Tired of not being able to watch region-locked content through your Apple TV? ExpressVPN declared it was launching an App for Apple TVs Tuesday, along with a few upgrades that make it a little easier to use and sign in.
Apple TV users now have the same kind of access to foreign content that Android TV users have enjoyed for a while now. TvOS 17 added support for VPNs back when Apple released it in September, and smaller services like PureVPN released their own apps for Apple televisions within the first 12 hours of the feature drop. That service grants access to servers in more than 88 countries.
The Express VPN app only works with tvOS 17, allowing users access to servers in 105 countries. This does allow a fair bit of security and anonymity along with a built-in ad blocker, though the main reason to use it is to access streaming content you normally wouldn’t. AppleTV+ content isn’t necessarily region-specific, though other apps definitely are. For instance, you can access shows like It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and The Office on Netflix in the UK, while US users are out of luck.
Express VPN has a free week-long trial. The app is getting a few new features, like a QR code sign-in using phones and a dark mode. The server selection menu is also modified to make it a bit more manageable using a TV remote. There’s also the ExpressVPN beta opened up for tvOS, which now automatically refreshes server configurations in the background.
That said, this release is still missing some advanced features usually offered with ExpressVPN, such as VPN split tunneling, which lets you route specific traffic through the foreign server without manually disengaging and reengaging the VPN.
Though an app makes things immeasurably easier, Apple TV users could still access foreign servers without an official app through a specialized WiFi router or by manually routing their connection through a VPN. Other companies like SurfShark have yet to release an app for AppleTVs, though the company has said it’s planning to release one without an ETA. NordVPN told The Verge it’s also working on a VPN app.