Set up WireLens on iPhone and iPad

WireLens for iPhone and iPad captures on the device. No computer is involved, and no server of ours is in the path: WireLens reads the traffic on the phone and connects to the real servers from there.

Setup takes about two minutes. It has four steps: two happen in WireLens and two in the Settings app. WireLens walks you through them with pictures of the screens iOS will show. It detects the VPN and full trust by itself; for the download and the install you tap to say they are done.

What you need#

• An iPhone or iPad with iOS or iPadOS 17 or later.
• Your passcode. iOS asks for it when you add the VPN and again when you install the profile.
• About two minutes.

Install WireLens#

Download WireLens from the App Store and open it. Three short pages explain what it does, and a fourth lists the four setup steps. Start Setup opens the guide; Skip and Set up later leave it for another time.

You can leave setup at any point with Set up later or ✕. Pick it up again from Settings ▸ Setup Guide in WireLens, or from Finish Setup on the Traffic tab. The guide opens on the first step you have not finished.

Step 1: Allow the VPN#

iOS lets an app see other apps' traffic only through a VPN. The WireLens VPN runs on the phone itself: your apps' requests go to WireLens and straight on to the servers they were meant for.

1. In WireLens, tap Allow VPN.
2. iOS asks whether "WireLens" may add VPN configurations. Tap Allow.
3. Confirm with your passcode, Face ID or Touch ID.

The step turns green as soon as the configuration exists, and capture starts. While it runs, VPN shows in the status bar.

Step 2: Download the certificate profile#

HTTPS is encrypted. To read it, WireLens creates a certificate that exists only on your phone. iOS installs certificates from a profile, so the first move is to download that profile.

1. Tap Download Profile. WireLens opens a page inside the app.
2. iOS asks whether the website may download a configuration profile. Tap Allow.
3. iOS says Profile Downloaded. Tap Close.
4. Close the page with ✕ to come back to WireLens.

You can also open the install page yourself: while capture runs, go to http://wire.lens in Safari. Other browsers show a note asking you to use Safari, because only Safari hands profiles to Settings.

Step 3: Install the profile#

A downloaded profile does nothing until you install it. This part happens in the Settings app.

1. Open Settings and tap Profile Downloaded, just below your name.
2. Tap Install in the top-right corner.
3. Enter your passcode.
4. On the Warning page, tap Install again.
5. Confirm with Install.
6. Profile Installed appears. Tap the check mark, then go back to WireLens.

The profile is named WireLens CA, followed by the date it was created and iPhone or iPad in brackets, for example WireLens CA (12 Oct 2026, iPhone). One made by an earlier version of WireLens starts with WireLens Root CA instead.

If there is no Profile Downloaded row, look in Settings ▸ General ▸ VPN & Device Management, where downloaded profiles are listed too. If it is in neither place, it expired: download it again.

Step 4: Turn on full trust#

This is the step most people miss. iOS installs the certificate but does not use it for HTTPS until you switch it on.

1. In Settings, open General ▸ About.
2. Scroll to the very bottom and tap Certificate Trust Settings.
3. Switch on WireLens CA.
4. iOS warns about root certificates. Tap Continue.

Go back to WireLens. It checks every couple of seconds, notices the trust by itself and restarts capture, and decryption is ready.

The warning is about who holds the certificate's private key. Here that is WireLens on your phone, and the key never leaves it. You can switch trust off at any time on the same page.

Then: choose what to decrypt#

HTTPS hosts start out Encrypted. You see where an app connects, when, and how much it sent, but not the content. You pick which hosts WireLens opens up:

1. Start capture and use the app you want to look at.
2. In Traffic, long-press its host and choose Enable SSL Proxying.
3. Use the app again. The next requests to that host arrive decrypted, with nothing to restart.

The free plan decrypts two hosts at a time; Pro removes the limit and adds * for every host. Using WireLens on iPhone and iPad covers the rest of the app.

If setup does not work#

iPhone setup problems goes through each step's usual failures: no VPN prompt, a profile that is not in Settings, a missing Certificate Trust Settings entry, and WireLens not noticing trust.

Things iOS decides#

• Apps that pin their certificates refuse to be decrypted and stop loading. WireLens marks those connections Pinned and, after two refusals, stops decrypting the host by itself. See SSL Proxying.
• HTTP/3 runs over QUIC. WireLens drops it by default, and apps fall back to TCP, where WireLens can decrypt them. Decrypt HTTP/3 (Experimental) in Tools decrypts it in place. See HTTP/2 and HTTP/3.
• Very large bodies are cut at Settings ▸ Body Capture Limit (5 MB per request and per response by default, up to 25 MB), and marked as truncated.
• Other VPNs. iOS runs one VPN at a time. Starting WireLens pauses another VPN, and the other way round.

Remove WireLens#

• The certificate. Open Settings ▸ General ▸ VPN & Device Management, tap the WireLens CA profile, then Remove Profile. Deleting the app does not remove it.
• The VPN. Deleting WireLens removes its VPN configuration. To keep the app and remove the VPN, use Settings ▸ General ▸ VPN & Device Management ▸ VPN.

Pro on iPhone and iPad#

Capture, inspection and sessions are free. Pro is an in-app purchase through the App Store, monthly, yearly or lifetime. It removes the limits on every tool. When the App Store offers you a free trial, the Pro screen shows Start 14-Day Free Trial. To use Pro on another iPhone or iPad with the same Apple Account, choose Restore Purchases. A WireLens key bought for the Mac also unlocks up to two phones or tablets: Settings ▸ Appearance ▸ Unlock. See Licenses and activation.