Proxy for Shadowrocket: a beginner's guide
Need a proxy on your iPhone or iPad? Shadowrocket makes it simple: add one of our proxies, send only the sites you choose through it, and check it works.
Pay per GB, from $3.98 · ready once payment clears · 99.9% uptime
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Shadowrocket for beginners: getting a proxy onto your iPhone
Shadowrocket is a paid app for iPhone and iPad. It has no servers of its own: you type in proxy details you already have, and it carries your phone's traffic through them. Quick start: 1) copy the host, port, username and password from your dashboard, 2) add them as a new server in the app, 3) switch it on and check your IP address in Safari.
The free alternative built into iOS
If you only need a proxy on home Wi-Fi, iOS has a setting: Settings, Wi-Fi, tap the (i) beside your network, then Configure Proxy and Manual. It accepts HTTP proxies only and covers just that network, which is why some people pay for Shadowrocket.
Which type to choose
Residential, an address from a home broadband line, suits most browsing. Mobile 4G/5G, an address from a phone network, fits when a site treats mobile-data visitors differently. Datacenter, an address from a server company, is the low-cost type for simple websites.
Things not to do
Don't paste in free server lists or links from strangers, because whoever runs those servers can watch your traffic. Don't leave the app in global Proxy mode all day, or background updates and photo backups will eat your data. And don't use it to break a service's rules.
If nothing loads
First switch off any other VPN app: an iPhone runs only one at a time. Then compare the server type, port and password with your dashboard, character by character. On mobile data, use username and password login rather than IP whitelisting, because your phone's address keeps changing.
Quick start in three steps
Nothing to install. This is the whole route, from paying to the first page you load through the proxy.
Buy a small Residential plan
Choose a small bundle, or just the GB (gigabytes of data) you need, and pay. Then, under My Plans → Proxy Configuration in your dashboard, set the country, the protocol, and sticky (one address that stays put) or rotating (a new one each time).
Paste it into the tool
Most tools have a proxy field or a list to paste into, often one proxy per line. Add a single proxy first and run one small task.
Check that it worked
Paste the details into our proxy checker: it shows whether the proxy answers and which IP address sites will see. The IP location lookup then tells you which country that address is in, and if anything looks wrong, the quick fixes further down cover the usual slips. About to log in somewhere? Switch to a sticky session first, so the address stays put.
Our pick for Shadowrocket: Residential
Shadowrocket is an iPhone and iPad app that sends your traffic through a proxy you choose, following rules you set. Residential is the type listed for it: addresses from home broadband providers, so websites and apps see an ordinary home connection in the country you picked. That suits privacy on the move and seeing a site as people elsewhere do.
Slots into Shadowrocket's proxy config
Tap the plus button, choose HTTP or SOCKS5 as the type (whichever protocol your dashboard shows), and fill in the address, port, username and password. Save it and select it. The first time you switch it on, iOS asks to add a VPN configuration; that's normal, and it's how the app routes traffic on your phone.
Per-app and per-rule routing
Shadowrocket's Config mode follows rules, mostly based on website addresses, so you can send just the sites you care about through the proxy and let everything else go direct. That keeps your data use down, since only the chosen sites count towards your plan.
City and country geo-targeting
Choose the country in your dashboard, and a city where one's offered, before you copy the details into Shadowrocket. Then open a 'what is my IP' site on your phone to check the location is right. Keep the use honest: shopping and streaming services' terms still apply wherever your IP appears to be.
Sticky or rotating sessions
For apps you stay signed in to, choose Sticky: the address holds steady for a stretch. Rotating hands out a new address on each connection, so a logged-in app may keep asking you to sign in again. For everyday phone use, sticky is the easier choice.
What a proxy won't do here
It won't make a tool acceptable to a site or game that bans automation, and it can't stop them acting on an account the tool runs.
What people use it for
- ▸Seeing a site's local version on your iPhone
- ▸Sending only chosen sites through a proxy
- ▸Testing your own app or site from abroad
- ▸A proxy that works on mobile data too
Which proxy type should I pick for Shadowrocket?
Residential is the sensible starting point here. Datacenter costs less when a site accepts server addresses; mobile and premium earn their higher price only in the cases described below.
| Type | Choose it when… | From, per GB |
|---|---|---|
| Datacenter | Cost matters most and the site is happy with addresses from server companies. Good for public pages and first experiments. | $2.49 |
| Residential Our pick for Shadowrocket | A site turns server addresses away, or you want to see it the way a local visitor does. The address belongs to a home broadband line. | $3.98 |
| Mobile 4G/5G | The service is built around phones, or you want to see it as someone on 4G or 5G would. The address comes from a phone network. | $4.98 |
| Residential Premium | Standard residential keeps being refused on one particular site. Hand-picked home addresses, at a higher price per GB. | $6.99 |
Choosing a country: Pick the country your task needs and keep each job in one country, so what the tool sees stays consistent from run to run. There are 55+ countries, and in major markets some types let you pick a city too. Browse locations
For the longer version, our proxy comparison walks through all four types.
What you need to add a proxy to your software
Wherever you set it up, you type in the same four details from your dashboard: the host (the proxy's address), the port (a number that tells the connection which door to use), a username and a password.
Inside an app, tool or script
Some apps and most automation tools have a proxy box of their own, which keeps the change to that one program. In code, the proxy is usually a single setting.
Two ways to log in to the proxy
- ▸Username and password. The
host:port:user:passdetails that browsers, apps and scripts ask for. - ▸IP whitelist. Add your own IP address to the list in your dashboard and connections from it need no password. Handy where there's nowhere to type one, such as Android's Wi-Fi proxy screen.
Which protocol?
A protocol is the language your device uses to talk to the proxy. Every proxy works over HTTP, HTTPS and SOCKS5; if an app asks for SOCKS5 by name, give it SOCKS5 details, and put HTTP details in an HTTP box.
Common slip-ups, and the quick fix for each
When something feels off on a first try, it's often one of these.
Logging in on a rotating address
Rotating means a new address for every request; sticky means one address kept for 1-30 minutes. Use sticky for anything you sign in to, or the site may log you out halfway through.
A slip in the proxy details
One wrong character in the host, port, username or password and nothing connects. Copy them again from your dashboard and try them in our proxy checker. Using the IP whitelist? Home IP addresses change now and then, so check yours with the IP checker and update the list.
Starting with a big run
Try one task on one proxy first and watch what happens. A mistake in a large run wastes data, and any accounts the tool uses can be limited.
Pages load slowly
Home connections vary in speed. Pick a proxy country nearer to you and try again before changing anything else.
Proxy not working when it arrives? Tell us within 24 hours of delivery and we'll swap it, or refund that part of the order if we can't (see the refund policy). Support answers 24/7 through the contact page.
Is a proxy for Shadowrocket allowed?
Using a proxy is legal in most countries (a few restrict them), so the question is what you do through it: stick to public information and your own accounts, at a sensible pace, within the service's terms and the law where you live.
Many sites and games ban bots and automation tools outright, so read the rules of whatever the tool touches before you start. Where automation is forbidden, running it through a proxy is still forbidden.
If personal data is involved, data-protection law applies as well, and no proxy can protect an account from a platform's own decisions.
Keeping the cost down
You pay for data by the GB, never for time, so set the proxy in the one browser or app that needs it and switch it off when you're done.
Start with a small order
Buy a little Residential data first, at $3.98 per GB, and try it where you need it. Top up once it works.
Use it within 30 days
Each order runs for 30 days from payment, and GB you haven't used don't carry over, so buy for the weeks ahead rather than the year.
Match the type to the site
Leave easy sites on datacenter and send only the stubborn ones through residential, mobile or premium. Mixing types keeps the bill small.
Delivered instantly · 99.9% uptime · no traffic logs · you pay the price on the live plan you choose
Questions beginners ask about Shadowrocket
Start small, then decide
Order a little Residential data, test it with our free tools, and buy more only once it does what you need.
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