One of the best VPN services on the market has just become an early mover in delivering a VPN app compatible with next-generation Windows devices.
ExpressVPN has closely collaborated with Qualcomm (developers of the Snapdragon X Elite processor) and Microsoft to accelerate the delivery of a fully ARM-compatible Windows VPN app. The team eventually found a revolutionary solution to avoid building a native ARM application from scratch.
As of September 4, the ExpressVPN ARM app is now available in beta, with a full production launch set for the middle of October.
A hybrid solution
While new Microsoft Copilot+ PCs powered by Snapdragon can deliver better battery life and super-fast performances, they have been worryingly lacking in VPN compatibility. This is why most VPN apps still aren't ready to support Qualcomm's high-performance ARM-based processor. This was something that the ExpressVPN team knew it needed to fix
"Snapdragon is one of the most exciting things to happen to the Windows platform in recent times, and we saw this as an opportunity to showcase a high-performance VPN solution tailored for ARM's capabilities," said Peter Membrey, Chief Engineering Officer at ExpressVPN.
The main issue with VPN compatibility on ARM Windows machines was that emulation posed serious performance limitations that could affect VPN apps' functionality. Now, ExpressVPN has found a way to fix this without the need to build a native ARM application from scratch.
As the provider explains in a blog post, the release of Microsoft’s new Prism emulator with the Windows 11 24H2 upgrade has made it possible for emulated apps to match the quality of a native build. The team then decided to harness this new opportunity by shaping its in-house built WireGuard-inspired VPN protocol, Lightway, accordingly.
"By leveraging Microsoft's enhanced emulation and Lightway's adaptable architecture, we were able to solve initial limitations and deliver this build efficiently," Membrey explains.
The provider promises such a hybrid approach can offer users "the best of both worlds," namely the full security of a premium VPN service and accelerated development time.
As we mentioned earlier, just a handful of top VPN services are available for ARM Windows devices at the time of writing. Private Internet Access (PIA) launched its ARM-native app about a month ago. Windscribe and Surfshark also have ARM-native Windows VPN apps, while the likes of NordVPN, and ProtonVPN are currently working on their versions.
ExpressVPN now believes that its innovative approach to ARM compatibility marks a significant milestone in VPN technology. This could then support other providers fasten their transition to ARM.
Membrey said: "We’re proud to be one of the first major VPN providers to demonstrate our commitment to this platform, and we will continue to optimize Lightway and our software to ensure that users can enjoy the best that Snapdragon, Microsoft, and ExpressVPN have to offer."
