Which VPN works on iPhone in Russia: what is in the App Store, and how to connect

On iPhone it is not an app alone that works, but a pair: a client from the App Store and whoever supplies the servers. Below: what is really in the Russian App Store (we checked Apple’s catalogue on the night of 23 September 2026), how to tell the real app from a look-alike, and how to connect.

Why on iPhone it is a pair that “works”, not an app

Almost all the apps people ask about are clients. They have no servers of their own: INCY’s App Store listing says outright that it “does not provide servers and does not impose infrastructure”, and Happ’s publisher says the same about its app (our explainer). The servers come from a provider — as a subscription link, a key or a settings file.

So the question “which one works” splits in two:

• Is the app in your App Store? That depends on the country of your Apple account, and the answer is below, measured.
• Does the provider work on your network? That depends on the network and the hour, not on the app. Why no common list of “what works right now” can exist — a separate article.

There is also a third kind: services whose app and servers are both their own. There both questions go to one service.

What is in the Russian App Store: our own check

We asked Apple’s catalogue about fourteen of the apps people ask about most — in the Russian and US storefronts, on the night of 23 September 2026, around 03:40 Moscow time. As a control, the same run asked about Telegram: it was found in both storefronts, so a “no” in the tables is the catalogue’s answer, not a failed measurement.

In the Russian storefront. Everything on this list except the last one is in the US storefront too.

Not in the Russian storefront, present in the US one.

Happ Plus and Happ Lite were unknown to the catalogue at the same hour in both the Russian and the US storefronts.

The store changes: apps disappear and come back, sometimes under a new name. Why a given app left the Russian storefront the catalogue does not explain, and we will not guess: the tables say only “yes” or “no” on the date of the check.

How to tell the real app from a look-alike: check the publisher

When the real app is not in the storefront, look-alikes take its place in search. A search of Apple’s catalogue in the Russian storefront the same night:

• “happ” — 17 apps; eight have “Happ” in the name, and none of them is from Flyfrog LLC, the publisher of the real Happ. One calls itself “Happ VPN Official” — its publisher is SPK TECH LTD;
• “streisand” — 13 apps, and the real Streisand (ARCADIA ODYSSEY INC.) is not among them; two of the same Happ look-alikes are;
• one of those two is called “Happ VPN Proxy Utility 2026” in the Russian storefront, while the very same app — the same catalogue number — is called “Hubb - Check your DNS & VPN” in the US one. The other works the same way: “Happ VPN” in Russia, “VPN Secure .” in the USA.

A catalogue search is not a phone screen: on an iPhone the ranking and ads may differ. But the rule stays the same:

1. Open the app’s page and find the developer’s name on it.
2. Compare: Happ — Flyfrog LLC, INCY — LLC ITDEV, Streisand — ARCADIA ODYSSEY INC.
3. No match — do not install. You would paste your subscription link into that app, and the link is a password: anyone who has it can connect to your access.

Store links we have checked against the publisher are on the page “Where to tap” for iPhone.

How to connect on iPhone: five steps

1. Install a client. From the Russian App Store that is, for example, INCY; check the publisher — LLC ITDEV. According to their listings, INCY and Happ need iOS 15 or newer.
2. Get a subscription link from your provider. At Mayak it is in your account: the “Connecting by link” card → “Show the link”.
3. Add it to the app. Copy the link, then in the app tap “+” → “Import from clipboard”. The app loads the server list by itself.
4. Turn the connection on and pick a server.
5. Check that your traffic goes through the server: open our IP address check — the country should change to the server’s.

If the servers did not load or there is no connection, the order for finding the break is in “Happ not working”. Most of the causes there apply to any subscription-link client: the provider’s end date, the server, the network.

Happ on iPhone: what to do when it is not in the Russian App Store

The real Happ (Flyfrog LLC), as of our 23 September check, is in the US storefront and missing from the Russian one. There are two options.

• Take INCY. It is in the Russian App Store, free, and takes the same subscription link. We verified it with our link and a live connection on 22 September 2026.
• Install Happ from an Apple account of another country. Changing an account’s country has a cost, and Apple states it itself: spend any remaining balance, cancel subscriptions that prevent the change and wait until their period ends, prepare a valid payment method for the new country; some content may be unavailable in the new country. If you do not want to enter a payment method, Apple suggests waiting until you are physically in that country and creating a new account there. Apple’s instructions. We do not recommend any other way.

Happ’s publisher also offers a TestFlight link — Apple’s beta programme. But under Apple’s rules such a build stops being available after 90 days: details in our Happ troubleshooting guide.

WireGuard, AmneziaWG and Outline: in the store, but they take their own settings

These three apps are in the Russian App Store. But each accepts settings of its own kind: WireGuard and AmneziaWG — a settings file, Outline — an access key in its own format. An app fits a provider only if the provider issues settings of exactly that kind.

For Mayak on iPhone they will not do. Your account issues an AmneziaWG settings file, but, as it says right there, “on iPhone, Mac and Windows third-party apps do not accept this file yet: it carries our traffic protection”. We do not issue Outline keys at all. On iPhone the one way to Mayak today is the subscription link.

Which to choose: four questions instead of a ranking

There is no “best” VPN app for iPhone: the clients in the tables do the same job, and what decides is who supplies the servers. We keep no rankings and do not measure other services. Instead of a ranking, here are four questions worth asking before you pay:

1. Is the app in your App Store, and who is the publisher? The tables above are as of 23 September; check the publisher yourself before installing.
2. Who supplies the servers, and how do you get them — as a subscription link that updates itself, or as a key you will have to replace by hand? How a subscription differs from a key.
3. How to pay from Russia. A paid app and paid access are different things: Shadowrocket costs 249 ₽ one-off, but it has no servers in it; those still come from a provider. How people pay for access from Russia.
4. Does it work on your network? That can only be checked on your own phone: at home, on mobile data, in the evening at peak hours. That is what a trial is for.

Mayak on iPhone: what there is now

• Our own iPhone app is in development; we name no dates.
• You can connect right now — with the subscription link from your account, in Happ or INCY. We verified both with a live connection on iPhone: Happ on 20 September, INCY on 22 September 2026. The protocol is X-ray (VLESS with REALITY), the servers are ours. What is in our link — in detail.
• Clash Mi and Shadowrocket are listed on our connection page as two more options, and Karing, according to its publisher’s description, also takes subscriptions — but we have tested none of the three with our link live, and we will not promise them.
• The link delivers one way of connecting. A third-party client has no automatic switching between routes like our Android app has.
• Every device takes a slot in your plan — just like a phone with our app. How many devices each plan covers and what it costs — on the home page. The trial is 3 days on one device after you confirm your email: Happ on an iPhone and our app on Android will not both fit into the trial.
• What we do not promise. That it “always works” with us: your network is your own, and it will give its own answer. In the mobile internet whitelist mode Mayak will not connect — neither with the app nor with the link (why).

What we tested

• Apple’s catalogue — ourselves, on the night of 23 September 2026, around 03:40 Moscow time: fourteen apps in the Russian and US storefronts with Telegram as a control, Shadowrocket’s price, and searches for “happ” and “streisand” in the Russian storefront.
• That INCY has no servers of its own — from the description in its App Store listing; that Kaspersky Secure Connection is a service — also from its listing.
• The cost of changing an Apple account’s country — from Apple’s instructions, read on 23 September 2026.
• That third-party apps on iPhone do not accept the AmneziaWG file from your account — the text of our account area.
• Happ and INCY on iPhone with our link — with a live connection, on 20 and 22 September 2026.

What we do not know

• Whether Clash Mi, Shadowrocket and Karing work with our link. Not tested.
• What App Store search shows on your phone. We queried the catalogue, we did not capture a screen; ranking and ads on an iPhone may differ.
• Why apps leave the Russian storefront, and whether they will return. The catalogue does not say.
• How the services in the tables behave on Russian networks. We do not measure other services.
• How long the tables will hold. The store changes, which is why every “yes” and “no” carries the date of the check.
• When our iPhone app will be out. It is in development; we name no dates.

Short answers

Which VPN works on iPhone in Russia right now? Of the clients, the Russian App Store has INCY, Karing, Clash Mi and Shadowrocket as of 23 September; any of them needs a provider of servers. Whether the provider works on your network can only be checked on your side.

What to install on iPhone instead of Happ? INCY: it is in the Russian App Store, free, and takes the same subscription link. We verified it with our link.

Why is Happ not in the App Store? As of our 23 September check it is missing from the Russian storefront and present in the US one. The catalogue gives no reason.

How to set up a VPN on iPhone? Install a client, get a subscription link from your provider, tap “+” → “Import from clipboard” in the app, turn it on. Five steps above.

Are there paid VPN apps for iPhone? Shadowrocket costs 249 ₽ one-off in the Russian storefront. But you pay for the app once, while the servers are paid for separately — to a provider.

Will WireGuard or Outline do? They are in the Russian storefront, but they take settings of their own kind. Mayak on iPhone needs the subscription link.

Does this work on iPad? According to its publisher, INCY is for iPhone, iPad and Mac. We tested it with our link on iPhone.

Will Mayak have its own iPhone app? Yes, it is in development; we name no dates. For now — the subscription link in Happ or INCY.