How to set up a VPN on iPhone and iPad, step by step
On iPhone and iPad GnomeVPN runs through INCY, a free app from the App Store. Setup comes down to one link from your account: once it is added, the app shows every country and both protocols, and the list keeps itself current from then on. Here is what to tap, step by step, and what to watch for.
What you need
An iPhone or iPad on a current iOS, the INCY app, and an account on our site with an active subscription or free day. The free day is given once, after you confirm your email, and needs no card; the subscription terms and prices are on the pricing page. INCY comes from the App Store and needs no account of its own: it has no servers, it shows the ones your link delivers. Without a subscription or a free day the link is still added, but the server list stays empty.
Adding the link
Open your account in a browser on the same iPhone: the Connect tab, With a link, INCY. The shortest way is the Open in INCY button: the link is copied, the app opens and adds the subscription by itself. If INCY does not open, press Copy for INCY, then in the app tap + and choose import from clipboard. iOS may ask whether to allow pasting from another app — allow it. What the link is and why one link covers every device is explained in the post on subscription links.
The first connection
Once imported, INCY shows the list of countries, and each country appears twice: Hysteria2 and VLESS, with the protocol labelled on every entry. Start with Hysteria2 — it is faster, on mobile data especially. On the first connection iOS asks to allow adding a VPN configuration and to confirm it with your passcode or Face ID; without that the tunnel cannot come up. Once INCY shows you are connected, open the server status page and press Check connection: it tells you whether your traffic goes through GnomeVPN, and through which country.
Russian sites and ads
By default Russian sites go around the VPN: banks, Gosuslugi, marketplaces and everything on .ru, .su and .рф see your usual address, so there is no need to switch the VPN off for them. In your account, on the Connect tab under Routing, you can turn that off and turn ad blocking on. The list of ad domains there is short on purpose: a VPN extension on iPhone has a hard memory limit, and a huge list would get the tunnel quietly shut down by the system. AdGuard's DNS filter catches the rest. INCY applies the settings on its next subscription refresh — pull the server list down to apply them now.
iPad, Mac and other devices
On iPad everything is the same: INCY from the App Store and the same link from your account. Each device takes its own place in the subscription — two by default — and one you no longer use can be removed on the Devices tab or with /devices in the Telegram bot. Make sure HWID sending is on in INCY's subscription settings: without it a new device gets no servers. A Mac has its own guide for computers, and Apple TV the guide for televisions. And if something will not connect, go through the checklist.