Install and connect for the first time

There is no sign-up screen. Install the app, read the four short data-use panels Apple requires, allow the VPN configuration when the system asks, and press connect. That is the whole flow on every Apple platform — the differences below are the one or two extra steps specific to a device.

The free tier works immediately: 2 GB per connection, five connections a day, up to ten devices. A subscription removes the per-connection limit and the daily connection count; see the data allowance for what that means in practice.

iPhone and iPad

1. Install from the App Store and open the app.
2. Read the data-use panels, then allow the VPN configuration when iOS asks — that prompt is the system's, not ours.
3. Press connect. If it does not come up immediately, the app names one of eight states rather than a generic failure; see troubleshooting.

Mac

The same three steps, plus one: macOS may ask you to approve a system extension in System Settings → Privacy & Security. The app tells you when that approval is still outstanding, rather than silently failing to connect — if you see a state that looks stuck at launch, check there first.

Apple TV

Apple TV works the same way on the free tier — open the app and press connect, no pairing required. Pairing is how you put your subscription on it instead of a fresh free-tier device: choose Pair on the TV, then on an iPhone or iPad that already has your account number entered, type the short code the TV is showing. You never type anything with the remote, because there is nothing to type there.

Linux

Install the desktop app from our apt or dnf repository — see Get the app for the one-time repository setup — then open ForestVPN and press connect. It is the same app the phone runs, with a kill switch, a tray icon and split tunnelling by IP range, and your package manager updates it along with the rest of the system.

Prefer the terminal? The same repository carries fvpnctl, which drives the running service: fvpnctl connect, fvpnctl status for the eight-state readout the phone gets, and fvpnctl diag to explain a bad one. The older standalone CLI, apt install forestvpn-quantum, still installs fv for servers and routers with no desktop.

Android

1. Install from Google Play and open the app.
2. Allow the VPN configuration when Android asks — that's the system's own prompt, not ours.
3. Press connect. Phone, tablet and Android TV share one VpnService implementation, so the steps are the same on all three.

Windows

Install from the Microsoft Store, or with one of two signed installers on Get the app — x64 for almost every PC, Arm64 for Surface Pro X and other Snapdragon-based machines. Windows may prompt once to approve the installer and once to install the tunnel driver; both are expected, one-time steps. Press connect and it reports the same eight states as every other client.

Next

• The account number — read this before you need it.
• Devices and linking — using one subscription on more than one device.
• Router setup — running ForestVPN on a MikroTik router.