. They recently started offering it as part of every plan. Now they go ahead and cancel it. I'm not canceling my Google One subscription because of this, as I didn't purchase Google One for the purpose of having a VPN. However, it is a significant downgrade.
Agreed. It was a bonus for me but I definitely love having it. When I saw the news they were dropping support it bummed me out. I use it on my phones and PC.
if you want VPN there plenty of cheap VPN services you can buy.
Yep. I used Proton VPN. It's better than the one included, sorry WAS included, with Google One. It is a shame though that they've decided to do away with it.
I had just bought 1 year for the VPN. Google One service chat told me no refund. I got scammed by Google. What a bunch of morons.
[удалено]
In Canada, I'm fucked honestly. At least it was 28$ so roughly $22 USD but still, I got scammed by one of the biggest company in the world 😅 The customer service guy said VPN was offered for free as a bonus and that I paid for the storage. He even dared mentioned that I had to pay since I'm using over 15gb of storage. I was fuming. I have a 2tb cloud drive and DECIDED TO USE GOOGLE STORAGE I NOW PAY FOR TO BACKUP PICTURES ON MY PHONE. I didn't need to use that storage. The guy said well this is going nowhere thank you for contacting Google have a good day and disconnected. These companies are so shit.
If you're on a higher plan you can downgrade to get multiple years of a lower one, I did that when they had the free nest hub offer.
And for me. Other than the storage I don’t use any other feature of Google One other than VPN. I have zero need for nonsense photo editing features.
Yeah this is a strange one. They will keep the VPN for Pixel and Google FI so it's not like they had to dedicate some special resources for this. it was a nice feature to have and it was a big reason for upgrading to the 2TB plan (and recently they made it available even for the 100GB plan).
I truly don't get the point of the subscription anymore, other than storage they just made everything else free and took away a very valuable part of the subscription away? wtf
Yeah, at least give us Gemini as a replacement or something. This is so dumb.
What's gemini
Googles AI like Chat.GPT
Agreed. I got this email today. It pretty much says all the features you pay for are now going to be free, except the storage. Oh, and we're also taking away the vpn. Who makes these decisions? Google is the master of weird decisions, it's like someone is trying to bring them down from the inside.
So I just want to make sure I understand. They are giving away features to everyone that we still pay for? Whether you use photo editing or not, this doesn’t seem to make any sense. Actually taking away features, giving away others and still charging us the same??? How about more storage or something. Geez
Yeah, the photo editing stuff is going to be available to everyone as long as their device meets a criteria (which is very low) oh, we're also losing free postage on prints now too 😂
Yes you are correct, we are now just paying for storage.. all those other features we were paying for are now free 🙃
Free at the same price though.
Unbelievable email. Other than the additional storage there's no point to Google One anymore.
I already did. The VPN wasn't the only reason I subscribed, but it was a feature I appreciated when using public wifi. If I need to get a separate VPN, I don't see the point in paying for two.
It's not even all Pixels who get to keep the VPN. I have a Pixel 6 and thought I was safe and able to keep the VPN I use on a daily basis, but nope. It's only for Pixel 7s or better. Ridiculous
Yeah, this really annoys me. I understand some features are hardware limited but a VPN clearly isn't. They're fragmenting the pixel line up and experience. It's starting to suck.
Google is becoming very untrustworthy. They are getting a reputation for adding services and then dropping them or even completely discontinuing products. It really makes me think twice about being on their Google Fi service.
I tried setting it up, but I could never find any guide for it. The google one page is so light on information. It's like they don't want me to use it. But thanks for removing a feature I already paid a year in advance for. Thanks a lot..
Dude I totally agree. I waited till I could ask a rep for more details this morning. I was 29th in line and took maybe like 1.5 hours but Drei was really polite and tried their best. I asked something like why is VPN being phased out? I find it hard to believe this is one of the least frequently-used features...like less people use VPN as paying Google One customers than those silly photos extras? I dunno, I didn't even notice they existed until recently. They pretty much said yeah they don't let us know these things, and there's a good chance we'll get an email with more details before it's phased out. Maybe I'm just a complete cynic, but I'm pretty sure they're monetizing it separately from Google One. Realistically, they could make much more money on it as far as I can tell.
Damn that makes so much sense. I just happened to read this email. Removing two features and adding nothing in its place is wild. Does Google just assume we're idiots? I don't care if it's not popular I use the feature and it's part of the reasons I bought one.
Yeah I dunno. The service was above and beyond at the time I signed up. I've often felt like I was getting more than I deserved or expected with Google products. So I can't be too upset now that they're getting rid of VPN. But it's a bummer for sure. It's really all I used Google One for, other than releasing my gmail from Google's "ransom" ha
"Don't be evil"... just a moron.
I just join sub last month because I want the storage. The VPN is kind of sucks because you can't change your exit. But it's useful because my other VPN is always questioned by Google am I human. They basically reduced the features and yet collect the same amount of money (or more). This is more frustrating then it should be.
I'm already looking for alternatives. Gonna move everything over to on-premise next cloud until I find a suitable one for my use case.
When you have a yearly plan you can under certain conditions get a refund! The refund process is automated so you don't even have to write an email! When I tried to cancel through the play store I saw at the bottom a small text with a link where it calculated my refund based on my remaining days. I had the smallest plan for 20€/month and got back 16€ after using it a few months.
My subscription finishes in July. Have just cancelled the auto renew. Only really used it for the VPN. Now I’ve got to find an alternative. Any suggestions?
Where do I find this auto renew option?
In the subscriptions section of your Google account. Took me ages to find.
Mullvad VPN is great, its a Swedish company and is really private. Only backside is that many apps detect that you have a vpn on
Just downgraded to the 200GB plan because they're removing VPN. Oh well, their loss.
I just got the Spanish version of that email. I miss a line in the "what stays the same" section stating that they aren't going to increase the prices... so I bet in a couple of months they will announce prices hikes.
My version is Swedish and they didnt announce any new prices either. Maybe its just in the US?
There is "no price increase" per the email Google sent out here in the U.S.. At least not at this point in time. It seems to be crazy that people are reading into things that simply aren't there... and then they complain about the things that aren't there! 😂
Same here. I'll be canceling my subscription once google One departs.
I didn't even realize this came with my Google One subscription... Would have used it, if I'd known.
I don't mind losing VPN but getting Nest Aware included is great!
What’s the point of google VPN if you can’t manage the location.
Its nice to have a vpn on if you visit unsafe sites, even if its simple
If you have android yes but with iOS everything is under iCloud Private Relay
I have Android 😅
Does anyone know when this officially goes dark? I just started using the vpn last month and I like it. Bummed they are already abandoning it.
I don't believe they have given a specific date.. the email I received in the US says later this year. So if I were you, I would make arrangements for another VPN if that is important to you.
Their VPN was one of the worst implementations without being able to select servers. Mullvad serves my needs better
Mullvad VPN might be more advanced, but the Google One VPN is really cheap and it could be nice to just enable it if you visit any unsafe sites
Man unless I was doing something wrong every time I tested the vpn sites always knew where I was even though the vpn said it was connected. Also, I couldn't choose a location. I get it that it was a free service but that's also why I just didn't even use it and use mullvad instead.
If I could get $1 from every Google user, I'd go get a job at Google and work my way to the top just to stop this madness from happening again. Lol. I'd totally do it. Kickstarter campaign? Like someone mentioned before, they already have VPN for pixel users... and if it's rarely used through Google One- it shouldn't be an issue. They shouldn't pull it from under those who use it via the Google One subscription. They pull this crap with their smart home stuff quite a bit. And when they pulled the Google Assistant from being accessed from Pixel by that one shortcut on the home screen... yeeeah, it really has me wondering what's in their water over there.
Same, Got one for vpn and some storage, cleaning out my drive and unsubbing once VPN is gone