Before you retire an iPhone, put the Shadowrocket subscribe URL in a password manager, export the profile to storage you control, and write down policy-group logic. Screenshots cannot refresh. QR codes in group chats are leaked keys.
3.2.1 can export. Treat the file like a credential. Install the new phone from the download page only.
Minimum kit
- Subscribe URL
- Profile or remote rule URL
- Which group is URL Test vs fallback
- On Demand SSIDs
Import order matches the import guide: permission, update, rules. Leave MITM off. Cross-OS field names: porting. Failures: update fail. FAQ, guides.
Field questions tied to this guide
- Does iCloud copy everything? Maybe. Store the subscribe URL in a password manager regardless.
- QR only? Fine for a manual node. Subscribe URLs rot when the provider changes hosts.
- Old phone is dead, no backup. Re-copy the sub from the provider console. Keys that lived only on the dead phone need a provider reset.
- Include MITM certs in the backup? Prefer not to. Mint them again if you truly need decryption.
Change one control, then retest
While working through “Backing up Shadowrocket before you swap iPhones”, write the download-page version, mode, protocol, and node name on the first line of a note. After each toggle, run one check only: 1.1.1.1/help or the exact page that failed. Changing Kill Switch, split rules, and nodes together makes the next failure un-debuggable. Get Shadowrocket packages only from the download page; permissions and device limits live in the FAQ and guides.
On office or hotel networks, finish captive portals and clear leftover PAC entries before you decide this article’s failure mode applies. A cellular A/B exposes router DNS and parental filters quickly. Avoid hammering login on a second device during the test so session kickouts are not mistaken for radio drops.
Pin the combination that works—SSID, node, protocol—and reuse it on that network instead of starting from Auto every time. Keeping slug rocket-config-backup as your note title makes the write-up searchable later.
When to stop and change layers
After five identical failures, stop. Recheck the documented build, confirm a single tunnel client, ensure Kill Switch was not blocking a portal, and verify the browser is not Direct in a split list. Stopping is how you escape the wrong layer.
When you ask for help, include time, SSID, mode, protocol, node names, and steps already tried. After recovery, verify egress in a clean browser so cache does not fake success, then write the split list or favorites back into your notes before the next reinstall.
Extra pass for “Backing up Shadowrocket before you swap iPhones”: retest three minutes on a second network and confirm the download page build. If only one app fails, inspect split membership; if everything fails, inspect permissions and DNS first. One change at a time remains the fastest habit when debugging Shadowrocket.
Extra pass for “Backing up Shadowrocket before you swap iPhones”: retest three minutes on a second network and confirm the download page build. If only one app fails, inspect split membership; if everything fails, inspect permissions and DNS first. One change at a time remains the fastest habit when debugging Shadowrocket.
Extra pass for “Backing up Shadowrocket before you swap iPhones”: retest three minutes on a second network and confirm the download page build. If only one app fails, inspect split membership; if everything fails, inspect permissions and DNS first. One change at a time remains the fastest habit when debugging Shadowrocket.
Extra pass for “Backing up Shadowrocket before you swap iPhones”: retest three minutes on a second network and confirm the download page build. If only one app fails, inspect split membership; if everything fails, inspect permissions and DNS first. One change at a time remains the fastest habit when debugging Shadowrocket.
Extra pass for “Backing up Shadowrocket before you swap iPhones”: retest three minutes on a second network and confirm the download page build. If only one app fails, inspect split membership; if everything fails, inspect permissions and DNS first. One change at a time remains the fastest habit when debugging Shadowrocket.
Extra pass for “Backing up Shadowrocket before you swap iPhones”: retest three minutes on a second network and confirm the download page build. If only one app fails, inspect split membership; if everything fails, inspect permissions and DNS first. One change at a time remains the fastest habit when debugging Shadowrocket.