Install a Clash Client on iPhone: App Store Options and Subscription Setup

iOS Client and Configuration Compatibility

Before using a Clash configuration on iPhone, check two things: the app must support iOS, and it must accept the configuration format provided by your subscription service. Desktop installers cannot be installed directly on iPhone, and an app with Clash in its name may not support every mihomo configuration option.

Clash clients typically provide a graphical interface for importing configurations, choosing proxy groups, and toggling the connection. Their underlying proxy implementation may be Clash, Clash Meta (mihomo), or another implementation that supports Clash configurations. Check the app description, release notes, and configuration documentation to assess compatibility—not just its icon or name in search results.

Check the app, then the subscription

• Platform: The App Store listing must specify iPhone or iOS compatibility. A macOS app with the same name is not a substitute.
• Format: Check whether the app accepts a complete Clash YAML configuration, a remote configuration URL, or only a list of nodes. These are different import methods.
• Features: If your configuration relies on specific proxy protocols, rule sets, or mihomo-specific fields, confirm that the current iOS client version supports them.
• Maintenance: Check the last update date, system requirements, and developer information. After installing, note the app version to help troubleshoot compatibility issues later.

To compare options, browse the iOS section of our downloads page for clients such as Clash Plus. The App Store also lists apps such as Stash that support Clash configurations. Configuration compatibility does not mean the apps use the same core or offer identical menus, features, or pricing. Check the app’s listing to confirm it’s available in your App Store region.

Find and Install an App from the App Store

Check your iOS version and App Store region first

1. On your iPhone, go to Settings → General → About and note your iOS version. Check the app’s App Store listing under Compatibility to confirm the minimum system requirements.
2. Go to Settings → your Apple Account name → Media & Purchases → View Account → Country/Region. App availability depends on the region associated with the account used for Media & Purchases.
3. Open the App Store from a trusted project page or our client downloads page. If you search the store, check the app name, developer, and description instead of choosing an app based on its search ranking alone.
4. Tap Get or the price button, then follow the prompts to authenticate. Check the listing for the app’s pricing and subscription terms; client fees and proxy service fees are separate.
5. Once installed, open the app and make sure you can reach its configuration screen before preparing a subscription link. You likely won’t have any usable nodes yet, so leave the connection switch off.

If you can’t find an app, it may not be available in your region, its name may have changed, it may have been temporarily removed, or your iOS version may be incompatible. That doesn’t mean you can’t use Clash configurations on iPhone. Check the developer’s App Store link for the latest status. Don’t install an unknown configuration profile just to find an app with a matching name.

Changing your App Store account region can affect your account balance, existing subscriptions, and payment methods. Review Apple’s guidance on changing your account region before making changes just to install one app. Work- or school-managed iPhones may also restrict app installs, VPNs, or account settings.

Prepare Your Subscription Link and Check Its Format

Your service provider usually generates a subscription link in your account portal. It lets a Clash client fetch nodes, proxy groups, and rules. Installing an app does not give you usable nodes, and an App Store app-sharing link is not a subscription link.

Check these four things before importing

• Service status: Make sure your account is active, you have data remaining, and your device or simultaneous-connection limits allow this iPhone.
• Output format: Choose the format labeled for Clash or your specific client in the provider’s portal. If you use a mihomo-specific format, also check the iOS client’s compatibility documentation.
• Full URL: Copy the entire HTTPS URL, including any parameters after the question mark. Don’t omit the access token or copy the URL of an information page instead.
• Keep it private: A subscription link may contain an access token, so sharing it also grants access to your configuration. Don’t post it in public screenshots, group chats, or third-party conversion sites.

A complete configuration commonly includes top-level fields such as proxies, proxy-groups, and rules. It may also use proxy-providers to reference remote nodes. A list of encoded node URLs alone may not be importable as a complete configuration. If the format is invalid, ask your provider for a compatible format instead of repeatedly reinstalling the app.

Import and Enable Your Subscription

Import a subscription from a URL

1. In your Clash client, open the configuration list, choose to add a configuration, then select “From URL,” “Download configuration,” or an equivalent option.
2. Give it an easy-to-recognize name, such as “Daily use - iPhone.” Paste the subscription link into the URL field. Enter the name and URL separately so notes don’t end up in the link.
3. Download or save the configuration. The first subscription fetch requires a network connection to the subscription server. Without usable nodes already imported, the client cannot use that subscription to establish a proxy connection.
4. Return to the configuration list and make sure the entry has no parsing errors, then set it as the active configuration. Adding it to the list does not necessarily enable it.
5. Open the proxy or proxy group screen and confirm that nodes are listed. Select a specific node to test, then connect. This avoids adding variables such as automatic selection and failover while troubleshooting for the first time.

A configuration may include different kinds of proxy groups, such as manual selection, automatic latency testing, and failover. Choose a member in a manual group; an automatic group follows the configured test URL, interval, and selection logic. A group name alone doesn’t prove its members work—check the member list and test results.

Updating a subscription doesn’t reset every setting

After your first successful test, enable automatic updates if the app supports them. If you can set an update interval, start with 24 hours. iOS controls background tasks, so an update cannot be guaranteed to finish at an exact time. If the connection stops working, update manually and check the last update time and any error messages.

A remote update may overwrite local edits to the subscription file. For changes you need to keep, use the client’s override, merge, or custom rules features and check what each applies to. Don’t edit a remote configuration without saving a copy and expect those changes to survive the next update.

Grant VPN Access and Verify the Connection

The first time you turn on the connection, iOS usually asks permission to add a VPN configuration. Tap Allow, then authenticate with your device passcode, Face ID, or Touch ID as prompted. This lets the app create a system network tunnel; it does not grant access to your Apple Account.

After granting permission, go to Settings → General → VPN & Device Management → VPN to check the added configuration. If your device is managed by an organization, administrator policies may restrict VPN settings. Don’t delete an unfamiliar management profile to get around restrictions; contact your device administrator.

iPhone Doesn’t Use the Same Proxy Setup as Desktop

On iOS, this type of connection typically uses a Network Extension Packet Tunnel to handle network traffic. That’s different from setting 127.0.0.1:7890 as a system proxy on desktop. A port in your desktop configuration does not prove that iPhone traffic is being routed through the client, and a desktop tun section may not apply to an iOS app.

A VPN status of Connected only confirms that a tunnel is established; it doesn’t prove the node works or traffic is routed correctly. Check tunnel status, node reachability, and rule matching separately.

1. Check the tunnel: Return to the Clash client and make sure the connection switch is on. The system VPN screen should show Connected.
2. Check the node: Run a latency test for a member of the current proxy group. A successful test means only that the test target is reachable; a timeout may mean the test address is unreachable. Don’t judge a node by this result alone.
3. Check requests: Open https://example.com/ in Safari, then visit a site you actually need to access through the proxy. The first site is only a basic HTTPS request check; it does not identify your exit region.
4. Check rules: Find the domain in the connection log or request history and check the matched rule, proxy group, and final node. Requests matched to DIRECT do not automatically use the proxy just because the VPN is on.
5. Try another network: Repeat the checks on both Wi-Fi and cellular. Use the same node and destination before and after switching networks so the results are comparable.

For your first connection, use rule mode. You can briefly switch to global mode to check whether routing rules are the issue, but switch back when you’re done. Global mode won’t fix an expired subscription, incorrect authentication, or an unsupported protocol. Other VPN or network-filtering apps may conflict with the tunnel, so leave only one VPN connection active while troubleshooting.

Troubleshoot Import and Connection Problems

Don’t copy desktop DNS and Fake-IP settings without checking compatibility

If node tests succeed but domain names won’t load, check the logs for DNS timeouts, then review the configuration’s DNS settings and the client’s supported features. Fake-IP maps domain names to IP addresses to associate them with connections; adding another DNS server won’t fix every issue. Some local network services and apps need specific compatibility settings. Switching modes without a clear reason can introduce new variables.

Start with a configuration from your provider that’s tailored to the iOS client, keep a copy of the original, and change one setting at a time. If the subscription contains unsupported fields, use a compatible configuration or follow the documentation. Don’t assume every option that works in desktop mihomo is available on iOS.

Share reproducible details when asking for help

• Your iPhone model, iOS version, Clash client name, and app version.
• Where the failure occurs: subscription download, configuration parsing, VPN authorization, or web access.
• Results on Wi-Fi and cellular, and whether you used the same node on both.
• Redacted error messages, matched rule entries, and when the problem occurred.

You don’t need to delete every configuration first. Save a recoverable copy, then try a manual update, reselecting the configuration, and reconnecting. Reset only if you’ve confirmed that a local configuration is corrupted or a leftover VPN configuration is preventing startup. For more basics, see the user guide. For connection issues, see Troubleshooting.