One of the best VPN services recently revealed that it has solved a problem that has plagued the industry for years, and we want to help other providers do the same.
As of February 22, 2024, Private Internet Access (PIA) has finally reintroduced split tunneling functionality to MacOS apps. This feature, which allowed you to decide which traffic to exclude from and which traffic to direct into a VPN tunnel, was suddenly removed from MacOS devices in 2021. It is currently available in beta, with a full release scheduled for March 7th as it will be open sourced. ” for the benefit of the industry. ”
The good news doesn’t end here. The VPN provider has also released its long-awaited Apple TV VPN app, with an “industry-first” dedicated IP option for additional features.
Responding to PIA user needs
“We have an incredibly dedicated user base. They are also very vocal when they need something. We had over 20,000 request tickets. [MacOS split tunneling] Himmat Bains, head of product at PIA, said: “We’re excited to reintroduce this popular feature and give our users even more tools to give them more control over their online privacy.” .
As mentioned above, Apple removed split tunneling from the MacOS ecosystem three years ago without much warning or explanation. Baines explained that it all started with his release of macOS Big Sur in November 2020, when he removed his kernel extension API for networking, which is required for this feature to work.
Since then, the only way to continue using split tunneling with a Mac VPN has been to use an older version of the device’s operating system. This exposes users to other security issues. “Many of our users are very security conscious, so this was not an option for them,” Baines said.
At least so far, the team was finally able to find and use new changes to Apple’s network extension API to bring back this important feature. PIA even chose to open source it in hopes that the entire industry and macOS users everywhere will benefit from its work.
Commenting on this decision, Baines said to me: “This feature is like an online seatbelt. Volvo published the patent to save lives. By open sourcing safety and security features, we too can contribute to the greater good as well. I hope.”
Starting today, you can harness the power of PIA as your trusted Apple TV VPN thanks to a new dedicated VPN app (currently in beta). This means no need for daunting installations or alternative methods.
Again, this was a release the PIA community had been asking for for a long time, Baines said. However, the provider decided to take the application even further by adding dedicated His IP functionality to the application. The company currently claims to be the “world’s first” VPN to offer such an option.
“We wanted to give our customers the ability to stream from a static IP address to avoid network congestion or false reporting of suspicious login attempts,” Baines told me. “Dedicated IPs are very secure. You don’t know which dedicated IP address is assigned to which account. This effectively means there’s no way to tie your online activity back to you.”
Please note that to take advantage of this feature, you will have to pay an additional fee, starting at around $2 per month.
As we previously announced when we talked about PIA’s 2024 plans last December, a new interface for Android VPN will also be released in the coming months.
