iOS

mins needs iOS 15 or newer. On iOS the VPN is a Network Extension packet tunnel that the system starts and supervises. There is no Connection mode choice: iOS requires the packet tunnel, and the proxy-only mode does not exist here.

The first connection and the VPN profile

The first Connect makes iOS show its own prompt to add a VPN configuration, which you confirm with your passcode or Face ID. The wording is the system’s.

If you refuse, nothing is connected and mins shows the system’s error text under the status (Connection failed), not the Android-style “VPN permission was not granted”.
Press Connect again; the system asks again. If it does not (a general iOS behaviour, not something mins controls), open the system Settings → General → VPN & Device Management, remove the stale mins profile and connect again.

Auto-connect (On Demand)

Settings → Connection → Auto-connect has Off, Always and Except trusted Wi-Fi. With Except trusted Wi-Fi, list the networks under Trusted Wi-Fi networks, one name per line (a name can be at most 32 bytes). On those Wi-Fi networks the VPN is disconnected; everywhere else it connects.

If auto-connect does nothing, check these in order:

You must connect by hand once. Changing the Auto-connect setting does not create the VPN profile; only a manual connection does. Until then there is nothing for iOS to start.
A manual disconnect pauses auto-connect. After you press Disconnect, Home says “Auto-connect is paused until you connect manually.” Connect by hand again to resume it.
The Wi-Fi name must match one of the entries in Trusted Wi-Fi networks exactly.
The message “Open mins and prepare the VPN first” comes from a widget, shortcut or the Control Center control used before the first manual connection. Open mins and connect once.

Kill switch, Include all networks, push notifications

Settings → Network → Include all networks and Settings → Connection → Kill switch both ask iOS to send all traffic through the tunnel. That is an iOS feature (includeAllNetworks): while the tunnel is down, traffic is blocked. If you lose the network after a failed connection, turn the option off or connect to a working server.
Exclude Apple push notifications is on by default so that Apple’s push service keeps working. Turning it off needs iOS 16.4 or newer; on older iOS the app reports Controlling APNs bypass requires iOS 16.4 or macOS 13.3.

Live Activity

Settings → Connection → Live Activity (on by default) shows the connection state and a timer as a Live Activity. It needs iOS 16.1 or newer and is controlled by the system (iOS Settings, mins, Live Activities). It does not show live speed. The app updates it while it is in the foreground, so the status can lag after an external disconnect until you open mins.

Widgets, shortcuts and Control Center

They use the last configuration that connected. If they say there is no saved VPN configuration (No saved VPN configuration, Saved VPN configuration is missing), connect once from inside mins. Wait for the VPN to disconnect means a previous disconnect is still finishing; try again in a few seconds.

Other messages

Message	Meaning
`The signed App Group is unavailable`	The copy of mins is not signed with the group that the app and its tunnel share, for example a re-signed build. Install the official build
`Cannot read underlying network DNS resolvers`	There was no network when the tunnel started. Connect to Wi-Fi or mobile data and try again
`VPN did not reach the requested connection state`	iOS did not finish connecting or disconnecting in time. Try again
`Protocol … is not supported`	See Protocol X is not supported