• Mullvad has debuted a new multi-hop design for its Android app
• The update makes the server globe interactive and sharpens location search
• It arrived as a beta test on Android on August 20, 2026

Mullvad is giving one of the headline privacy tools found on the best VPN apps a fresh coat of paint. In its newest Android beta, the provider has rolled out a redesigned multi-hop feature, aimed at making it easier to route your traffic through two servers instead of one.

The standout addition is a new "when needed" option. Rather than forcing you to flip multi-hop on by hand, the Android VPN app can now switch it on automatically when your current settings call for it, for example, when DAITA is enabled and your chosen server does not support it directly.

Keep in mind that this is a beta. The changes landed in the android/2026.9-beta1 release on August 20, 2026, which means they are being tested rather than pushed to everyone. We don't yet know the general release timeline.

Alongside the multi-hop work, Mullvad has also made its server globe interactive and improved how you search for locations, so there is plenty to poke at in this build.

Mullvad: best VPN for anonymity

A major player in the industry and a great advocate for privacy, Mullvad is one of the only VPNs that still lets you pay with cash for true anonymity. Offering advanced security features, it effectively blocks ads and malicious domains, with great speeds too.

What the new multi-hop design changes

Multi-hop is not new to Mullvad. It routes your connection through an entry server and a separate exit server, creating what the provider likes to call a "tunnel within a tunnel." The entry server sees your real IP but not where you are going, while the exit server sees your destination but not your IP, which makes your activity harder to trace.

The feature first reached Android in March 2025, following earlier arrivals on desktop and iOS. What is new here is the design and the automation. The "when needed" mode takes away some of the guesswork, and filters are now split into separate entry and exit filters that you can set independently.

That pairs neatly with DAITA, Mullvad's defense against AI-guided traffic analysis, which sometimes needs to hop through a compatible server to do its job. Letting the app handle that routing on its own is a sensible bit of polish.

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An interactive globe and smarter search

Mullvad's latest beta also makes the connection globe something you can actually play with, adding pan, pinch-to-zoom, and fling gestures so you can spin around to see where VPN servers sit and trace your connection path.

Location search gets a lift too. Results are now ranked by relevance and include fuzzy matches, so a slightly misspelled city should still surface the right server, and your search term is highlighted as you type.

Mullvad has been busy lately, from a speed-focused desktop build to more frequent Mullvad Browser updates for testers. This Android beta fits that pattern of steady, privacy-first refinement, and our Mullvad review digs into why it remains a favorite.

For now, though, the new multi-hop design is something to look forward to when it graduates from beta.

Monica is a tech journalist with over a decade of experience. She writes about the latest developments in computing, which means anything from computer chips made out of paper to cutting-edge desktop processors.

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She built her first PC nearly 20 years ago, and dozens of builds later, she’s always planning out her next build (or helping her friends with theirs). During her career, Monica has written for many tech-centric outlets, including Digital Trends, SlashGear, WePC, and Tom’s Hardware.