When people switch iPhones, they remember photos and chat apps, and assume Shadowrocket will come back with the Apple ID. The store account only puts the app on the Home Screen. Nodes on Home, subscription URLs, and the rule file in use in Config live in the app’s own data. Without an export, the new phone opens to an empty Home — the same as the day you first bought it.

The third tab, Data, is where you do this. It has iCloud plus import and export for servers. Before you switch, finish at least one: Export Servers, or confirm iCloud backup is on. Put the file in the Files app, AirDrop it, or a drive you control. Do not leave it only in a chat “to find later.”

What to take from the old phone first

Take the subscription URL first. It is the key to the list. If you lose it, remembering node names will not rebuild the remote list. Store the full link in a note or password vault only you can open. Do not post it in a group or send it as a screenshot.

Then export servers. Export Servers packs the current list into a file. Hand-typed nodes depend on this step, because they often have no second subscription to refresh. Even if you only use a subscription and never typed a node, the export is still worth it: the new phone can show the old names immediately, then you decide to update or paste the URL again.

Treat rules as a separate item. The file in use in Config — if you imported it later — may not be the default on the new phone. Keep the rule source or the file itself, so you do not get “nodes are here, routing changed” and call the backup a failure.

How the new phone picks it up

  1. Install Shadowrocket from the App Store with the Apple ID that paid. If search is empty, open Purchased, or sign back into the account that bought it. Do not settle for a sideloaded package.
  2. Open the exported file with Shadowrocket, or use Import Servers inside the app.
  3. If you have a subscription, confirm Type is still Subscribe, update once, and see whether the nodes return.
  4. If you need rules, restore that file in Config or import it again, and confirm the checkmark is on the copy you want.
  5. iOS will usually ask for VPN permission again before you connect. That is normal on a new phone. Do not call the backup dead until you allow it.

If Home is still empty after install, check whether import succeeded, then whether the subscription was pasted in full. An empty list is not a failed store download. An icon on the Home Screen means the client is there, not that your subscriptions and settings are.

Why reinstalling alone is not enough

Deleting the app on the same phone clears the sandbox. Downloading from Purchased again gives you an empty shell. If the iCloud switch was never on, a full backup will not appear from nowhere. Treating “reinstall and see” as a migration plan is how you throw the list away.

Whole-phone migration and Quick Start sometimes bring app data, and sometimes do not. Do not bet that this time is complete. After migration, open Shadowrocket and look at SERVER and Config. Fill gaps from the files you kept. That is more reliable than hunting a truncated link in old chats.

An app installed through Family Sharing still needs access to that purchase on the new phone. Node data will not appear on the organizer’s phone — it lives on your device. Sharing covers the purchase, not the backup.

Where to keep the backup so it does not make things worse

The export contains server details. Treat it as sensitive. Do not put it on a public share link, and do not post it in a channel. A private folder in Files, an encrypted note, or AirDrop to the new phone and delete the send history is safer than “backup in the group chat.”

The subscription URL is a key as well. Whoever has it can pull the same list. If the move must pass through a third computer, delete it after transfer. Do not leave a file named “ss backup” on the desktop.

Checklist for switch day

Before you wipe the old phone, open Shadowrocket in three places: whether Home still has the subscription and nodes, which Config file has the checkmark, and in Data whether iCloud is on and you already have the export. Check all three, then power off. Many people only see the icon and assume the data will follow.

On the new phone, finish system setup and Apple ID sign-in, then install Shadowrocket. Reverse the order and Family Sharing, Purchased, and store region may not line up — it will look like you lost the purchase. Import first, then connect. Flipping the switch on an empty list only gives you a connection with no server.

Two devices on the same Apple ID can both run Shadowrocket without the lists lining up. This is not iCloud Photos. Each device updates the subscription itself, or imports that export. A node you deleted on the old phone will not vanish on the new one unless both use the same remote list and both have updated.

Before you sell the old phone, besides the system wipe, confirm the subscription URL in Notes is not syncing via iCloud to a device you no longer use. A link still in the cloud is still a key. Keep what you need; delete the rest.

Backup is not a one-day chore. When the subscription changes or you type a new node, export again. Put the date in the filename so the new phone does not import an older copy and look like “the backup lost nodes.” After import, spot-check one typed node and one subscription, then wipe the old phone.

This site does not provide nodes and cannot recover a lost subscription. The reminder is only this: the app can be downloaded again; the list URL cannot. The Data screen is in Guide: backup; questions are in Backup and a new phone. If the client is not installed yet, start at the download page.

On the move-day list, keep at least one of: the backup file or the subscription URL. The app can come back from the store later. Before you wipe the old phone, open the export and confirm it reads — better than finding an empty file on the new one.