Ever wanted to catch up on the hottest new streaming shows, only to disappointingly be met with the fact that they’re not available in your region of the world? Then you need a VPN — and if you’re an Apple TV 4K streaming box user, you’ve finally got access to the best one out there.
ExpressVPN is now available to download on the Apple TV app store. The subscription-based service, which starts at $12.95 a month, allows Apple TV users to route their traffic through servers “in any of 105 countries around the world”, effectively fooling streaming services that you’re accessing a catalog from another location and unlocking region-locked content in the process. In addition, it hides your actual IP address and browsing traffic for an added level of security and privacy.
To get started with ExpressVPN on Apple TV, you’ll need to be on the latest tvOS 17 operating system, which may prevent those with much older Apple TV boxes from benefiting from the service.
Open to VPN traffic
Apple changed its stance on VPN use on its Apple TV devices over the course of this year, allowing for native support for services like ExpressVPN without having to manually configure confusing network settings.
While Apple positioned the move as useful for businesses and educators, there’s a much wider audience for VPNs among privacy advocates and content-hungry film and TV lovers looking to get the most out of their streaming subscriptions by accessing additional international content.
With the floodgates open, ExpressVPN will face competition from alternative virtual private network providers such as PureVPN and Nord. ExpressVPN still has a few tricks up its sleeve to improve this first Apple TV version further, though — split tunneling, which lets you set up different locations per application you’re using, isn’t available here yet, for instance.
Regardless, it’s a great addition to the Apple TV arsenal for the international film lover. Whether you’re traveling and want to access your local library away from home, or doing some sightseeing from the comfort of your couch, it’ll open up loads more ways to view content from around the world. Just keep in mind VPNs do have the knock-on effect from all that routing of slowing your connection speed down a touch — use the 30-day free trial before signing up to see if your connection can handle the added stress.
