# Getting started on macOS

URnetwork on the Mac is the same app as on iPhone and iPad, built native
for macOS. This guide takes you from the Mac App Store to connected, in
about five minutes. It covers install, sign-in, permissions, connecting,
and where to get help. For every screen and setting, read the
[macOS tour](/docs/tour-macos).

URnetwork uses member-run exit devices. Providers do not receive your source
IP on relayed paths. Native apps also encrypt traffic to the provider by
default. Read [How URnetwork works](/docs/overview) for the full model.

## What you need

URnetwork runs on any Mac with macOS 13.5 or later. Signing up needs no
email, and the free tier needs no card.

## Install

1. Open the App Store on your Mac and search for **URnetwork**, or go to
   [apps.apple.com/us/app/urnetwork/id6741000606](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/urnetwork/id6741000606).
2. Click **Get** and open the app. It is the same listing as iPhone and
   iPad, so if you already have the app on your phone it shows as
   available on your Mac too.

Third-party security assessments, and their limits, are covered in the
[threat model](/docs/threat-model).

## Sign in

The app opens on the sign-in options. Pick the identity model you are
comfortable with:

- **Apple or Google.** The familiar one-tap paths.
- **Solana wallet.** Approve a message signature with your wallet.
- **Bittensor wallet.** The same idea, signed through WalletConnect.
- **Seedphrase.** Sign back in with the recovery phrase an Instant Account
  gave you. It is URnetwork's own phrase. URnetwork never asks for a
  crypto wallet's seed phrase.
- **Auth code.** Sign in with a code from a device that is already logged
  in. Handy for moving from your phone to your Mac.
- **Create Account.** The classic email or phone path.
- **Create Instant Account.** No email, no phone, no password. One click
  makes a real, permanent network. Instead of a login it hands you a
  **seedphrase**: a list of words, shown once, that is the credential.
  Save it on that screen. While the Mac stays signed in you can mint a
  replacement under Account → Settings → Seedphrase, which retires the
  old one. Once you are signed out with nothing saved, no one can recover
  the account for you.

Not sure which? Create Account with an email is the simplest and most
portable. The Instant Account is the fastest and the most private. The
wallet options matter if you would rather anchor your identity to a wallet
you already use. Every network starts on the free tier, a daily data
allowance that refreshes each day. Pro replaces it with a large monthly
allowance. Current plans: [ur.io/products](https://ur.io/products).

## The VPN permission

The first time you connect, macOS asks for permission to add a **VPN
configuration**. This is the operating system speaking, not the app. The
tunnel runs as a system network extension, and macOS requires your
approval before any app can carry your traffic. Approve it once and you
are done.

The result lives in **System Settings → VPN**. If you ever change your
mind, deleting that VPN entry in System Settings is how you undo it.

For what URnetwork records about your connections, read the
[threat model](/docs/threat-model).

## Connect

1. Click the connect button on the Connect screen.
2. On your first connect, approve the VPN configuration above.
3. The globe lights up with the locations your traffic exits from.

URnetwork also lives in your menu bar, with Connect and Disconnect, a Show
button for the window, and Quit. Closing the window leaves the tunnel
running; the menu bar keeps the controls one click away. **Quit**
disconnects first and then exits. The app hands macOS no auto-connect
rule, so after a restart you reconnect yourself.

### Choose a location

By default the app chooses **best available**: the highest-scored
providers near you. That is the right choice for most sessions.

To choose where your traffic exits:

1. Click the location card on the Connect screen, or the toolbar button
   marked **Show Provider List**. The list slides out beside the globe.
2. Scroll for countries, or type in the search field. Regions and cities
   appear only in search results, so type a city's name to find it.
3. Pick a location. The app reconnects through providers there.

Each place shows a live count of providers online. Providers are member
devices, not datacenters, so counts rise and fall with the time of day.
The [overview](/docs/overview) explains the path your traffic takes. The
[tour](/docs/tour-macos) explains the connection settings and their
trade-offs.

## Confirm it works

Visit any "what is my IP" site. It should show a provider's address and
city rather than yours. After that, the menu-bar icon is your at-a-glance
status for whether the tunnel is up.

## If something fails

The **Support** section in the sidebar reaches the team at
[feedback.ur.io](https://feedback.ur.io). The [tour](/docs/tour-macos)
covers macOS-specific troubleshooting. The [FAQ](/docs/faq) answers common
questions.

## What next

- **Take the [tour](/docs/tour-macos).** Every screen and setting: the
  sidebar, the menu-bar extra, custom DNS, split rules, the kill switch
  (off by default), and macOS-specific troubleshooting.
- **Share your Mac's spare bandwidth.** Provide mode ships on *Never*, in
  Account → Settings → Connections, and can be limited to your own
  devices. Providers participate in the UR protocol;
  [ur.xyz](https://ur.xyz) documents how rewards work.
- **Same account, other devices:**
  [iPhone and iPad](/docs/getting-started-ios) and
  [Android](/docs/getting-started-android).
- **Try another platform:** [Windows](/docs/getting-started-windows),
  [Linux](/docs/getting-started-linux), and the
  [browser](/docs/getting-started-browser).