Google Fi’s built-in VPN starts iPhone rollout

Google Fi’s VPN service has started rolling out to subscribers on iPhone, the company has announced. The feature, which routes your phone’s internet traffic through an encrypted connection to protect your privacy, has been available on Android since launching in beta in November 2018. The launch comes a little later than Google’s previously announced “spring” release date, but it’s close.

In a followup tweet Google says not all iPhone users will have access to the feature straight away, but that it will be widely available “over the coming weeks.” To turn the feature on, 9to5Google notes that you should make sure your Fi companion app is updated to the latest version, and then head to “Phone Settings” in the main Account tab. From there go to “Privacy & security,” where there’ll eventually be a “Protect your online activity” option to enable. The VPN is included with all Google Fi plans.

The arrival of Google Fi’s VPN on iOS comes as Apple is gearing up to launch a similar privacy-protecting feature as part of its iCloud Plus subscription service. Apple’s version, which it’s calling Private Relay, routes your web traffic through a pair of relay servers to protect your sensitive information. It’s designed in such a way so that not even Apple itself has a complete picture of your browsing.