One of the best VPN services around has just revealed that it has solved a problem that has plagued the industry for years – and hopes to help other providers do the same.
As of February 22, 2024, Private Internet Access (PIA) has finally reintroduced split-tunneling functionality to the MacOS app. The feature, which lets you decide which traffic to exclude or forward to the VPN tunnel, was suddenly removed from MacOS devices in 2021. It is now available in beta, with the entire March 7 release schedule becoming open-source “for the good of the industry.”
The good news doesn’t end here either. The VPN provider even launched its highly anticipated Apple TV VPN app with what it claims is an “industry first” dedicated IP option for extra functionality.
Meeting PIA user needs
“We have an amazingly dedicated user base. They are also very vocal when they need something. In 2023 alone, we had over 20,000 request tickets for (MacOS split tunneling),” says Himmat Bains, Head of Product at PIA. me. “By reintroducing this beloved feature, we’re excited to equip our users with even more tools that give them more control over their online privacy.”
As previously mentioned, Apple eliminated split tunneling from the MacOS ecosystem three years ago, without much warning or explanation. Bains explained that it all started with the release of macOS Big Sur in November 2020, which removed the Network Kernel Extension APIs needed for this feature to work.
From then on, the only way to continue using split tunneling on a Mac VPN was to use older versions of the devices’ operating systems, something that exposed users to other security vulnerabilities. “Many of our users are very security conscious, so this wasn’t an option for them,” Bains said.
Until now, that is, because the team has finally managed to discover and use a new change to Apple’s Network Extension API to bring back this crucial functionality. PIA even chose to make it open source, hoping that the entire industry and macOS users everywhere could benefit from the work.
Commenting on this decision, Bains told me: “This feature is like an online seatbelt. Volvo opened up its patent to save lives, and I hope we can similarly contribute to the greater good by opening up our safety and security features to source.”
Starting today, you can also harness the power of PIA as a reliable Apple TV VPN thanks to the new dedicated VPN app (now in beta). This means no more complicated installations or having to turn to alternative methods.
Again, this was a release that the PIA community had long requested, Bains said. However, the provider decided to go even further with their application by adding special IP functionality. It now claims to be the “first” VPN in the world to offer such an option.
“We wanted to give customers the ability to stream from a static IP address to avoid network congestion and false positives from suspicious login attempts,” Bains told me. “Dedicated IPs are extremely secure. We don’t know which dedicated IP address is assigned to which account, which essentially means there is no way to link your online activity to you.”
It’s worth noting that you’ll have to pay an additional fee to take advantage of this feature, starting at around $2 per month.
As previously announced when we talked about PIA’s 2024 plan in December last year, a new interface for its Android VPN is also expected to be released in the coming months.