Best proxies for iPhone in 2026, by network and app

The short answer: which proxy for which iPhone job

An iPhone needs two things from a proxy: an address of the right kind, and a login it can send. The address decides what apps and sites see. The login has to be a username and password, because the phone's own public IP changes every time it moves between networks, so an IP whitelist stops matching as soon as you leave home. QuanticData sells three networks that fit a phone, all three with username and password:

The rule that saves money: if the app only checks the country, Residential Premium is enough. Pay for mobile when the app or the account expects a phone on a carrier network, and for ISP when the address itself must never change.

What we measured

Two checks, both with the method published. On 13 September 2026 we sent 98 requests through the mobile network in 8 countries: 40 of 40 rotating exits matched the requested country, on 23 distinct carrier ASNs (mobile proxies, tested, raw rows attached). On 23 October 2026 a Residential Premium sticky line with -country-jp, added to Shadowrocket, came out in Sapporo, Hokkaido, with the time zone Asia/Tokyo; the screen is in our Shadowrocket proxy setup guide.

Proxy apps for iPhone that take a username and password

On an iPhone the proxy goes into an app. Shadowrocket and Potatso both run as a VPN configuration that iOS asks you to allow once, so every app on the phone goes through the proxy, on Wi-Fi and on cellular, and one switch turns it off. Neither comes with servers of its own: you add the QuanticData server with four values from the dashboard, host, port, username and password.

Field and mode names are the ones each app publishes: Shadowrocket in its App Store listing, Potatso in its documentation at docs.potatso.com, read on 24 October 2026.

Shadowrocket is a paid app and needs iOS 13.0 or later; every field, the four routing modes and a fix per error are in the Shadowrocket setup guide. Potatso connects to HTTP and SOCKS5 proxies with a user name and password and imports a whole proxy from one link; its user name cannot contain a colon, which a QuanticData username never does. Leave TLS off in both apps: the QuanticData ports speak plain HTTP and SOCKS5. Any other iOS app that accepts an HTTP or SOCKS5 server with a username and password works the same way, because the four values do not change.

Mobile, ISP or Residential Premium on an iPhone

Mobile 4G/5G proxies

A mobile exit is a carrier address shared with real phones behind CGNAT, which is what an app that expects a phone assumes. In the Mobile Endpoint generator choose the gateway (Global, USA, EU or Asia), a sticky session and the protocol; the username then carries -type-mobile and the session, and a new session ID gives a new carrier IP. Country, region, city or carrier go in the username, across 194 listed countries and territories. $5 for 1 GB, $2.30/GB at 500 GB, packs valid 90 days: mobile proxies.

Static ISP proxies

An ISP plan gives fixed IPs registered to internet providers, listed on the plan's page under Assigned IPs, each with its own username and password. The address does not change for as long as the plan runs, so one IP per phone is the setup for an account that must always come from the same place. Unlimited bandwidth per IP, from $2.50/IP per month, in 61 countries: ISP proxies.

Residential Premium

Residential Premium gives a household address from its own city and ISP catalog, sticky for up to 24 hours, with the country, region, city or ISP chosen in the generator. Its generator authenticates by username and password only, which is what a phone needs anyway. From $2.20/GB: residential proxies.

Set up a proxy on iPhone in five steps

1. Get the four values. In the QuanticData dashboard open My proxies, then the plan, then the Endpoint generator: choose the country, set Session to Sticky with a lifetime that covers your day (up to 1,440 minutes), choose HTTP or SOCKS5 and copy host, port, username and password from Connection details. On an ISP plan the four values are on each line of Assigned IPs.
2. Add the server. In Shadowrocket tap + on the Home tab and set Type to HTTP or Socks5. In Potatso add a proxy of type HTTP or SOCKS5, or import the generator line in the http://user:pass@host:port format as a link.
3. Fill the fields. Address or server: the host. Port: the one of the type you chose, since HTTP and SOCKS5 have different ports. User: the whole username, everything after the first dash included. Password: the password, with no space before or after.
4. Send every app through it. Shadowrocket: Global Routing, Proxy. Potatso: Global mode. Then switch the app on; the first time, iOS asks to add a VPN configuration, which is how the app carries the phone's traffic.
5. Check the exit. Open ipinfo.io/json in Safari: the country has to be the one in the username, and the organization a carrier on mobile or a home ISP on Residential Premium.

What goes in the User field, and the same line as one link:

• Residential Premium, Japan, sticky for the day: USER-country-jp-sid-p01-ttl-1440m
• Mobile, United States, one carrier IP for the day: USER-country-us-type-mobile-sid-m01-ttl-1440m
• The Premium line as a link, for Potatso's import: http://USER-country-jp-sid-p01-ttl-1440m:PASS@PROXY_HOST:PORT

USER and PASS stand for your credentials, PROXY_HOST and PORT for the host and port shown in the dashboard.

One sticky session per iPhone

A phone that stays logged in to apps should look like one person on one connection. A sticky session keeps one IP for as long as it lives, and it lives in the username, so the server never changes once it is saved.

• A lifetime longer than the day. Up to 1,440 minutes on mobile and Residential Premium. When the session ends, the next connection gets a new IP, which an app can read as a new login location.
• One session ID per device. An iPad on the same plan gets -sid-p02, never the iPhone's; two devices on one session share one IP.
• A new IP only when you want one. Change the value after -sid-, or keep two or three servers with different session IDs in the app and tap the one you want.
• The country of the account. The exit country in the username should match the country of the accounts used on that phone, and stay the same from one day to the next.

Proxy on iPhone not working: what to check

The cases behind most iPhone proxy questions, in the order to check them:

Do not judge the exit by the flag an app shows next to the server: it usually comes from the gateway's address or the server's name. The IP page is the check that counts.

What to buy for an iPhone, and the username to use

Pick the row, buy the plan, paste the four values into Shadowrocket or Potatso.

Host, port and password are in the dashboard as soon as the plan is active. Every QuanticData account also gets $2 of free API usage per month for the data APIs.