Rollback (downgrade) option

[ghost]

I have checked if others have suggested this already

• I have checked this issue tracker to see if others have reported similar issues.

Feature description

After an update, there should be an option to rollback to the previous version, should something break.
This is particularly important for a vpn since, if the new version breaks the internet, there is no way to download a previous version except by disabling the vpn, which can be an important privacy/security risk.
This is particularly useful when running beta versions, as there are more prone to break.
PS: some will say, "don't daily drive a beta version", but users might only have one device and still want to help beta test.

Alternative solutions

An alternative is to either systematically download the previous version from github alsongside a new version, or to make sure not to delete the installation file after install and to keep it until the next version is proven to work.
However, this assumes that the bug is quickly noticeable, which is not always the case. Both methods are also getting less practical since the download of the new version now take place directly in the vpn app -- which is a great development by the way!

Type of feature

• Better privacy/anonymity
• Better at circumventing censorship
• Easier to use
• Other

Operating System

• Android
• iOS
• Windows
• macOS
• Linux

[Serock3]

You could try the new Mullvad VPN loader, available on the website. It is a reusable program that downloads the latest stable or beta release (and verifies their digital signature automatically). The downloads are stored in a temporary directory, and will be reused when there's no internet access, so you can use it to downgrade to the stable release even if something breaks.

[ghost]

Thanks @Serock3. However, I am not sure I get it: I have used the loader over the past couple of months (before download too place directly in the VPN app), but are previous versions really kept in the computer? Despite having used it, I am not able to find any trace of it now, so it seems like nothing was left. Would you know where the files should be on macOS?

[Serock3]

Sorry to let you down, but it turns out that the Mullvad VPN loader only does this on Windows. On macOS, it can't find previously downloaded installers because the temporary directory is random everytime it's run. This was done for security reasons, as temp dirs are not protected from tampering on macOS. It may be something we could look into changing, if there's enough demand.

[ghost]

Thanks @Serock3. I had a hunch this was actually a viable alternative. Anyway, my initial proposal stands. And, since downloading two versions may be too cumbersome most of the time, maybe this can be restricted to users downloading a beta version, since this would be the most prone to bricking the internet.

[faern]

We are moving feature ideas and suggestions to github discussions. Feel free to continue posting about this idea in the corresponding discussion thread.