Zen

Zen for iPhone

Apple has no store for apps like Zen, so SideStore installs it with your own Apple Account. You need a computer only once.

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Install with SideStore

SideStore is a free, open-source app that installs apps on the iPhone and signs them with your Apple Account. You set it up once with a computer; after that it installs, renews and updates Zen right on the phone.

Before you start

  1. LocalDevVPN on the iPhone

    Install LocalDevVPN from the App Store, open it and tap Connect. Allow the VPN configuration and enter your passcode. This VPN only talks to the iPhone itself; SideStore needs it on whenever it installs or renews apps.

  2. SideStore from the computer

    On the computer install iloader (on Windows also iTunes or Apple Devices). Connect the iPhone by cable and trust the computer. In iloader sign in with your Apple Account — type the e-mail exactly, capital letters matter — pick the iPhone and choose Install SideStore (Stable).

    iloader and SideStore’s guide

  3. Trust SideStore on the iPhone

    Open Settings → General → VPN & Device Management, tap your Apple Account and trust it (on iOS 18 and later: allow and restart, then enter your passcode). On iOS 16 and later also turn on Settings → Privacy & Security → Developer Mode; the iPhone restarts.

  4. Open SideStore and refresh it once

    With LocalDevVPN connected, open SideStore and sign in with the same Apple Account. In My Apps tap the 7 DAYS counter next to SideStore; if it asks about a certificate, answer Yes or Refresh Now. SideStore jumps to the Home Screen for a moment: that is normal.

  5. Add Zen and install it

    On this iPhone tap Add Zen to SideStore and confirm in SideStore. By hand: in SideStore open Sources, tap + and paste https://robertostrowskijagoda.github.io/Zen/apps.json. Then open Zen in the source and install it, with LocalDevVPN connected.

    Add Zen to SideStore

  6. Let it renew by itself

    An app signed with a free Apple Account opens for 7 days. SideStore renews it on the phone — no computer — whenever LocalDevVPN is connected. Set up this automation once and it happens every day by itself:

    1. In the Shortcuts app open Automation, tap + and choose a time of day: daily, at an hour when the iPhone is on Wi-Fi (at night is fine), and run immediately, without asking.
    2. Add the VPN action (Set VPN): connect LocalDevVPN.
    3. Add SideStore’s action Refresh All Apps and save.
    4. The next day the counter in SideStore → My Apps shows 7 days again.

    SideStore also tries to renew in the background, but iOS decides when; the automation makes it dependable. If the 7 days ever run out, nothing is lost: connect LocalDevVPN, open SideStore and tap the counter.

  7. New versions

    When a new version is out, Zen tells you. Connect LocalDevVPN and tap the update button in Zen: SideStore downloads and installs the new version. Or in SideStore open My Apps and tap Update next to Zen. Don’t delete Zen first: the new version replaces the old one.

With a free Apple Account at most 3 apps from SideStore work at a time, SideStore included, and at most 10 new apps can be added in a week. SideStore and Zen take two of the three.

Honestly: SideStore signs Zen with your own Apple Account, never with ours. If the 7 days run out, Zen just doesn’t open until it is renewed; its data stays on the iPhone. Still, make a full account copy now and then (Zen: Settings → Account and recovery).

On iPhone Zen receives messages at once while it is open. Otherwise iOS lets it check for mail now and then, and until then messages wait safely with your friends. To receive all the time, turn it on in Settings → Background work (it uses more battery).

Why not the App Store? Its legal rules, such as moderation, payments and financial licences, need a company and money that Zen does not have. Why not in the stores

If something goes wrong

Zen or SideStore doesn’t open after 7 days

Connect LocalDevVPN, open SideStore → My Apps and tap the counter next to SideStore, then next to Zen. If SideStore itself no longer opens, install it again with iloader (step 2) and then renew Zen; Zen’s data stays.

An error about the pairing file, often after an iOS update

The pairing file lets SideStore talk to your iPhone; it can expire after an iOS update or a reset. Make a new one with iloader on the computer: SideStore’s guide.

There is no Developer Mode in Settings

It exists only on iOS 16 and later, and it shows up once iloader has installed SideStore. Do step 2 again, then look at the very bottom of Settings → Privacy & Security.

SideStore says the app limit is reached

With a free Apple Account only 3 apps, SideStore included, work at a time. Remove one you no longer need in SideStore → My Apps, then install Zen.

The automation says “the operation took too long”

Usually the refresh finished anyway: check the counter in SideStore → My Apps. If it didn’t, make sure Wi-Fi was on and LocalDevVPN connected at that hour.

Installing or renewing hangs or fails

Check that Wi-Fi is on and LocalDevVPN is connected, and turn off other VPNs and DNS blockers. Try again; restarting SideStore and LocalDevVPN helps. More in SideStore’s troubleshooting.

Other ways

AltStore Classic: add the Zen source and install from it; it renews apps through AltServer on a computer in the same Wi-Fi. Sideloadly: install the IPA from a computer.

Add Zen to AltStore Zen-unsigned.ipa

Zen is installed. What now?

Add your first friend and learn the basics.

How to use Zen

All systems Discord