CloudFlare’s Encrypted DNS App for Android and iOS

CloudFlare recently released an app for Android and iOS that makes it easy for users to encrypt their DNS queries using CloudFlare’s 1.1.1.1 DNS resolver.

For once, I’m really not sure what the point is of a security tool like this. One of the criteria for using the 1.1.1.1 app is you need to turn off any VPN you have activated. But I’m not really certain what the use case would be for wanting encrypted DNS but not a VPN.

Personally, I use ProtonMail’s VPN on my phone when I want privacy from the local network operator. There are issues with Proton, but it’s security is more than good enough for anyone not concerned about state actors in their threat model.