I don't want a VPN
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I don't want a VPN, they are buggy and intrusive as well as mostly ineffective, in fact all they do with any certainty is slow things down and cause compatibilty problems with most websites. Do I have to revert to an earlier version of Vivaldi or simply switch to a different browser alltogether to get rid of Proton VPN?
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PPathduck moved this topic from Vivaldi for Windows on -
From what I understand, it is only an installed extension that is not enabled until you fire it up. You can simply uninstall it. I don't know for sure, though, because this feature skipped the Snapshot channel and went directly to Stable, so I don't yet have it.
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@mousewarped The solution is super-simple: you leave VPN disabled.
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@mousewarped As other people have mentioned, you can disable the VPN completely. When you first open the VPN popup the extension is downloaded, but if you remove the button from the toolbar and remove the extension through normal means, the VPN functionality will be entirely gone
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@Dancer18, it doesn't show in the extensions only on the toolbar, all I got was a message that it is now 'Baked In' to Vivaldi, nothing about an extension or how to disable, turn it off, or uninstall it! Looking up Proton VPN the 'free' service is very buggy, very limited and there will be nags to 'upgrade' to the paid version. No one asked for this, I know I certaibly didn't, there is nothing in the settings to remove it or uninstall it only to hide the stupid icon on the toolbar!
I really don't want untrusted extra layers in my browser that I did not research and choose based upon said research! If it turns out that there is no way uninstall Proton VPN from Vivaldi then sadly for me it means goodbye to Vivaldi...
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@mousewarped The extension is downloaded from the store when you open the VPN popup using the button in the toolbar if the extension is not already installed. If you have not pressed that button there is no VPN code in your browser. When the extension is installed it shows on the extensions page and can be removed like any other. As with most of Vivaldi's features they are there if you need them, but can be disabled and won't bother you if you don't.
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@16patsle, not entirely accurate as removing it from the toolbar is meaningless when a reset of the toolbar puts it back again which is to say it is a default part of Vivaldi now! Somewhere within Vivaldi's code Proton VPN now lurks! That is a deal breaker for me and I will be dumping Vivaldi due to this intrusive and arbitrary in my face junk I don't want! It is not a potential thing rather it is a lurking thing coded into the browser.
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@mousewarped I personally think that's a bit of an exaggeration, but you're free to do what's best for you. The button is probably in the default toolbar because it is a new feature that people may want to try out, and it is easier to remove something you don't use than adding something you're not aware exists. I'd wager most people in practice never reset their toolbars to the default, so whatever is in the default set really shouldn't be too bothersome. And I'll repeat again, the only VPN related code is the button, no actual VPN code is included. So it's not accurate to say Proton VPN lurks in Vivaldi's code. It's completely fine to not want to use that feature and just hide it, like every other Vivaldi feature more or less.
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@mousewarped It's simply a Chrome extension that you can disable or uninstall. Once uninstalled, it's no longer in the system, so relax!
Here's a screenshot of my extension sidebar:
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@16patsle Why not ask in the first place if I want a commercial VPN extension ? Why impose this in my extension bar ?
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@macadoum They could possibly have shown it in a different way, and I don't know their reasons. But it is pretty common to want to showcase a new feature so people can decide whether they want it or not. It is easier to remove something you don't use than adding something you're not aware exists
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@16patsle said in I don't want a VPN:
It is easier to remove something you don't use than adding something you're not aware exists
Exactly.
