How to Use Clash on iPhone? Getting Clash Plus from the App Store & Subscription Setup

Before You Start: Device, Account, and Subscription

Having three things ready before you begin will save you from most mid-setup snags.

• Device: An iPhone or iPad running iOS 15 / iPadOS 15 or later. On older systems, the App Store page will flag it as incompatible and block installation outright.
• Apple ID: An account that can sign in to the App Store to download the app.
• Subscription link: A URL generated by your service provider, usually starting with https://, in a format like https://example.com/api/v1/sub?token=a-random-string. It's both your config source and your billing credential.

Install Clash Plus from the App Store

1. Open the App Store and search for Clash Plus.
2. Check the app name, icon, and developer name in the results. There are similarly-named apps on the store, so go by the developer info, not just the title.
3. Tap "Get" to install. The app is free, and it'll show up on your home screen once installed.
4. On first launch, iOS shows a prompt: "Clash Plus Would Like to Add VPN Configurations." This is standard for any app that manages your traffic. Tap "Allow," then confirm with Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode.
5. Once authorized, you'll land on the app's main screen. The config list will be empty with no nodes available yet — that's expected, since you haven't imported a subscription.

If you accidentally tapped "Don't Allow," the app won't be able to establish a tunnel — see the FAQ at the end for how to fix that. Installation and authorization on iPad follow the same steps as iPhone, just with a slightly different layout.

Import Your Subscription Link

1. Find "Clash Subscription" or "Subscription URL" in your provider's user dashboard and copy the full link. These links are usually long, so make sure you copy the entire thing — a truncated link will fail to fetch.
2. Open Clash Plus, go to the "Profiles" tab, tap to add a new one, and choose "Import from URL."
3. The name field can be anything — using your provider's name is handy if you end up managing multiple subscriptions later. Paste the link into the URL field and save.
4. Select the profile you just added from the list and tap "Update." The app fetches nodes, proxy groups, and rules from the subscription URL and builds a working config locally.
5. Set the auto-update interval to 24 hours. From then on, whenever your provider adjusts nodes or rules, your local config refreshes automatically — no need to re-import manually.

A few things worth knowing about subscription formats:

• A standard Clash subscription returns YAML text containing nodes, proxy groups, and routing rules all in one — Clash Plus parses this directly.
• Some providers only offer a Base64-encoded generic node list. Clash Plus can still recognize and convert this into a working config.
• If your provider's dashboard has a "one-tap import" button, tapping it on iPhone will launch Clash Plus and auto-fill the URL for you — same result as pasting it manually.

# Typical structure of a subscription response (simplified)
proxies:
  - name: "Hong Kong 01"
    type: trojan
    server: hk01.example.com
    port: 443
proxy-groups:
  - name: "Auto Select"
    type: url-test
    proxies: ["Hong Kong 01"]
    url: http://www.gstatic.com/generate_204
    interval: 300

In this structure, proxies is the node list, proxy-groups defines how those nodes get used, and the rules section (omitted here) decides which traffic goes through the proxy versus direct.

Choosing a Proxy Mode

The mode determines how all your traffic gets routed. Clash Plus offers three modes, switchable right from the main screen:

Rule mode is the right default for everyday use: local sites connect directly while overseas services route through nodes, giving the best balance of speed and compatibility. Rules themselves are maintained via your subscription config and get updated by your provider periodically. In global mode, even local sites get routed through your node, causing noticeably higher latency — only use it briefly. Direct mode doesn't mean the VPN is off — the system tunnel is still active, it's just that all traffic is allowed through untouched, which is mainly useful for troubleshooting comparisons.

Choosing a Node and Testing Latency

Go to the "Proxy" tab — proxy groups appear at the top. Subscriptions typically come with two kinds of groups:

• Manual selection: Tap into a group and pick a node from the list. The selected node gets highlighted, and traffic sticks to it from then on.
• Auto select (url-test): This group tests latency across all nodes in it at regular intervals and automatically switches to whichever has the lowest latency — handy if you don't want to manage it manually.

Tapping the speed test button next to a group runs an immediate test, with results shown in milliseconds. Keep in mind latency only reflects handshake time, not actual bandwidth — a 50ms node might stream worse than a 150ms node with more generous outbound bandwidth. Any multiplier or traffic-cost labels in node names follow whatever billing terms your provider specifies.

First Connection and Verifying It Works

1. Back on the main screen, flip the connection switch at the top. A VPN icon will appear in the status bar, confirming the system tunnel is up.
2. In rule mode, open a local website first — it should load via direct connection, at the same speed as without the proxy.
3. Then open an IP lookup site — the exit IP and region shown should match your selected node. If both check out, routing and exit are working correctly.
4. If flipping the switch kills your internet entirely, troubleshoot in this order: try a different node; update your subscription (your provider may have changed nodes); make sure no other VPN app is active at the same time — iOS only allows one active VPN tunnel at a time.

FAQ

Can't find it on the App Store

App availability depends on regional distribution settings. If you can't find it under your current Apple ID's region, sign in to the App Store with an account from a region where it is offered, then search again. Switching your store account only affects the App Store — it won't touch any data already on your device.

Tapped "Don't Allow" on the VPN configuration prompt

iOS won't automatically re-prompt for authorization. Two fixes: delete and reinstall the app, which triggers the prompt again on first launch; or go to Settings → General → VPN & Device Management, remove the leftover Clash Plus configuration, then restart the app to have it request authorization again.

Subscription update failed

Check these in order of likelihood: the link wasn't copied in full — copy it again completely; your provider reset the subscription URL — grab a fresh one from the dashboard; your current network can't reach the subscription domain — switch to a different Wi-Fi or cellular network and try updating again.

Battery drain from staying connected

In rule mode, the tunnel stays active but local traffic connects directly, so the battery impact is limited. In global mode, all traffic goes through the tunnel, leading to noticeably more battery drain and heat. Just toggle the switch off when you don't need it — your config and nodes stay saved.

Conflicts with other VPN apps

iOS only allows one active VPN tunnel at a time. Turning on the switch in Clash Plus will kick out any other active VPN app's tunnel, and vice versa. Turn off the current one before switching to another.