FIVE NEW THINGS YOU CAN ACCESS WITH A VPN
Microsoft Defender Preview
Currently only available in the US, Microsoft’s new security tool (www. snipca.com/41702) lets you monitor and protect all your devices in one place. By using Protonvpn to pretend we were in New York, and changing our Windows region to United States, we were able to install and test the app. However, because Defender Preview works over the web, we had to keep our VPN running while using it to stop Microsoft detecting our real location and blocking us.
Youtube’s free TV shows and films
In March, Youtube made more than 4,000 episodes of TV shows available for free (with adverts of course), but only for US viewers. With the aid of Windscribe and a Dallas server, we bypassed the error message that appears when you visit www.youtube.com/freeshows in the UK, and were able to watch series including Bonanza, The Prisoner and Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. We also unblocked thousands of free films at www.youtube.com/freemovies.
Paramount Plus
Set to launch in the UK this summer, this new streaming service (www. paramountplus.com) offers thousands of TV shows and films, including every Star Trek episode, from the original 1966
series to Strange New Worlds (see screenshot below), which is exclusive to Paramount Plus. If you can’t wait, you can use a VPN to sign up for a free trial – though you’ll need to provide payment details upfront (and a US zip code) – or just browse the full list of shows at www. snipca.com/41724.
Android apps in Windows 11
The long-awaited ability to run Android apps in Windows 11 is still only available in the US, but a VPN will let you try it now in the UK. You’ll need one to install the Amazon Appstore app (pictured below) from the Microsoft Store and to
register for an Amazon.com account, so you can open Android apps on your PC (see Issue 621, page 74). You should also change your Windows region to United States via the ‘Time & language’ section of the Settings app.
Private search engine Neeva
In keeping with the theme of this feature, Neeva (www.neeva.com, pictured above) is a new, privacy-focused search engine from ex-google employees that doesn’t collect or share your data or show ads. So far, it’s only available in the US, so you can either click ‘Join the waitlist’ on its homepage, or jump the queue by choosing a US server in your VPN. Neeva asks you to create a free account but you can search without one.