A new phone does not bring config automatically
Shadowrocket nodes, subscriptions, and rules live on the device by default. A new iPhone, a setup-as-new restore, or deleting the app can take that data with it. The system “install the app again” step only brings the icon back, not the subscription list.
To carry config to a new device you need iCloud sync, turned on in two places: inside the app, and in Settings. One side only often leaves the other phone empty. This is not a store-account issue, and “I bought it” does not put nodes on the new phone — Purchased only downloads the app binary.
Both switches have to be on
In the app. Open Shadowrocket, go to Data (or the related settings page), and turn on iCloud sync. The label follows your version. The point is to let config upload to iCloud.
In Settings. Open Settings → your Apple ID → iCloud and confirm Shadowrocket may use iCloud Drive (or the matching toggle). If the system blocks it, the in-app switch cannot upload.
Both devices must use the same iCloud Apple ID. That can be a different account from the App Store ID used to buy the app. The store account installs the app; the iCloud account syncs config. Mixing them up looks like “the app is installed, the list is still empty.”
Leave the old phone online, keep the app open for a bit, and do not shut it down the second you toggle sync. On the new phone, install Shadowrocket with the same iCloud account and wait for the list. The first launch still needs network permission and, later, the VPN prompt.
What usually comes along, and what might not
Subscription records, nodes, and common config usually sync. In some versions, Scenes and groups are not in automatic sync. Do not assume every UI state will follow you.
So export important rules, or at least screenshot them. Always keep the subscription URL in a password manager or note. If sync fails, a version skips something, or you turned iCloud off, that URL still lets you re-import. Relying only on the in-app record is not a backup.
Sync moves config, not the servers themselves. If the plan expired, the quota ran out, or the provider changed the address, the list on the new phone still will not connect. Ask the party who sold the nodes. This site does not provide subscriptions.
The app on the new phone still has to be installed
iCloud sync will not install Shadowrocket for you. Get the genuine app from the App Store first. Sign in with the store account that paid, open Purchased, search Shadowrocket, and download from the cloud icon. You should not buy it again. Steps: download guide and if search finds nothing, check the store region.
The China store may still not list the app. That has nothing to do with whether the old phone used it. On the new phone, switch to the store region used at purchase, install, then you can sign back into your daily account. Do not “restore” from a website ipa.
The new phone list is still empty
Check in this order. Do not wipe the old phone first:
- The new phone already has the genuine app from Purchased, product ID 932747118.
- Both devices share the same iCloud account; Settings allows the app to use iCloud; in-app sync is on.
- The old phone opened the app on a network long enough to upload.
- If a subscription record arrived without server entries, tap Update on that subscription on the new phone. Saved is not the same as downloaded: empty list after save.
- If it is still empty, add the subscription again from the URL you stored. Do not factory-reset the old phone and hope the cloud magically has a copy.
If sync was never on before you delete the app, config goes with it. Leaving sync on day to day is cheaper than backing up after something breaks. Turning it on the day you switch phones often means the cloud is still empty.
Keep this separate from connection problems
Once config is on the new phone, whether a connection works still depends on the node, the rules, and the switch. Sync will not revive a dead line, and it will not grant VPN permission. The first connect on the new phone asks to add a VPN configuration again. Allow it.
If the list is there, the switch is on, and the target still fails, follow connection troubleshooting and how to read Data traffic. Do not treat it as a sync failure and reinstall in a loop. Rule mode vs global: rule mode and global.
This site only explains how to back up and install the client. We do not provide Apple IDs, servers, or installers. The app is still purchased on the App Store only, about $2.99 one-time.
Before you give the old phone away or send it for repair, if sync never succeeded, do not erase it yet. Copy the subscription URL, confirm iCloud is still on in the app, then watch whether the new phone gets records. Both devices online at once is more likely to finish one transfer than “wipe the old one, then set up the new one.” If you erase first and the cloud is empty, with no second copy of the URL, you can only ask the provider for the link again.
Do not assume a full device backup contains every Shadowrocket state. Encrypted backups, OS versions, and whether the app is allowed to back up all change the restore. Treat iCloud sync plus a stored URL as the default. A full-device restore is extra. Fewer unknowns when something fails.
After the new phone has the app, VPN permission and local-network permission have to be granted again. Synced config does not mean system permission is already there. Without it, the switch, Data, and the actual connection will not line up, which again looks like “sync failed.” Finish the system prompts, then decide whether the list and rules are present.
If the old phone is already gone, and iCloud may or may not have a copy, the stored subscription URL is still the first recovery path. Open the app on the new phone, add Subscribe, tap Update. That is more controllable than waiting on an uncertain cloud copy. If the cloud later pulls the old config down too, do not keep two identical subscriptions updating at once or the list duplicates. Keep one working copy. The import steps in the tutorial apply on the new phone; you do not need a sideloaded package.