ExpressVPN quietly turned a small but meaningful corner for iPhone and iPad users this month: the company updated its iOS app to work with Siri, provide a Home-screen widget, and plug into Apple’s Shortcuts automation. In short, you no longer have to open the app to connect — you can say it, tap it, or automate it.

Speak to Siri (“Hey Siri, turn on ExpressVPN”), drop a 2×2 widget on your Home screen for one-tap connect/disconnect, or build Shortcuts that flip the VPN on when you join a certain Wi-Fi or launch a particular app. That’s the practical promise of the update.

VPNs are only useful when people actually use them. For many people, the friction of opening an app, hunting for a server, and tapping “Connect” is the main reason they don’t turn a VPN on. By moving those controls into Siri, widgets and Shortcuts, ExpressVPN is removing that friction — and making privacy a background habit rather than an intentional chore. The company frames the move as making protection “part of how you already use iOS.”

How the features behave today

• Siri — You can ask Siri to connect or disconnect ExpressVPN and the assistant will reconnect to your most recent server location. Voice-based selection of a specific server location is reportedly planned for a future update.
• Home-screen widget — A 2×2 widget shows status at a glance and gives a one-tap Connect/Disconnect button, so securing the device takes a single press. That’s useful for frequent travellers who switch networks and want fast protection on public Wi-Fi.
• Shortcuts & automation — If you live in Apple’s Shortcuts app, you can create automations (for example: connect to your preferred country when you open Safari, or enable the VPN when joining an unsecured Wi-Fi network). The update unlocks workflows that make the VPN react to your routine, rather than forcing you to remember it.

Where this fits in Apple’s world

Apple has been expanding the ways third-party apps can integrate with Siri and Shortcuts through App Intents and related APIs, so this update is part of a broader push by developers to bake functionality into the OS instead of siloing it in apps. For users, that means more useful, context-aware apps — but it also raises new expectations about how those apps behave and when they turn on.

What to watch for — privacy and UX caveats

The features are mostly UX wins, but they come with tradeoffs worth noting: voice commands and automations reduce friction, but they may also make it easier to leave a VPN on in contexts where it’s not needed (or conversely, to believe you’re protected when an automation failed). If you use Shortcuts that trigger on network changes, double-check the automation logic so you don’t accidentally route traffic through the wrong country or keep the VPN off when you expect it on. ExpressVPN notes that voice-based location selection is coming later — so for now, Siri connects to the last server you used.

Final take

This update is an incremental but sensible move: ExpressVPN is folding itself into the parts of iOS that people touch most often. If you already use a VPN regularly, you’ll appreciate the speed; if you don’t, these features lower the barrier to trying it. As with all automation, a little setup time up front pays off in fewer security-minded regrets later.