How to set up a VPN on Android in two minutes
Step by step: installing Surok VPN on Android without Google Play, the system warning, the VPN permission and what to do if it won't connect.
Android is the simplest case: the app installs from a file, no store needed, and connecting takes one button. Below is the whole path and answers to the questions that come up along the way.
Step 1. Download the app
Open surokvpn.com/app from your phone and press "Download for Android". The file is about 15 MB. There's a separate build for older phones, the link is in the same place.
The browser asks whether to allow installs from this source. That's Android's standard dialog for any app not from Google Play: press "Allow" and continue. The app itself asks for no extra permissions: only internet and a notification that the VPN is running.
Step 2. Sign in
There are three ways, pick the convenient one:
- Email and password, if you registered on the site.
- Telegram: the bot opens, press "Start", the app continues by itself.
- From your account: on a computer open your account, the Android tab, and press "Activate the app". The link is single-use; press it on the phone where the app is installed.
Step 3. Press the button
On the first connection Android shows the system "Connection request" dialog: that's how any VPN works, it's about the system, not Surok. Press "OK". Then the button turns green, a VPN key appears in the status bar, and you can pick a country in the server list.
Which server to choose
The default is "All Europe": Surok measures the response of every exit itself and sends traffic through the fastest. If you need a specific country, for example for a service that checks your region, pick it from the list. On mobile internet with whitelists the "Europe · auto" server helps: it works on mobile carriers.
Won't connect
- Check that the subscription is active: the term is shown on the card under the button.
- Switch the server to a backup or the mobile one.
- If you have one phone and the plan has one device too, unlink the old device in the "Devices" tab.
- Didn't help? Write to support right from the app, the "More" tab.
Updates
The app updates itself: it checks the version at launch and installs the new one without downloading by hand. If you like, you can turn this off in the "More" tab.