AdGuard launches native macOS app for stealth TrustTunnel VPN protocol

In the past, using TrustTunnel required opening Terminal and executing commands, but version 1.2 gives the protocol a native graphical interface. “Let’s be honest: not everyone gets excited about opening Terminal,” the TrustTunnel development team said in release notes on GitHub. “Until now, that’s exactly what macOS users had to do to use TrustTunnel. With version 1.2, those days are over.”

TrustTunnel is designed to evade deep packet inspection (DPI), the aggressive monitoring method used by university campus Wi-Fi, corporate networks, and state firewalls to identify and block VPN traffic. The protocol routes connections through TLS with HTTP/2 or HTTP/3, making VPN traffic look like ordinary HTTPS browsing. This camouflage makes it difficult for network administrators to detect, throttle, or block the connection.

The new client includes standard macOS conveniences such as a menu bar status icon for checking connections, an auto-launch setting at startup, and auto-connect when the app opens. Version 1.2 also adds an "Export logs" option in settings, allowing users to quickly share diagnostic data with AdGuard's support team. The former "Query log" has been renamed "Connection log" to clarify the information shown during troubleshooting.

AdGuard's VPN service offers a free tier capped at 3 GB per month; unlimited plans start at the equivalent of $2.99 a month with a 30-day money-back guarantee. The Mac App Store release continues AdGuard's broader effort to make its privacy tools accessible on all platforms, following similar moves such as putting AdGuard VPN in the Microsoft Store and delivering a dedicated iPhone app and simplified desktop client for Apple users. By moving TrustTunnel out of Terminal and into the Mac App Store, AdGuard is making advanced stealth VPN technology available to people who do not consider themselves power users.