iPhone setup problems

Each section here is one symptom, grouped by the setup step it belongs to. Set up WireLens on iPhone and iPad has the steps themselves, with the screens iOS shows.

In WireLens, Settings ▸ Setup Guide (also Tools ▸ Setup Guide) shows which steps are done and opens on the first unfinished one. It detects two steps itself: the VPN and full trust. The download and install steps are ticked when you confirm them with I already downloaded it and I installed it. If a later step fails, check those two in iOS Settings first.

The VPN step#

iOS never asked to add a VPN#

Open Settings ▸ General ▸ VPN & Device Management ▸ VPN. If WireLens is listed, the configuration already exists, and the step in WireLens turns green within a couple of seconds. If it is not listed, tap Allow VPN in WireLens again.

If Screen Time limits account or VPN changes on the phone, iOS refuses new VPN configurations without asking. Allow the change in Settings ▸ Screen Time, or ask whoever manages the phone.

I tapped Don't Allow#

Tap Allow VPN again. iOS asks again each time.

Capture stops when I turn on my other VPN#

iOS runs one VPN at a time: starting either one stops the other. Stop the other VPN while you capture with WireLens.

The download step#

Nothing happened when I tapped Download Profile#

The prompt opens inside a page in WireLens. If you tapped Ignore, tap Download Profile (or Download Again) and choose Allow.

You can also download it from Safari: while capture runs, open http://wire.lens. The page has the same download button. Use Safari: other browsers cannot hand a profile to Settings.

The profile is not in Settings#

A downloaded profile appears at the top of Settings as Profile Downloaded, and in Settings ▸ General ▸ VPN & Device Management. iOS deletes it if it is not installed within about eight minutes. If it is in neither place, download it again and install it straight away.

The install step#

The profile says Not Verified#

That is expected. Profiles from a company are signed with the company's identity. This one is signed by the certificate itself, which your phone created. iOS has no company to show.

Installing asks for a passcode I do not know#

iOS asks for the phone's own passcode, the one that unlocks it. A managed phone may also block profiles; ask whoever manages it.

The trust step#

Certificate Trust Settings is not in About#

It appears only after a certificate profile is installed. Go back and install the profile, then look again at the bottom of Settings ▸ General ▸ About.

WireLens is not in Certificate Trust Settings#

The profile was not installed. Check Settings ▸ General ▸ VPN & Device Management: an installed profile is listed under Configuration Profile. A profile that shows only as downloaded still needs Install.

WireLens is listed more than once#

Every certificate WireLens creates is new, and its name carries the date it was made. Switch on the newest one. Remove the older profiles in Settings ▸ General ▸ VPN & Device Management so the list holds only the current one.

I switched it on but WireLens still waits#

Go back to WireLens: it checks every two seconds and restarts capture as soon as trust is on, and Check Again on the trust step checks at once. If it still waits, the switch you turned on belongs to an older certificate. That happens after Settings ▸ Danger Zone ▸ Regenerate Root CA, or after reinstalling WireLens. Compare the name and SHA-256 Fingerprint under Settings ▸ Certificate with the profile in iOS Settings. Remove the old profile, then download and install the current one from the setup guide.

After setup#

Every HTTPS row says CONNECT and Encrypted#

That is how hosts look before you decrypt them. Long-press the host and choose Enable SSL Proxying, then use the app again. See Choose what to decrypt.

A host I enabled still shows Encrypted#

• Full trust is off. Without it, WireLens leaves every host encrypted to keep your apps working. Settings ▸ Certificate shows the Full Trust status.
• The app pins its certificate. The row says Pinned. With Auto-passthrough Pinned Hosts on in Tools ▸ SSL Proxying, WireLens stops decrypting the host after two refused handshakes. See When an app stops loading.
• The host is on the Exclude list in Tools ▸ SSL Proxying. Excluded hosts stay encrypted.
• The free plan's limit. The Include list holds two patterns on the free plan; adding a third asks you to upgrade or remove one.

An app stops loading after I decrypt its host#

It pins its certificate. Long-press the host and choose Disable SSL Proxying, or let Auto-passthrough Pinned Hosts do it after two refused handshakes.

Safari shows "This Connection Is Not Private"#

The certificate is installed but not trusted. Finish the trust step: Settings ▸ General ▸ About ▸ Certificate Trust Settings, switch on WireLens CA.

Start over#

To redo setup from scratch:

1. Remove the profile in Settings ▸ General ▸ VPN & Device Management.
2. In WireLens, optionally choose Settings ▸ Danger Zone ▸ Regenerate Root CA for a fresh certificate.
3. Open Settings ▸ Setup Guide and run the steps again.

If that does not help, write to us from Support, or from Settings ▸ Support in WireLens, with what the setup guide shows at each step.