Pixel 2 with Android 8 - hanging out at the mall with insecure wifi networks

So there you are, like me, hanging out at Best Buy at the mall, far away from good cellular data and reception signal, just needing to send a message to your family member one store over to come over.

Without too many options, you connect to the "freeBestBuywifi" (conveniently named) with misgivings about connecting your phone's entire data connection to an open and unsecured network, just so you can get a data message.

In those few minutes after you have connected, your phone's entire data starts funneling through open, exposed network open to malicious individuals who these days are sophisticated enough to intercept and pick up all the services your phone is connecting to and all the data its sending and receiving.

Not a great place to be!

Even if you had VPN software installed which would give you some level of protection, you'd have to remember to turn it on after you connected to "freeBestBuywifi", which sometimes you might accidentally forget to in a hurry.

Enter ... the better UX experience.

Pixel 2/ Android 8 & my installed VPN app worked together to understood that I was connected to an insecure, public network and popped up a notification offering to launch the VPN and turn it on:

All without me needing to think about it...

Now That's the future!