A VPN on an Android tablet: how to install it and what to know

Our own app is for Android: the site names phones, tablets and Android TV sets among its devices. Below — where to get it on a tablet, what to do if Google Play is missing, and what we did not test on tablets.

Will a phone app work on a tablet

Yes, if the tablet runs Android. The site says our app needs “Android 7.0 or newer”, and names phones, tablets and Android TV sets among its devices. Look up your version in the settings, in the section about the tablet. A tablet on Android 6 or older cannot install the app — neither from the store nor from a file.

An honest caveat. We did not run Mayak on a tablet screen for this article: our checks ran on phones and emulators. So we cannot tell you how the app's screens look on a big display — only what we know about installing, signing in and the plan.

For a general look at which VPN to pick for Android and which system settings break any of them, see the Android article.

How to install Mayak on a tablet

1. Decide which account. You already have one on your phone — sign in to the same one on the tablet. The login is the account number or a confirmed email; the number, nine digits, is shown in the app under Settings. No account yet — press “Create account” in the app on the tablet: the app makes up the password itself, and you only confirm that you are human.
2. Find Mayak in Google Play on the tablet: “Mayak — private network”. We have exactly one store — Google Play.
3. Install and sign in with the account number or email and the password.
4. Connect. Pick a country and press the connect button. The first time, the system asks for permission to connect — agree. “Protected” on the screen means you are done.

To have the connection come back by itself after the tablet is switched on, turn on Settings → Protection → Auto-connect in Mayak and connect by hand once. If it drops with the screen off, the causes are covered in order in the companion article.

A Huawei or Honor tablet: Google Play may be missing

This is the most common reason to search for a VPN on a Huawei tablet. Many Huawei tablets have no Google Play, so “install it from the store” does not apply. Our answer:

• EMUI and HarmonyOS up to version 4 inclusive — Mayak installs from the file on our site, as below. It does not need Google services.
• HarmonyOS 5 and newer — the file will not install: that system does not install Android apps by itself.
• Honor tablets — as Honor phones: check whether there is a Google Play icon on it.

How to tell your case, where the difference comes from and what to do about background work on these devices — in the separate Huawei and Honor article. We are not in Huawei's store. The same caveat applies: we did not run Mayak on a Huawei tablet screen.

If Mayak is not in the store: installing from a file

What the store shows your model is decided by Google. If Mayak is not there, or there is no store at all, install the app as a file from our site:

1. open a browser on the tablet and type mayak.ws/dl/app — the Mayak file downloads, about 18 MB;
2. open the downloaded file; the tablet asks whether apps from this source may be installed — allow it and press Install;
3. sign in and connect, as in the steps above.

Download only from our site. The Google Play and site versions do not install over each other: to switch, remove the first one. The file will not download or install — step by step in a separate article.

A tablet without a SIM: Wi-Fi only

Mayak does not provide internet itself: the protected connection runs on top of whatever you already have — Wi-Fi or mobile data. If there is no internet at all, no VPN will add it (that is what our article on connecting says). A tablet without a SIM needs only Wi-Fi: connect to the network first, then to Mayak.

Two things to know in advance. Public Wi-Fi with a sign-in page (a hotel, a cafe, a train) first asks you to press “Log in” on its own page — explained here. And a home network may not always let our connection through: what our log showed is in the article on home internet.

How many devices, and how not to get in your phone's way

One subscription works on all your devices at once, but the number is set by the plan: “Start” — up to 3, “Family” — up to 5, “Max” — up to 10. A tablet takes one slot, like one more phone. The trial is 3 days on two devices once you confirm your email, so a phone and a tablet both fit. If the line under the connect button says “Maximum number of devices in use”, disconnect the extra one in the app: Settings → “My devices” (the same is in your account page, Devices section).

Do not copy anything from your phone to the tablet. In our app the key is created on the device itself: a second device under the same account makes its own pair of keys and takes its own slot. Just sign in. Why one key on two devices breaks the connection for both, with a measurement, is in the article on several devices.

And on an iPad?

We have no app of our own for iPhone and iPad yet: it is in development, and we name no dates. You can connect through a third-party app using the subscription link from your account page: the real Happ (publisher Flyfrog LLC) is not in the Russian App Store, and INCY (publisher LLC ITDEV) works instead — checked on 22 September 2026 on an iPhone; we did not check iPad separately. Details — in the iPhone article.

What we tested

• What the site states, 29 September 2026: the app's devices, the system requirement “Android 7.0 or newer”, plans by number of devices, the trial on two devices.
• The file from our site, the same day: the address mayak.ws/dl/app serves a file of about 18 MB.
• Huawei and Honor — from our article on those brands: we tested the app without Google services on an emulator, and third-party facts there are given with links to primary sources.
• The app in general — on phones and emulators: sign-in, a connection up to “Protected”, auto-connect.

What we do not know

• How the app looks and behaves on a tablet screen. We did not run it on a tablet for this article.
• Whether Mayak shows up in Google Play on your model. What to show is decided by Google. Not there — from a file.
• How long a tablet keeps the connection with the screen off. It depends on the brand and the system version; we did not measure tablets — what to check.
• Speed on a tablet. We did not measure it and give no figures.
• iPad. What works there was checked on iPhone; there is no separate iPad test.

Short answers

How do I install a VPN on a tablet? Install Mayak from Google Play or as a file from mayak.ws/dl/app, sign in to the same account as on your phone and press the connect button. The steps.

Where do I download a VPN for a tablet? From Google Play or from our site as a file. We have no other store, and please do not install files from chats or other pages.

How do I install a VPN on a Huawei tablet? If there is no Google Play, use the file from our site: it installs on EMUI and HarmonyOS up to version 4 inclusive, and does not on HarmonyOS 5 and newer. More.

Is there a free VPN for a tablet? We have no free access forever. The trial is free and needs no card: 3 days on two devices after you confirm your email.

Does a tablet need a SIM card? No: Wi-Fi is enough, as long as the internet works without Mayak too.