AMAZON Fire TV Stick owners have a matter of days before they will be forced to say goodbye to a popular app.
On April 24, Atlas VPN will “sunset” its services, which might leave some users with slower Wi-Fi and sluggish streaming.
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A VPN app – also known as a Virtual Private Network – can dispel a problem called ‘throttling’.
‘Throttling’ is when your internet service provider slows down your internet on purpose, in an effort to limit your bandwidth on certain websites or apps.
This is to make sure everyone on your bandwidth can have access to the internet – without one person hogging it all.
Atlas VPN was one of a few freemium VPNs with free tools to protect user data and grant access to more content.
The free version was available on Windows, Android, macOS, and iOS, but to use the app on Fire Sticks you needed a premium subscription.
All users will be moved across to Atlas VPN’s sister company NordVPN automatically for the remainder of their subscription period.
But it may be disappointing news for free users as Nord VPN is only available to paying customers.
Atlas VPN was one of the most well-known VPN services around and had been downloaded more than five million times on the Google Play Store alone.
But in a blog post in late March, the company wrote: “Today, we share a significant update about the journey of Atlas VPN.
“After extensive deliberation and evaluation of our long-term business strategy, we have made the difficult decision to sunset Atlas VPN on April 24.
“This decision was not made lightly – it stems from a comprehensive assessment of the evolving cybersecurity landscape and our place in it.”
Atlas VPN says it’s decided to close due to “insurmountable challenges” including advanced tech demands, tough competition and “escalating costs”.
Free VPN alternatives
There are a number of free VPN alternatives around that you may wish to try instead – though do your research before to check on their privacy policies.