New Apple TV Operating System Update Will Bring Native VPN Support to Streaming Devices
New Apple TV Operating System Update Will Bring Native VPN Support to Streaming Devices
Virtual private networks (VPNs) are notoriously used to get around territorial restrictions on streaming content, but they have a wide range of applications for users. They allow for better security than a public internet connection, using a remote server to reroute your traffic before sending it to your device.
Although some streaming devices, like Google Chromecast and Amazon Fire TV have support for third-party VPN apps, Apple TV users have not enjoyed this functionality thus far. That will change soon, as Apple announced last week that its tvOS 17 update will feature support for VPN apps when it is released to customers this fall.
Other Apple devices like the iPhone and iPad already offer VPN support, but this is the first time it will be available on Apple TV devices. Representatives from The Verge reached out to big VPN providers like NordVPN for comment about creating apps compatible with Apple TV, and received the following response:
“We are concerned that there may be some limitations for consumer VPN products and the update will only benefit [business-to-business] VPN solutions,” NordVPN PR Manager Egidijus Jurgelionis told The Verge. “If not, our users will be able to use NordVPN on their Apple TVs sometime in the nearest future.”
That could be an indication that Apple plans to limit the ways users can employ their VPN apps on Apple TV devices. Streaming providers have never been happy about VPNs, as they can be used to allow customers to access content that is not available in their region, such as a blacked-out sports game. Apple may be attempting to mollify the concerns of streamers by limiting how users can operate VPNs on Apple TV players.
It’s possible that more clarity on those questions will have to wait until fall when tvOS 17 is released to the public. The update is in its developer beta phase currently, though the company is so excited about the new features that it has already unveiled some of tvOS 17's other key attributes. Chief among these is AirPlay functionality, which will be rolled out to Apple TV devices for the first time with the update.
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