It’s been a minute since our last update, but we promise we didn’t forget about you.
Behind the scenes, we’ve been hard at work crafting exciting new features you’ll love, making key upgrades to our platform, and laying the groundwork for big changes coming your way in 2025.
Before we dive into the future, let’s take a moment to recap everything we’ve been up to as 2024 came to a close and how we’re starting the new year strong.
There’s a lot to cover, so let’s jump in!
1. UI Overhaul
We’ve been hinting at a UI overhaul of the Control D Dashboard for a while now, but after what was a long and thorough QA phase, the new UI is live!
It has received a complete makeover, now boasting a clean and modern design. We've also introduced the highly requested Light mode.
But there’s more to it than just looks. We've taken great care to make the new interface more intuitive and user-friendly.
We've streamlined navigation to the features you rely on most, simplified the setup and configuration process, and introduced new pages that allow you to find exactly what you need without digging for it.
Check out our blog post, or better yet, explore the new interface firsthand and let us know what you think – you won’t be disappointed!
2. Single Sign-On for Organizations
This feature has been in the works for some time, so we’re happy to announce that Control D now supports Single Sign-On with Okta!
This integration enables secure, centralized access management by allowing users to access Control D using their Okta credentials.
Head over to our documentation, where we explain the simple steps for setting it up.
3. New Filters
There are two new additions to our growing list of Filters: Games and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
By now, you probably know how Filters work, but just in case you don’t, here’s a quick rundown.
The Games Filter allows you to block access to all popular gaming services, platforms, and apps in one full sweep, as well as servers and all gaming-related content delivery networks.
Similarly, toggling on the AI Filter will block access to all domains that generate and host AI content. This includes popular services such as ChatGPT, Simplified, Cursor, etc.
4. Export and Import Profiles
We’re always looking for new ways to make Control D the most accessible and user-friendly service available.
That’s why we’ve introduced the ability to export and import Profiles, which will streamline how you add and migrate filtering policies across your Endpoints.
This feature benefits all types of users. Personal users can now share Profiles with friends, family, and the Control D community, and organizational users can quickly migrate Profiles from one Sub-Organization to another without having to create a new one from scratch – all it takes is a few clicks.
To export a Profile:
- Navigate to Profiles in the Control D Dashboard
- Click the three dots on your chosen Profile
- Select Export Profile.
To import a Profile:
- Navigate to Profiles
- Click the three dots in the top right corner
- Select Import Profile.
5. Update to ctrld
A core update has been released (version 1.3.11), expanding ctrld's functionality with:
- Automatic captive portal detection.
- DNS Stamp support.
- Seamless AD domain detection in managed Windows environments.
- Improved CPU utilization.
If you’re unfamiliar with what ctrld is, don’t worry. We have documentation that explains everything you need to know, such as what it does, why you’d want to use it, and the simple steps to install it.
6. Bug Fixes & Improvements
Although we try our best to smooth out all wrinkles before introducing new features and improvements, some issues only emerge once they're adopted at scale.
You, our trusted users, have highlighted some bugs and issues you've been facing, and our team has been working around the clock to rectify them. We won't bore you with listing them all, but here are some examples:
- Bugs with the new UI, Analytics, Endpoints, Scheduling, Reports, Custom Rules, and more.
- Bug where DNS latency on the Status Page showed “N/A”.
- Issues with uploading large Custom Rules folders.
- Improved page load times and performance.
- Issues with editing Endpoints for Personal users.
- Account and system changes are reflected in real time when mid-conversation with Barry.
Visit our Changelog for more details.
Other Features
- New style and layout adjustments for Activity Log, Admin Logs, and Scheduled Reports.
- Added the ability to create rules by selecting multiple domains in the Activity Log.
- Simplified Endpoint creation and optimized Endpoint detection.
- Added support for underscores in subdomains used for Custom Rules.
- Added the ability to create Custom Rules for hostnames.
- Added the ability to filter Custom Rules by Rule Status
- Added bootstrap IPs to Resolver screen.
- Split the Newly Registered Domains filter into Last Week and Last Month.
- Overhauled mobile view for Activity Logs.
- Added DNS Stamp support for Endpoints.
- Added the ability to edit multi-input entries.
What's Coming Soon?
- Extended Request to Unblock functionality on the Branded Block Page.
- Expanding Single Sign-On capabilities for other identity providers (IdPs).
We're constantly improving Control D to make it the best customizable DNS resolver on the market, and your feedback remains integral to that process.
If there's a feature you'd like to see or a suggestion you'd like to share, please do so using our Suggest a Feature service.