Android 17 could finally fix one of the most annoying VPN problems

Google is quietly tackling one of the biggest frustrations of using a VPN on Android. With Android 17 Beta 3, the company is introducing a standardized, system-level way for VPN apps to offer split tunneling, a.k.a, the ability to exclude specific apps from the VPN connection.

That might sound like a niche feature, but it could solve a surprisingly common headache that comes with using VPNs on Android devices.

If you’ve ever used a VPN on Android, you’ve likely run into apps that don’t work properly while connected. Banking, streaming, and other location-based apps often block access or behave erratically when a VPN is turned on.

Many VPN apps like Nord VPN, Proton VPN, and others support split tunneling, allowing you to exclude specific apps from the VPN. However, each VPN app handles split tunneling differently. With this new change, you’ll get a cleaner, more predictable experience, regardless of which VPN you use.

Instead of leaving split tunneling entirely up to individual VPN apps, Android 17 introduces a system-managed settings screen. From there, users can select which apps should bypass the VPN.

“Android 17 is introducing a standardized way for VPN apps to offer app exclusion (split-tunneling) capabilities,” Google noted in its changelog for the Android 17 Beta 3 update.

Those apps will use your regular internet connection, while all other apps continue routing traffic through the VPN. Changes take effect immediately if the VPN is active, or the next time it connects, without you having to adjust them again manually.

It’s important to note that this is currently a developer-facing change. So it looks like your VPN app developer will have to set their app to invoke this system-managed setting screen for you to use it.

The advantage is that once VPN apps start implementing this, you won’t have to deal with how different VPN developers provide split tunneling within their own apps. VPN apps that don’t have split tunneling would also benefit from the feature being baked into Android itself.