One of the best ways to secure an Apple device while browsing the web just got easier to use.
Cloak, a Seattle-based company started by ex-Microsoft employees, launched version 2 of its flagship Virtual Private Network applications for iPhone, iPad and Mac today.
The new apps come with a simplified user interface that makes it clear when users are connected to the company’s secure VPN, and provides context-aware help to let users know when they connect to a network that blocks certain VPN protocols. In addition, today’s update makes it easier for users to automatically secure their connection when they’re on the go.
Using new settings available with iOS 7, the Cloak 2 iOS apps can now automatically secure a user’s network connection, without requiring any user interaction, in the same way the company’s Mac client has worked. In the past, users needed to remember to turn Cloak on when they connected to a network they didn’t trust, but now the app keeps track of users’ trusted connections and automatically switches on Cloak’s service when they’re on an untrusted network. The service also syncs trusted connections over the cloud, so that a user can change the VPN settings on all of their devices by updating one device.
“For me, that totally changes my relationship to the app,” Cloak Co-Founder Dave Peck said in an interview with GeekWire. “I don’t have to open it, I don’t have to open settings, I don’t have to think about it, it just works.”
In my experience, I didn’t notice much of a difference browsing the web through Cloak’s service versus connecting directly to a particular network, but the app will always show when it’s running on iOS and Mac, for users who are concerned about overusing it.
In addition, the company also completely overhauled its pricing for the service. Cloak dropped the price of its unlimited tier, and now offers users the ability to use unlimited bandwidth for $9.99 a month. As before, users can pay $1.99 to subscribe to a Mini plan that gives them 5 GB of of bandwidth for a month.
With Cloak 2, users can purchase one-time passes for unlimited service over a particular period of time: a week of use costs $3.99, and a month of use costs $9.99. Users who want to commit to a full year of unlimited service can get it for $99.99, a discount of almost $20 over a month-to-month unlimited subscription. At the moment, one-time passes are only available through Cloak’s iOS apps, but Peck says that the company plans to launch the same offerings for its Mac apps soon.
With this release, Peck said that the company is turning its focus towards expanding its reach to other privacy and security tools as well.
“VPN seemed like a good place to start because the technology is well established, and the user interface is terrible in most cases,” Peck said. “And so it seemed like a good place where we could take our design expertise and apply it. But we’re interested in the universe of privacy and security issues, which is vast, and VPN is this tiny little island in the center of it.”
Cloak 2 for iPhone and iPad is available from the iOS App Store, and Cloak 2 for Mac is available from getcloak.com.
