HideMyAss, one of the most popular VPN providers on the market, has just released version 5 of its software, promising the ultimate redesign of its service package as well as a lot of new and exciting features. Some of the mentioned novelties include an overhaul of the killswitch feature and the introduction of split tunneling.
While most of the newly implemented features are accessible on all supported platforms, the system-wide killswitch is currently available only on Windows, Android, and Mac devices. On Windows, the killswitch is programmed to start automatically when you access a certain number of pre-defined applications. The company also mentioned a new logging policy, but these changes have not been implemented yet.
HideMyAss representatives said: “While we’re proud of what we’ve done with Version 5, it isn’t just our most ambitious update, yet: it’s also the on-ramp for a really aggressive set of improvements we’re going to be making to our VPN, and to the industry as a whole.”
In other words, the recent changes should be perceived as a mere starting point for further development planned by the team behind HideMyAss.
The crew did an excellent job at making the clients as beginner-friendly as possible and you should notice these changes the moment you boot up your HideMyAss software. The three operation modes featured in the previous versions have been replaced by a simple on/off switch and the Instant Mode is now called Lightning Connect. This functionality allows you to automatically connect to the best server based on your current location.
The alphabetical server list has been replaced with a series of drop-down menus that allow you to pick a specific continent, country, and even city. A convenient side-panel has also been implemented for easier access to features and advanced settings.
The IP Refresh button will allow you to cycle through available IPs for any given location and the speed test will eliminate any guesswork when it comes to latency and download speeds provided by specific servers.
As we already mentioned, the split tunneling feature has also been added, which means you get to choose which part of your online traffic you want to reroute through HideMyAss servers. For example, you might want to encrypt only your connection with Netflix.com in order to hide your real location. This will allow you to geo-spoof streaming platforms without slowing down your Internet with unnecessary encryption.
Finally, it remains to be seen what changes the team will introduce in regards to its shaky logging policy. According to the latest reports, the company aims to pursue “some very aggressive improvements to how we protect your privacy.”