Shadowrocket on the App Store: the complete guide

Overview: from search to first launch

What you need before you start

Getting Shadowrocket from the App Store takes three things: an Apple device, an Apple Account that can sign in to the App Store normally, and a working network connection. iPhone and iPad are the main scenarios, and the app shares a single store page across both; Mac, Apple TV and Apple Vision also appear in the compatibility section of that same page. For system requirements, always go by what the App Store page states — this page doesn't list version numbers.

On the account side you only need to confirm one thing: that you can sign in to the App Store normally, and that you know which country or region the account belongs to. The store region decides which storefront's content you see, and chapter 3 shows you how to check it. If you regularly switch between several accounts, first confirm in Settings which account is currently used for Media & Purchases before you start searching — this one step saves a lot of troubleshooting later.

There are no special network requirements — as long as the App Store opens normally, you're fine. If store pages load slowly or images stay blank, work through chapter 8 in order rather than tapping the buy button over and over. Two more things to check on the device side: the system version must meet what the product page's compatibility section requires, and you need enough free storage for the install. When either is missing, the symptoms differ — a button that won't respond, versus a download that stalls halfway — and so do the fixes.

The full path in seven steps

The whole process breaks down into seven steps, each with its own section on this page:

1. Confirm which store region your current account belongs to, and what that region's store shows (see store region and app visibility).
2. Search the App Store for Shadowrocket and open the product page — don't stop at the search results list (see checking your store and account region).
3. Verify the genuine app against three things: developer name, official icon and app ID (see the three-point genuine check).
4. Confirm that the price is a one-time purchase, and what that purchase covers (see buying the app and the one-time purchase).
5. Complete the payment and wait for the app to download to your Home Screen.
6. Open it for the first time and handle the “VPN Configuration” permission prompt as the system asks (see the article What the “VPN Configuration” permission prompt means).
7. Open the app and use Add Server or Subscribe to enter server details or a subscription URL you already have (the main walkthrough is on the tutorial page).

The app purchase and your servers are two separate things

In the seven steps above, steps 4 and 5 answer “where does the app come from”, while step 7 answers “where do your servers come from”. These are independent: the one-time purchase buys a license to use the app itself, and it includes no servers, subscriptions or lines. For the connection side you need server details or a subscription URL you already have, entered inside the app. Get this distinction clear and every later question about price, restoring and Family Sharing becomes much easier.

This site doesn't provide, sell or recommend any service provider, and doesn't rate the quality of any server line; what it can help with is putting information you already have into Shadowrocket correctly. That walkthrough lives on the tutorial page, and this page only touches on it where a concept needs clarifying.

How this page relates to the rest of the site

Content on this site is split by job. The tutorial page is the shortest path from zero to a working connection, covering in order: adding a server, importing a subscription, choosing a Global Routing mode, flipping the switch and verifying. This page is a reference manual, organized into nine chapters by topic, so you can jump to the right one from the contents when a specific question comes up. The FAQ page collects scattered questions with short answers; the download page focuses on device notes and genuine-app verification. All four link to each other, so there's no need to read them in order — start from whichever is closest to your problem.

Store region and app visibility

What determines your store region

The App Store storefront is determined by the country or region tied to your Apple Account — not by your device language, device model or current network location. Change your iPhone's system language to English and the store interface turns English too, but you're still looking at the same storefront's content. Change your network and the store doesn't switch to another country or region either. Understanding this explains most of the “can't find it” cases later on — almost always the app hasn't disappeared, it's that the storefront your current account belongs to isn't the one you assumed.

The same app is published by the same developer in every storefront, with an identical app ID. What differs is whether it's listed in that region, what currency the price is shown in, what that price converts to in local currency, and how the age rating and compatibility sections read on the page. In other words, “visible in region A” doesn't mean “visible in region B”, and the reverse holds too. When you share the product page link with someone, they'll see the page for their own account's storefront — that's normal, not a broken link.

What affects visibility

Lay out the factors and only a few actually decide whether you can find the app; the rest mostly affect how things look:

Age ratings and content restrictions

Store pages show an age rating for every app — that's standard store information. If Content & Privacy Restrictions are enabled on the account or device, apps above the allowed rating may not appear in search results at all, or may appear with a button that won't respond. You'll find this path under Settings → Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions; when you check, pay attention to “iTunes Store & App Store Purchases” and “Allowed Apps”, since both can block the install outright.

Restrictions like these are usually a switch on the device, not an account problem. Check whether restrictions are on before you start suspecting the store region — do it the other way round and you'll waste a lap through account settings. Also note that restrictions may have been set by a parent or a device manager, so confirm you're allowed to change them first.

About changing your region

Changing your account's country or region is an account-level operation that affects existing subscriptions, store credit and payment methods, and Apple sets conditions for it. This page only covers how it affects app visibility and doesn't go into any account operations. If you do need to change it, follow the prompts Apple gives you in account settings — and keep one fact in mind: the purchase record still belongs to the account that paid for it. The “Purchased” restore in chapter 6 uses that account, not the region you changed to.

Checking your store and account region

Three places to confirm your account region

The number one reason for “can't find it” is that the storefront of the account you're signed in with isn't the one you assumed. Checking takes a minute, and there are three places that cross-check each other:

The three places show different layers: Settings shows account attributes, the App Store shows the storefront that account is currently using, and the product page shows this app's details within that storefront. When all three agree, what you're seeing is genuinely available to your current account; when they don't, go by the account signed in under Media & Purchases.

Confirm the storefront from the product page URL

Open the Shadowrocket product page in a browser; the URL looks like https://apps.apple.com/us/app/shadowrocket/id932747118. The us part is the storefront identifier — switch to another storefront and only that segment changes, while id932747118 never does. That rule is useful: whatever region a shared link comes from, if it ends with this ID it points to the same app.

Conversely, if the product page you see in a browser belongs to some region's storefront and the App Store on your device shows something different, then the account your device uses for the store isn't the same one. Don't go by the browser's address bar when checking — go by the account signed in under Media & Purchases on the device, because that's the account that actually decides purchases and downloads.

The facts about multiple accounts and switching

A single device can switch which account is used for the store under Media & Purchases; after switching, the store's content and the Purchased list both follow the current account. What matters is who owns the purchase record: whichever account paid, the purchase is recorded under that account, and restoring the download later must use the same account. If you see a Purchased list that's missing an app you bought, first confirm you're signed in with the account that paid, then look at other causes.

A suggested order for checking

For any “can't find it, can't download it” problem, check in this fixed order: account region first (this chapter), then whether the app exists and what its page says (chapter 4), and finally device restrictions and account status (chapter 8). With the order fixed, troubleshooting stops going in circles — and you avoid the “changed a pile of settings and nothing helped” outcome.

The three-point genuine check: developer name, icon, app ID

What the three points are

There's more than one similarly named app in the store, and the name alone can't tell you which is which. The reliable approach is to look at three things together: developer name, official icon and app ID. Apple provides all three on the product page, they're independent of each other, and once they line up you can be confident you've opened the same app.

• Developer name: Shadow Launch Technology Limited. It appears below the title on the product page, and tapping it opens the developer page listing every app under that name.
• Official icon: a rocket with blue-purple outlines on a white background — the same official artwork used in this site's header. The icon is handy for quick recognition, but screenshots can be copied, so treat it as a supporting check only.
• App ID: 932747118. It appears at the end of the product page URL (id932747118), is assigned by Apple and stays fixed for the app — the most stable of the three.

How to check, step by step

1. Search the App Store for Shadowrocket and tap into the product page.
2. Check the developer name below the title — it should be Shadow Launch Technology Limited. Tap it and confirm the apps on that developer page include the one you want to install.
3. Compare the icon: a rocket with blue-purple outlines on a white background.
4. Tap Share → Copy Link, paste it into a browser or a note, and confirm the URL ends with id932747118.
5. Only when all three match should you think about paying.

Common mismatches and what to do

If the developer name on the product page isn't Shadow Launch Technology Limited, or the URL doesn't end with id932747118, then it isn't the app described on this page — don't pay, and don't enter any information. Similarly named entries in search results are common; just rule them out with the three points, no need to open each one.

One more easily missed point: do the check on the product page, not in the search results list. The list only shows name and icon — no developer name, no ID. Only after you tap into the product page are all three pieces of information available. So “the icon looks right, let's buy” carries a risk that one extra tap removes.

How this maps to the download page

The download page's genuine-app verification section gives the same three-point checklist, plus first-launch notes for iPhone and iPad, restoring on a new device and price facts. If you landed on this page straight from search, it's worth reading that section too — the two checklists match and cross-check each other.

The purchase flow and what a one-time purchase means

From tapping the price to a finished download

1. Tap the price button on the product page; the system shows a purchase confirmation.
2. Complete the confirmation as your device prompts (Face ID, Touch ID or account password).
3. Once confirmed, the download starts and an icon with a progress ring appears on the Home Screen.
4. When the download finishes, a receipt is sent to the email tied to the account, and the purchase is written into the account's purchase history.

The whole process is handled by the App Store; the app itself plays no part in payment. If the confirmation dialog doesn't appear, or it appears and says the purchase can't be completed, check the payment method and account status in the order given in chapter 8 — don't keep tapping the price button.

Price and what the purchase covers

The US storefront price is about US$2.99 as a one-time purchase; other storefronts show it in local currency, with tax handled by local rules. What you see on the page when you open the App Store is the final word. This page doesn't list version numbers or release dates — that kind of information changes over time, so go by the store page.

A one-time purchase means: you pay once and the app is licensed to your account for the long term. Later versions arrive through the App Store's update mechanism, with no repeat purchase for the same app; on a new device, sign in with the same account and download it again from Purchased, again at no charge. Chapter 6 covers that restore flow in full.

A one-time purchase is not a server plan

This is the point the whole page most needs to make clear: buying the client is not buying a server plan. What you buy is the client itself — a tool that reads configurations, manages server entries and decides where traffic goes according to rules. It includes no servers, no subscriptions and no traffic. For Shadowrocket to actually work, you need server details or a subscription URL you already have.

Inside the app there are two entry points: Add Server for entering one server's parameters by hand, and Subscribe for entering a subscription URL that imports the whole server list your provider gave you. The subscription URL comes from your provider and looks like this dummy example:

# Subscription URL example (get yours from your provider; this is a dummy value)
https://example.com/sub?token=xxxx

After importing, what the app works with is configurations and rules. Here's a snippet of a rule file — the three actions PROXY, DIRECT and REJECT mean go through the proxy, connect directly, and reject:

[Rule]
DOMAIN-SUFFIX,example.com,PROXY
DOMAIN-KEYWORD,example,DIRECT
IP-CIDR,192.0.2.0/24,DIRECT,no-resolve
GEOIP,CN,DIRECT
FINAL,PROXY

What this snippet shows is what the client is responsible for: it dispatches traffic to different outbounds according to rules, and those outbounds come from your own servers or subscription. The purchase and the server line are two separate costs — don't conflate them. Once that's clear, it's also clear why you still need to prepare your own server information after installing.

Purchase records and refunds

Every purchase is written into the account's purchase history. If something goes wrong during a purchase, check the purchase record first to see the transaction's status; if you need a refund, start it from the purchase record using Apple's process — whether it's approved is up to Apple under its policies, and neither the app nor this site is involved. Keeping the receipt email is a good habit: when restoring on a new device, it's the most direct proof.

New device, reinstall and restoring from Purchased

When you need to restore

A new iPhone or iPad, erasing and setting up a device again, restoring from a backup and finding the app missing, or having changed store regions at some point — all of these produce a “the app is gone” moment. As long as it was bought with a particular Apple Account, the purchase record stays with that account, and downloading it again costs nothing. This doesn't contradict “the purchase isn't a server plan”: the purchase guarantees the app itself can always be re-downloaded, while your servers are still yours to prepare.

Restore steps

1. On the device, confirm that Media & Purchases is signed in with the account that paid.
2. Open the App Store and tap the profile picture in the top corner to reach the account page.
3. Choose Purchased and search or scroll for Shadowrocket in the list.
4. Once you find it, tap the cloud icon to download it again.
5. If you chose to restore from a backup during setup on the new device, the app may already be back on the Home Screen with nothing to do manually.

If the restore fails, check three things first

First, whether the account matches. Signed in with a different account, Purchased won't show this purchase — that's the most common cause, and it looks exactly like “my purchase is gone” when in fact it's just the wrong account. Second, whether the purchase actually completed. Look through the receipt email or the account's purchase history and confirm the transaction's status; if payment never went through, there's naturally no record to restore. Third, account and device status. A payment method problem, a disabled account, or Content & Privacy Restrictions on the device can all leave the download button unusable — follow the prompt the system gives you instead of tapping repeatedly.

After re-downloading

What you restore is the app itself. Whether your server entries, subscriptions and rule files are still there depends on how you restored the device: restoring from a backup usually keeps app data, while a fresh setup means adding them again. The main walkthrough for adding them is on the tutorial page and isn't repeated here. For a fuller scenario walkthrough, see the article Restoring Shadowrocket after a new device or reinstall.

Family Sharing and one account across devices

What Family Sharing shares

Family Sharing is a set of Apple account collaboration features; the one relevant to getting apps is Purchase Sharing. Once it's on, family members can download apps bought by the family organizer or other members that are allowed to be shared. To be clear: what's shared is the purchase, not the account — every member always signs in to their own device with their own Apple Account.

Whether something is shared depends on the setting at the time of purchase. Purchase Sharing can be adjusted in Family Sharing settings; some apps' purchases may not support sharing, so go by the product page and Apple's documentation. Family Sharing also has country or region requirements — all members need to be in the same region, again per Apple's documentation. These two limits explain most “sharing didn't work” cases.

One account on multiple devices

The same Apple Account can sign in on multiple Apple devices, and purchased apps can be downloaded on each of them without paying again. That's the case between iPhone and iPad; Mac, Apple TV and Apple Vision also appear in the compatibility section of the same store page, and whether they can get the app under the same account, and in what form, is governed by what the store page states. Device counts and sign-in limits are per Apple's documentation — this page doesn't invent numbers.

Differences on iPad

The App Store layout on iPad differs from iPhone, but the entry points are the same: the account profile picture is in the top corner, and Purchased sits in the same menu. The app itself uses the same interface terms on iPadOS — Home, Config, Global Routing and the rest read exactly as they do on iPhone, and configuration works the same way. Moving to an iPad doesn't mean learning a second set of steps.

How this relates to restoring

If you got the app through Family Sharing, restore it with your own account and confirm the sharing relationship is still active; if you're the buyer, the restore flow is exactly as in chapter 6 — use the account that paid. Either way, you never pay a second time for the same app. If the sharing relationship changes (say the family organizer adjusts settings), whether an already-downloaded app keeps working and updating is governed by Apple's documentation.

Step-by-step fixes when you can't find or download it

The order to check things

Work through the items below in order; each one says where to confirm it on the device. The order matters: account first, then store, then device. Only move on when the earlier item doesn't solve it — that way you avoid changing several settings at once and masking the real cause.

1. Search term: type the full English name Shadowrocket into the App Store search field. Rule out similarly named entries in the results using the three points from chapter 4.
2. Store region: confirm the storefront your current account belongs to using the method in chapter 3.
3. Content & Privacy Restrictions: Settings → Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions; check “iTunes Store & App Store Purchases” and “Allowed Apps”.
4. Payment method: Settings → your name at the top → Media & Purchases → View Account → Payment Method; make sure the payment method is valid, since an expired one blocks paid purchases.
5. Network and store services: switch networks, toggle Airplane Mode off and on, then reopen the App Store; if several apps all fail to load, the store service may be temporarily down — try again later.
6. Storage and system version: not enough space makes downloads stall halfway; if the system version is below what the app requires, the product page shows an incompatibility notice. System requirements are per what the App Store page states.
7. Download stuck: on the Home Screen, touch and hold the icon to pause and resume, or handle it in the “Downloading” list on the App Store account page; restart the device if needed.

A few symptoms that are easy to misread

The first is mistaking “can't find it in search” for “the app was pulled”. Most of the time it's just a different storefront, or device restrictions filtering the result out; check in the order above before considering anything else. The second is mistaking a slow download for a network problem. Store download speed depends on both your network and the store service, and trying a different network is the quickest way to tell.

The third is mistaking a greyed-out button for a banned account. A button that won't respond usually comes down to the payment method, restrictions or the system version, and the system normally states the reason on the page — just follow it. The fourth is mistaking “can't restore” for “the purchase expired” — purchase records don't expire, and a failed restore is almost always the wrong account, so go back to the three checks in chapter 6.

Two more things to keep in mind

When you go straight from search results into a product page, verify the three points before paying. It's worth repeating here because the search list itself shows no developer name and no ID, and once the purchase confirmation dialog appears, the window for checking is very short.

If several apps all have problems at once, suspect account status and store services rather than one particular app; conversely, if only this one app has a problem, suspect storefront visibility and content restrictions first. That judgment narrows things down fast, without walking all seven steps.

Quick checklist and related pages

Before you get it

• Confirm which account is signed in under Media & Purchases, and which country or region that account belongs to.
• Search with the full English name Shadowrocket, and judge from the product page — don't stop at the search results list.
• Check the three points: developer name Shadow Launch Technology Limited, the rocket icon with blue-purple outlines on a white background, and id932747118 at the end of the URL.
• Confirm the device's system version matches the product page's compatibility section, and leave enough free storage.

Payment and restoring

• The price is whatever the store page states; in the US storefront it's about US$2.99 as a one-time purchase.
• The purchase covers the client only — no servers, subscriptions or lines; you need your own.
• On a new device or after a reinstall, download it again from Purchased with the account that paid; there's no second charge.
• Family Sharing shares purchases, and each member signs in with their own account.

Related pages

• Download page: genuine-app verification, iPhone and iPad notes, restoring purchases, price and purchase facts.
• Tutorial page: the shortest path from adding a server to verifying a connection.
• FAQ page: scattered questions with short answers.
• Article: Getting Shadowrocket from the App Store, start to finish.
• Article: Shadowrocket missing from the store: checking region, age rating and account status.
• Article: Restoring Shadowrocket after a new device or reinstall.
• Article: What the “VPN Configuration” permission prompt means.
• Article: Choosing a Global Routing mode: how Config, Proxy and Direct differ, and when to use each.
• Article list: every article in one place.

This page is based on the App Store page and the system interface. When the store page, system version or account status changes, go by what you actually see on your device; if this page and the store page disagree, the store page wins.