Colitu Linux
New features, fixes and performance improvements in the Colitu apps.
v1.4.4Latest Stronger account protection and steadier connections
This release improves your account security and makes your connections faster and more stable.
New features
- The app now talks to the Colitu service only over certificates from the two public certificate authorities Colitu uses.
- Updates: the app now only accepts an update notice that was signed in the last 30 days.
- Hardening from an independent security review: the local proxy is never open to other devices on your network.
- Imported text must be share links.
- Malformed links can no longer slow the app down.
- In "only selected apps use the VPN" mode, name lookups of those apps go through the VPN.
Performance improvements
- After a short block of the fastest connection method, the app returns to it within about a minute and a half.
- If the backup connection stops working, the app replaces it within two minutes even while background apps keep the connection busy.
v1.4.3 Backup server on every connection method
The backup server now works with all connection methods, so if the main server fails, you switch to the backup within seconds.
Bug fixes
- The backup server now works with connection methods where a configuration check previously refused it.
v1.4.2 The connection check always goes through the VPN
Colitu now checks more reliably that your traffic really goes through the VPN. If the connection is broken, the app notices and reconnects.
Bug fixes
- The check that confirms your traffic really goes through the VPN now always uses the VPN itself.
- The check runs when connecting, while connected, after sleep and after an automatic restart.
- With only selected apps using the VPN, the check no longer skips a broken connection.
- With sites set to bypass the VPN, the check no longer skips a broken connection.
- If the connection is not working, the app now notices and reconnects.
- If the VPN connects but everything inside it is dropped, the app now reports that correctly.
v1.4.1 Local network precaution
Connections to devices on your own network now go directly instead of through the VPN. This means your printer, network drive or router settings page work without trouble.
Performance improvements
- If a connection to a device on your own network ever ends up inside the VPN, it now goes out directly instead of to the VPN server.
- Name lookups still go through the VPN, so your router or internet provider does not learn which sites you visit.
- If the kill switch is set to block the local network, it stays blocked.
v1.4.0 Faster connections and a new server filter
Adaptive Connect 2.0 now truly picks the fastest server and a warm spare keeps your VPN on. New installs start in Simple mode.
New features
- Adaptive Connect 2.0: Fastest server now really picks the fastest server by measuring ping on your network.
- Warm spare: While connected, a second path on another server is kept ready and your traffic moves to it within seconds if the main path fails.
- Faster connecting on difficult networks: The best two paths are tried at the same time, and in automatic mode the app moves on to the next server when one does not work.
- The connection is watched on every connection method, and the app reconnects by itself after an unexpected drop.
- Simple mode and Advanced mode: New installations start in Simple mode with only the essentials.
- Messages from Colitu inside the app, for example when you are close to your monthly data limit.
- Before marking a connection method as not working, the app now checks that your computer is online at all.
Performance improvements
- In a one-hour test with 11 deliberately injected failures the connection was available 98.8% of the time; when the server in use was cut completely for 101 seconds, the user saw a pause of about 5 seconds.
v1.3.0 Steadier calls on the Fast connection and privacy mode by default
This version makes calls and long sessions on the Fast connection more reliable. It also introduces a new privacy mode that routes all traffic through the VPN.
New features
- Calls and long sessions on the Fast connection now hold up better: on supported servers, the app changes its network port every 30 seconds.
- If the Fast connection stalls while your internet still works, the app moves that server to the next connection method for 10 minutes.
- When the Colitu website cannot be reached from your network, the app finds the Colitu service through a signed list of alternative addresses.
- New privacy mode switch: all traffic through the VPN. It is on for new installations.
- Letting regional sites bypass the VPN is now an option you turn on yourself. Existing installations keep their current setting.
- Signing in from an unusual location can ask for a 6-digit code sent to your e-mail, to protect your account.
- Clearer messages when a sign-up is refused: temporary e-mail addresses, passwords found in known data breaches, and too many sign-ups from one network.
v1.2.2 Servers grouped by country
The server list is now organised by country, and servers with ad-free YouTube are tagged. The app can also reconnect if the connection drops.
New features
- Servers are grouped by country: a country with several servers shows one row with the number of locations and the best ping.
- Open a country's row to see its cities; countries with one server stay a single row.
- Search still lists every matching server.
- Servers where YouTube plays without ads show an "Ad-free YouTube" tag.
Bug fixes
- If the VPN connection drops while the kill switch is on, Colitu can still reach its own server to reconnect.
v1.2.1 Safer updates
Updates are now checked again with administrator rights right before they are installed. Albania now appears with its name in the server list.
New features
- Albania is now shown with its name in the server list.
v1.2.0 Faster connections and a new server filter
Colitu now keeps your internet blocked if it crashes and works on Raspberry Pi and other screenless devices. New features include split tunneling, two-step sign-in and double VPN.
New features
- If Colitu crashes, your internet stays blocked instead of opening up.
- The next start explains why and offers Reconnect or Turn off protection.
- A background service and command-line tool for Raspberry Pi and servers.
- Sign in by approving a code from another device, list servers, connect, check status and disconnect.
- Packages for 64-bit ARM are included.
- Choose apps, sites and IP addresses that bypass the VPN or only use it in all-traffic mode.
- Colitu asks for the authenticator code at sign-in if two-step verification is on.
- Multihop routes and rotating IP are available in some connection methods.
Performance improvements
- A clear 'Use this device instead' screen when your plan allows fewer devices.
- A notice before a trial ends.
v1.1.2 Security and reliability update
This release brings no new features; it makes updates work properly and improves sign-out and protection modes.
Bug fixes
- Updates now also refresh the VPN engine and routing data.
- Signing out now always ends the session on this computer.
- A wrong "session expired" message and failed sign-in right after signing out are fixed.
- Signing out now also removes saved server settings and the administrator password.
- On desktops where the system proxy cannot be set, the app now shows the real state and suggests full-protection mode.
- If the part that protects all apps stops unexpectedly, the app now reconnects by itself.
- The kill switch can no longer turn itself off when switched on again and is removed on uninstall.
- Your Colitu files are now readable only by your own user account.
- The app only uses the system's own administrator tools.
- The VPN engine in the packages is checked against a fixed fingerprint when built.
- Diagnostic reports sent to support now hide more personal data.
- Support attachments are checked more strictly before saving.
- Missing system libraries are now installed with the .deb package on Debian and Ubuntu.
- Closing the app from a terminal with Ctrl+C restores the system proxy.
- Rare errors in the window no longer close the whole app.
v1.1.1 Russian sites work with the VPN on, and connecting is faster
Russian banks, Gosuslugi and marketplaces now work without turning off the VPN. Connecting and switching servers is also faster and more dependable.
New features
- Russian banks, Gosuslugi, marketplaces and other Russian services no longer ask you to turn off the VPN.
- Russian sites now connect directly with your own address, while everything else stays protected by the VPN.
- When you choose a server in Russia, Russian sites stay in the VPN and see a Russian address.
Bug fixes
- The app no longer tries to reconnect while you log out or shut down the computer.
- On ARM computers the app no longer tries to install the package for regular PCs; it opens the download page instead.
- Routine messages that appeared hundreds of times a day are no longer written, so logs sent to support show the real problem.
- The Colitu icon in the system tray is bigger and easier to see.
Performance improvements
- When the first attempt right after starting is slow, the app now waits a moment longer instead of giving up on the fastest method.
- The first connection to a server you have never used before no longer fails while the server is still preparing your access; the app waits a few seconds and tries again.
- Switching servers or reconnecting no longer hangs on a stale connection to Colitu.
- Cancelling a connection or picking another server takes effect immediately.