Google supports DNS-over-HTTP/3 from Android 11

Google gives recent versions of Android support for DNS-over-HTTP/3 on “servers that support it”. DoH3 is now a standard part of Android 11 and higher versions.

At first, Android 13 seemed to get native support for the latest DNS-over-HTTPS standard, but that didn’t materialize. Instead, Google has now released an update to the DNS Resolver module, a mandatory Android module that applies to all devices with Android 11 and newer. Some Android 10 smartphones also use this module, writes Esper’s Mishaal Rahman.

Users can set up in the internet settings of compatible Android devices under ‘Private DNS’ to visit websites that support DNS-over-HTTP/3. Google mentions in the accompanying blog post two prominent DNS servers supported by default. Those are Cloudflares resolver and Google’s own public DNS service.

Android has supported private DNS connections since the ninth major version of the operating system. Initially, this mainly worked via DNS-over-TLS, but in recent years DNS-over-HTTPS has been gaining popularity. DNS-over-HTTP/3, as the name implies, connects to the HTTP/3 standard. It supports QUIC, which supports multiple UDP streams. DNS-over-HTTP/3 should therefore provide faster connections, according to Google, although the company does not say how much profit it is about.

In recent years, the majority of DNS resolvers have been offering an encrypted version of DNS queries. This means that a provider or network interceptor has no visibility into the DNS requests that a user makes. Not everyone is happy about that; critics fear users are moving their DNS traffic from ISPs to commercial companies like Google or Cloudflare. Tweakers wrote a background article in 2019 about the rise of and criticism of DNS over HTTPS.