The most profound development within Sentinel over the past year has been its maturation into a peer-to-peer bandwidth marketplace with a multitude of usecases—but dVPN marches on!
The Sentinel blockchain's flagship protocol has seen an astronomical increase in consumer adoption since December of last year. For years, dVPN struggled to reach a thousand daily unique users, but now sees almost ten thousand on a regular basis.
Here is the latest news from the ever-expanding arsenal of dVPN applications built on Sentinel's open source architecture.
Sentinel Docs maintains a helpful live directory of all active Sentinel-powered dVPNs.
News by Application (A-Z)
Breadcrumbs
Android • iOS
Developer: Breadcrumbs Data/Hashcash, Inc. (USA)
Original Release: 2024
Breadcrumbs and its unique eponymous personal data manager/dVPN client have continued their ascent to prominence within the ecosystem. As of late, their development efforts have focused on bolstering the app's extra-dVPN functions.
A stream of updates over autumn provided the young service with a total refresh a mere few months after its launch. Subscribers have been treated to a new interface, new personal data manager features, and the introduction of an in-app AI assistant named Atlas.
CEO Zac Wickstrom (fresh from the spotlight at Cosmoverse) appeared on an X Space hosted by ecosystem influencer Cosmos Hoss on Sunday to discuss more of the company's future ambitions for the eclectic app.
The company is also in the process of renovating its website.
Decentr
Windows • Mac • Ubuntu • Android • iOS
Developer: Decentr (UK)
Original Release: 2019 (Sentinel partnership in 2022)
Decentr's Web3 internet browser continues to offer integrated Sentinel-powered dVPN, maintained with support from Meile dVPN lead developer freQnik.
Ties between Decentr and MathNodes have grown deep over the course of the year, and it has become apparent that the latter company is now handling almost all backend work on the in-browser dVPN—including curated subscription plans with handpicked nodes.
The browser's last major update occurred in late summer. It most prominently introduced an overhaul to the Personal Data Value (PDV) system, which is used by the Decentr blockchain to calculate and allocate browsing rewards to users.
While (quite obviously) an internet browser first and foremost, it should be noted that Decentr can also be purposed as a pure desktop dVPN client. Connecting in the browser will protect all traffic on your device.
Independent dVPN
Windows (BETA) • Android • iOS
Developer: Anonymous Team (Turkey)
First Release: 2023 (as Bağımsız dVPN)
Independent dVPN will be integrating Sentinel Scout to provide a new user experience without advertisements. The popular third-party client became an unexpected international success this year because of a rather unprecedented innovation: It's free; and also safe.
Conventional wisdom among the digital privacy community has been that "free" VPNs make their profits through sale of your personal data or other nefarious tactics. Though some may be innocent of this, their centralized structure still makes it impossible for them to prove it. dVPN eliminates both concerns entirely, as the entire connection process is on-chain and provably secure.
Up until now, the Independent team monetized their free application by showing users brief in-app advertisements. Sentinel's foray into AI has inspired a far less intrusive scheme: Soon, users will be able to gain free access by running a Sentinel Scout miner on their device—lending their computational resources to data acquisition tasks which feed AI models.
🔒 Note: Data mining for Sentinel Scout targets external, publicly-available data on the internet; not content or data on the user's device.
Independent dVPN also overhauled its visual branding over the summer and debuted a new logo and website. Their strategy for capturing user adoption has been gradually reoriented towards serving whistleblowers and other persons living under strict censorship regimes outside of the west—but simple, free, safe VPN service will always have universal appeal.
Meile dVPN
Windows • Mac • Ubuntu • Debian • Fedora • Arch Linux
Developer: MathNodes LLC (USA/Italy)
Original Release: 2022
The ecosystem's seniormost third-party dVPN client has distinguished itself among power users over the past year for its desktop support, privacy-friendly payment methods, and straightforward-yet-versatile subscription structure.
The long-awaited v2.0 update has been rolled out across supported platforms over the past several months. The landmark new version yielded a total user interface overhaul and an unprecedented swathe of new payment options including Bitcoin, Monero, ATOM, Dogecoin, ZCash, Ethereum, Tether, USDC, PirateChain, and much more.
MathNodes also announced a partnership with Firo yesterday, lending yet another option to that privacy-friendly payment cornucopia. "This update's major focus was on user end privacy. Integrating off-chain payments from leading privacy coins such as Monero and Firo eliminates on-chain linkability of the consumer," lead developer freQnik commented in the press release on HackerNoon.
QuickClient & dVPN Bot
Windows • Mac • Android • iOS
Developer: NORSE Labs (Estonia)
Original Release: 2024
SOLAR Labs, the Russo-Estonian company behind SOLAR dVPN, was reconstituted as NORSE Labs in June. They have already launched several products since the summer, including the QuickClient software and a supplementary dVPN Bot which can be operated through Telegram.
NORSE VPN QuickClient is an no-account background application which can provide dVPN functionality to external services—such as the aforementioned bot on Telegram. It was originally rolled out on Android, iOS, and Mac; followed by a Windows version in September.
The Telegram bot itself functions in a similar fashion to orthodox dVPN clients, and is capable of protecting traffic on the user's entire device. Sentinel announced today that the bot has been listed on the Telegram Apps Center.
Bot users who create a NORSE Labs account now have the option of registering for a referral program.
Sentinel Shield
Android • iOS
Developer: Sentinel Foundation
Original Release: 2024 (Predecessor 2018–2021)
With listing approval finally coming from Apple in late September, Sentinel Shield is now fully established on both major mobile platforms.
An Apple Pay-powered fiat gateway was also introduced to the iOS version of the app. Shield was already one of the most consumer-friendly blockchain products in existence—with the addition of an intuitive fiat payment system, it is now arguably even simpler to use than Web2 counterparts.
The Sentinel Foundation confirmed last month that a Windows version of Shield would be entering development once the launch of another mobile dVPN client (Cosmo dVPN) is completed.
V2:App
Android • iOS
Developer: Pavali Technology (Estonia)
Original Release: 2023
In February, V2:App became the first centralized VPN in history to abandon its old architecture to become a dVPN. It received an update over the summer which introduced bugfixes, performance improvements, and integration with the TON Blockchain.
New & Upcoming Apps
A brief look at new products entering the Sentinel application ecosystem in the near-term future.
dVPN by NORSE
Windows • Android • iOS
Developer: NORSE Labs (Estonia)
Status: App Store Approval Pending
The NORSE Labs-developed successor to SOLAR dVPN is only days away from launch on the Google Play Store. In contrast with QuickClient and the Telegram bot, this app is a straightforward dVPN client—so straightforward that the company has succinctly titled it "dVPN."
Even though it may have genetic lineage, this app will be no rehash. CEO Alexandr Litreev has noted many that improvements and changes that have been implemented to make this new app stand out from its predecessor:
"The app will be free to use, with a range of server locations open to all. Users will also have the option to upgrade to dVPN Plus, a comprehensive subscription that unlocks access to all locations worldwide; along with exclusive features in future updates, such as split tunneling, double VPN, TOR integration, and more."
Users with active SOLAR dVPN subscriptions will receive automatic dVPN Plus status on the new app.
Cosmo dVPN
Android • iOS
Developer: Sentinel Foundation
Status: App Store Approval Pending
Cosmo dVPN continues to inch towards publication on app stores, as the Sentinel Foundation implements last-minute superficial changes required by Apple for the listing. It has undergone two name changes since its announcement in September 2023, and therefore previous dVPN News articles may refer to it as "ATOM dVPN" or "Cosmos dVPN."
Though not yet officially launched, Cosmo dVPN's Android version has been in an open community beta for months; and is already available to download and use for testing purposes at the Sentinel Application Testing Forum on Telegram.
Though the interface is loaded with tributes to Sentinel's home ecosystem and cousin projects; from a user experience standpoint, the app functions very similarly to Sentinel Shield. The chief difference between Cosmo dVPN and the flagship application is the ability to pay for subscriptions with Cosmos Hub ATOMs.
The application will make its debut on Android and iOS. We are not aware of any imminent plans to develop desktop versions.
Video
The Sentinel YouTube channel uploaded a video in late July which showcases seven of the Sentinel Ecosystem's dVPN applications.
Related
Sentinel Independent News
Sentinel Independent News
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