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Cloudflare’s Free WARP VPN: What It Does and How to Set It Up

Cloudflare announced WARP in 2019 as a feature of its 1.1.1.1 mobile app. Basic WARP remains free, but it is not an anonymity or country-switching VPN.

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Cloudflare announced WARP on April 1, 2019, as a feature in its 1.1.1.1 mobile app for iPhone and Android. The launch used a waitlist and rolled access out over time; it was not available to every user immediately that day. Today, the app and basic WARP mode are free, while WARP+ Unlimited is a separate paid subscription.

What Cloudflare announced in 2019

Cloudflare’s April 1, 2019 announcement introduced WARP as an option inside the 1.1.1.1 app, which had first launched as a way to use Cloudflare’s DNS resolver on mobile devices. The company said users could join a waitlist as access was opened gradually.

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Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince wrote, “Technically, WARP is a VPN.” The label is accurate in the sense that WARP routes traffic through a VPN profile, but it does not offer some features people may expect from a consumer VPN, such as hiding identity or choosing a different country.

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How WARP differs from 1.1.1.1 DNS

The app offers different traffic modes. In DNS-only mode, DNS queries are encrypted and sent to Cloudflare’s resolver; other device traffic is not tunneled. In WARP’s Traffic and DNS mode, device traffic is routed through Cloudflare’s network as well as using its DNS service. Cloudflare explains the distinction in its WARP client documentation.

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WARP: Traffic and DNS Device traffic and DNS queries Routes traffic through Cloudflare’s network.

What WARP does—and does not—protect

WARP can encrypt traffic between a device and Cloudflare’s network, but it is not an anonymity service. Cloudflare says it does not prevent destination sites from identifying users, and it does not let users appear to browse from another country. It is therefore not a tool for changing streaming catalogs by location or concealing identity from websites. Cloudflare’s current client documentation describes these limitations.

Cloudflare’s 2019 announcement also described WARP as respecting end-to-end encryption. That is Cloudflare’s description of the service, not an independent performance or privacy audit.

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How to turn on WARP on Android

  1. Install the free 1.1.1.1: Faster Internet app from Google Play.
  2. Open the app and accept its terms.
  3. Toggle WARP on. When prompted, allow the app to install its VPN profile; the app indicates when WARP is connected.

Cloudflare says the Android app uses WARP mode by default and allows users to choose DNS encryption settings. Its current Android setup guide has the step-by-step instructions.

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How to turn on WARP on iPhone

  1. Install the free 1.1.1.1: Faster Internet app from Apple’s App Store.
  2. Open the app and accept its terms.
  3. Toggle WARP on and approve installation of the VPN profile. The app shows when it is connected.

The app can configure 1.1.1.1 across networks, including cellular. By contrast, manually setting DNS in iOS applies only to the Wi-Fi network currently connected and does not cover cellular. See Cloudflare’s iOS setup instructions.

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Cloudflare’s consumer client requirements page lists Android 5.0 or later and iOS 11 or later. Operating-system support can change, so check the current app-store listing before installing; the requirements are listed in Cloudflare’s setup documentation.

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Free WARP versus WARP+ Unlimited

Cloudflare documents its 1.1.1.1 DNS service and basic WARP as free. WARP+ Unlimited is a separate paid monthly subscription purchased through the Apple App Store or Google Play. Cloudflare says the paid tier uses a larger network that may reduce latency and improve browsing speed; that is a product description, not a guaranteed result for every connection.

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