How to Get a Clash-Compatible iPhone App from the App Store and Import a Subscription

1. Check iPhone App and Subscription Compatibility

When searching for “Clash for iOS” on your iPhone, choose an app that supports your subscription format, proxy protocols, and routing rules. Clash is a name used in the proxy core and configuration ecosystem; an app listing that mentions Clash does not necessarily mean it can use your existing YAML file. Desktop installers also cannot be installed as iOS apps.

This guide uses an App Store app that supports Clash-style YAML, with Stash as one option to consider. Stash has its own implementation and configuration support, so it is not a complete replacement for desktop Clash or Clash Meta (mihomo). Check the app’s documentation before importing configurations that use mihomo-specific fields, scripts, or protocol settings.

2. Get the App from the App Store

Check the App Store listing and system requirements

1. Open the App Store on your iPhone, tap Search at the bottom, and enter the exact product name, such as “Stash.” Don’t choose an app based only on its icon color or search ranking.
2. Open the app’s product page and review the developer, feature description, and Compatibility section to make sure it supports your device and iOS version. If it’s a paid app, check the price before installing through Apple’s purchase flow.
3. When installation is complete, tap Open. First, check where to add a configuration; there’s no need to turn on the connection yet. Without a configuration, enabling the VPN won’t give you a working node.

If the app doesn’t appear in search results, first check whether it’s still available in your storefront and which region is set for your Apple Account. On iOS 18, for example, go to Settings → your Apple Account at the top → Media & Purchases → View Account → Country/Region. Menus may differ between iOS versions, and availability can change.

Changing your storefront region may affect your balance, subscriptions, and payment methods, and is not necessary for troubleshooting connection issues. Don’t use shared accounts from untrusted sources or give your Apple Account password to a third-party website to install an app. If a page asks you to install the app using an enterprise certificate or a device management profile, stop and verify the source first.

To compare system compatibility and app options, see the client downloads page. Check the current App Store listing for iOS app availability, price, and system requirements.

3. Prepare and Import Your Subscription

Copy the subscription URL, not your account dashboard URL

On your provider’s subscription management page, find the export option for your target app. If options include a generic node subscription, Clash, Stash, or mihomo, choose the one explicitly compatible with your app. Copy the subscription URL—not the login page, order page, or current browser address.

• Keep all query parameters in the URL. Don’t remove anything after the question mark; those parameters may contain an access token or specify the output format.
• Check that the URL has no leading or trailing spaces, line breaks, or curly quotation marks, especially if it was forwarded through a messaging app.
• A subscription URL can grant access to your account. Don’t post it in public comments, screenshots, or online format-checking tools.

Add and enable the configuration in the app

1. Open the app’s configuration manager. In Stash, for example, go from the home screen to the configuration list and look for an option to add or download a remote configuration. Depending on the version, it may be called “Download from URL” or something similar; follow the labels in your app.
2. Paste the complete subscription URL into the URL field. If you can name the configuration, use a recognizable label such as “Primary subscription”—don’t include a password or token in the name.
3. Tap Download or Confirm and wait for the configuration to appear in the list. If an error appears, note its type instead of submitting the URL repeatedly.
4. Select the configuration you just added to make it active. Return to the home screen or proxy groups and check that you can see proxy groups and nodes, not just the configuration filename.
5. Expand the default proxy group and select a working node. For the first test, use a manual selection group so you can identify the actual exit node. For an automatic selection group, also check that its test URL and members are valid.

A successful import only means the app accepted the configuration; it doesn’t mean every node can connect. A complete Clash-style configuration typically includes nodes or a proxy provider, proxy groups, and rules. If it relies on remote rule sets or proxy providers, make sure those resources download successfully too. If a proxy group has no nodes, don’t enable the connection yet.

4. Authorize the VPN Configuration and Connect

iOS apps typically use Network Extension to create a tunnel and handle the traffic covered by the configuration. They don’t work like desktop apps that set a “system proxy port”: on iPhone, you generally don’t need to manually enter 127.0.0.1:7890 in Wi-Fi settings. That address and port are common in desktop guides, but they’re not a standard iOS setup step.

1. Make sure the configuration is selected, then turn on the connection from the app’s home screen.
2. When iOS asks to let the app add a VPN configuration, verify the app name that initiated the request, then tap Allow.
3. Complete any device passcode or biometric verification required by iOS. The prompt should appear in an iOS system dialog, not a web form asking for your screen passcode.
4. Return to the app and wait for its status to change to Connected. If you canceled the authorization, turn the connection on again and approve the request.
5. To check the system’s VPN status, go to Settings → General → VPN & Device Management → VPN and review the relevant configuration and connection state. The exact location may vary slightly by iOS version.

The system VPN indicator shows that a tunnel is active; it doesn’t verify the remote node. iPhones with a notch or Dynamic Island may not always show VPN in the status bar, so check Control Center, Settings, and the app’s status together. In typical personal-use scenarios, another VPN app may interfere with the connection; disconnect other VPNs before your first test.

5. Check Nodes, Rules, and DNS

For the first connection, test one node on one network at a time, changing only one variable per test. Don’t change nodes, DNS, and rules all at once; even if the connection starts working again, you won’t know why. The test counts below are troubleshooting steps, not measured performance results.

1. Check the operating mode: For everyday use, start with Rule mode. Direct mode won’t use proxy nodes as expected, while Global mode changes routing behavior and can’t verify whether your rules are working correctly.
2. Test node reachability: Run three latency tests on the same node in its proxy group and see whether they consistently time out. Latency tests usually connect to a specific test URL; they don’t measure video download speeds or prove that every website is reachable.
3. Test real websites: In Safari, open one site that should connect directly and another that should use a proxy under your current rules. Refresh each page once, then look for its domain in the app’s connection records or logs.
4. Check which rules matched: Look in the logs for the expected rule, proxy group, and exit node. If a page loads but the log shows DIRECT, that alone doesn’t prove the proxy node is working.
5. Compare networks: Keep the same node selected and test once over Wi-Fi and once over cellular. If it fails on only one network, first check the network, captive portal, and server-side restrictions.

If the logs repeatedly show DNS resolution timeouts, check the DNS settings in the configuration and whether the app supports the relevant fields. Don’t paste dns sections together from multiple guides: duplicate keys, incorrect indentation, and unsupported fields can all cause new problems. Some DNS or TUN options in Clash Meta (mihomo) configurations may not work unchanged in an iOS app.

6. Fix Import Errors and No-Connection Issues

If a parsing error includes <html> or a login page title, the URL may be returning a web page instead of the subscription the app expects. An empty node list can also mean the plan expired, data ran out, or a remote proxy provider hasn’t updated successfully; it isn’t necessarily an app issue.

To restore normal internet access, first turn off the connection in the app, then confirm it’s disconnected in iOS VPN settings. If On Demand is enabled, check that setting in the app or the relevant VPN configuration to prevent iOS from reconnecting automatically. Don’t start by resetting network settings: that can remove saved network information without fixing a subscription format issue.

7. Update Subscriptions and Maintain Your Configuration

• Tell remote subscriptions apart from local files: Configurations added by URL can be fetched again; importing a local YAML file doesn’t mean it will automatically reflect changes on the server.
• Keep a working copy before updating: Export or copy the current configuration, then run one manual update and check the node count, proxy group selection, and connection result.
• Know what automatic updates mean: Updating on app launch, background tasks, and proxy provider updates are different mechanisms. iOS schedules background tasks, so setting an interval does not guarantee an update at an exact minute.
• Keep personal changes separate: Direct edits to a remote subscription may be overwritten by the next update. For custom rules, use an override or local configuration feature that the app explicitly supports.
• Reset a leaked subscription promptly: Reset the subscription token in your provider account, then update the URL in the app. The old URL is expected to stop working.

After following these steps, you should be able to answer three questions: Which configuration is active? Which exit node is selected? Which rule matched the request? When connection problems arise, start with these three checks; they’re more useful than reinstalling the app. For a more complete setup sequence, read the user guide. For concepts behind rules and configurations, see the Clash configuration handbook.