Create a US Apple ID without a credit card

App Store search is regional. It only shows apps published in the region of the Apple ID you are signed in with. Nono VPN is published in 11 regions (United States, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan and Australia), so if your account is set to another region, the app will not appear. It is not broken. The straightforward fix is to create a second Apple ID with a US region and use it only for the App Store, while your existing account keeps iCloud and everything else. No card, about ten minutes, and nothing on your existing account is lost.

What you need

• An email address that has never been used for an Apple ID before. Gmail or Outlook is fine. The verification code will arrive there.
• Your own phone number for two-factor verification. Any country works. The account region comes from the billing address you enter, not from the phone number.
• Access to the App Store. You do not need a VPN to create the account. Apple reads the region from the address, not from your IP.

Create the account from the App Store, not from Settings

The order matters. Create the account inside the App Store, while installing a free app. That route shows None as a payment option. Other routes sometimes do not.

1. Open Settings, tap your name at the top, scroll to Media & Purchases, and sign out. This signs you out of the App Store only. iCloud, photos, and messages are untouched, and installed apps stay.
2. Open the App Store, search for a free app such as Nono VPN, and tap Get. When asked to sign in, choose Create New Apple ID.
3. Country or region: United States. Accept the terms.
4. Enter your email, password, and date of birth. Then enter the verification code from the email.
5. Payment method: choose None. If None is missing, you came in through the wrong route. Go back to step 2.
6. Billing address: it needs to be a real US address. A hotel or public library address from a map works. The ZIP code must match the state. For example, a California address should have a five-digit ZIP starting with 9. The phone number in this section can be any valid US number, such as the hotel's. Nothing is sent to it.
7. Enter your own mobile number for two-factor verification and confirm the code.

Done. The App Store now shows the US catalog, and Nono VPN appears in it. Tap Get to install.

Choosing the address

Apple does not check whether you live there. It checks that the address is formally valid and that the ZIP code matches the state. Two practical tips: choose a large hotel or public library so the address is stable. If you ever plan to spend balance on the account, states without sales tax (Oregon, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire) mean no tax is added to purchases.

Two accounts on one iPhone

iPhone allows you to use one account for iCloud and another for the App Store permanently:

• Settings, your name, Media & Purchases: this is the only place you need to switch accounts. Sign out here and sign in with the US account. iCloud stays as it is.
• To update an app installed with your original account, switch back the same way. Apple updates each app only with the account that installed it.

Most people keep the US account signed in to the App Store all the time and switch back only for occasional updates to older apps.

After installing: website subscriptions are not tied to the Apple ID

Nono VPN has a permanent free tier: a monthly high-speed allowance of about 300 MB, after which the connection continues at a reduced speed without cutting off. No card or payment is required to start. If you later choose a paid plan, you can pay in the app through Apple or on the website. A subscription purchased on the website is attached to your Nono VPN account (your email), not to the Apple ID. That means a website subscription stays with your Nono VPN account if you later change your Apple ID or phone, and one account supports up to 3 devices online at the same time.

Mistakes that get accounts locked

• Changing the region of your existing account instead of creating a new one. It requires a zero balance and no active subscriptions, and apps unavailable in the new region stop updating.
• Signing in to the new account on many devices in different countries within hours. Apple treats this as a resold account and temporarily locks it.
• Losing the email or phone number used for verification. Recovery takes weeks. Write both down.
• Adding a non-US card. It is declined, and repeated attempts can lock the payment method. Stay on None.

Next

Open the app, sign up with your email, and tap connect. If it connects but pages do not load, go through VPN connected but no internet on iPhone. Most cases are caused by a Wi-Fi login page or a line type blocked by the network.