ExpressVPN finds

By James On Sep 4, 2024

One of the best VPN services on the market is one of the first to offer a VPN app compatible with next-generation Windows devices.

ExpressVPN has worked closely 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 ultimately found a revolutionary solution to avoid having to build a native ARM application from scratch.

The ExpressVPN ARM app has been available in beta since September 4th, with full production launch scheduled for mid-October.

A hybrid solution

While new Microsoft Copilot+ PCs powered by Snapdragon may deliver better battery life and blazing-fast performance, they’ve been worryingly lacking VPN compatibility. This is why most VPN apps still aren’t ready to support Qualcomm’s high-performance ARM-based processor. This was something the ExpressVPN team knew had to be fixed

“Snapdragon is one of the most exciting developments on the Windows platform in recent memory, and we saw this as an opportunity to showcase a powerful VPN solution that’s specifically tailored to the capabilities of ARM,” said Peter Membrey, Chief Engineering Officer at ExpressVPN.

The biggest problem with VPN compatibility on ARM Windows machines was that emulation introduced severe performance limitations that could impact the functionality of VPN apps. Now, ExpressVPN has found a way to solve this without having to build a native ARM application from scratch.

As the provider explains in a blog postThe release of Microsoft’s new Prism emulator with the Windows 11 24H2 upgrade made it possible for emulated apps to match the quality of a native build. The team then decided to capitalize on this new opportunity by shaping its in-house built WireGuard-inspired VPN protocol, Lightway, accordingly.

“By leveraging Microsoft’s improved emulation and Lightway’s customizable architecture, we were able to overcome initial limitations and deliver this build efficiently,” Membrey explains.

(Image credit: ExpressVPN)

The provider promises that such a hybrid approach can offer users “the best of both worlds” – namely the full security of a premium VPN service and an accelerated development time.

As we mentioned earlier, there are only a handful of top VPN services 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 companies like NordVPN and ProtonVPN are currently working on their versions.

ExpressVPN now believes its innovative approach to ARM compatibility marks a major milestone in VPN technology, which could help other providers accelerate 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. We’ll continue to optimize Lightway and our software to ensure users can enjoy the best that Snapdragon, Microsoft, and ExpressVPN have to offer.”