Shadowrocket

Shadowrocket Review: $2.99, Bring Your Own Server

It Is a Router, Not a Subscription Service

The home screen holds one switch, a routing mode and an empty server list, and nothing happens until a server is added. That form asks for a host, a port between 1 and 65535, a password of up to 128 characters, an encryption method such as aes-256-cfb, and optional obfuscation and plugin settings. This is the distinction most buyers miss: the app provides no bandwidth, no exit nodes and no privacy service. It connects to infrastructure you rent or run, which is why it costs $2.99 once instead of a monthly fee, and why it is useless on its own.

Rules Decide What Goes Where

The default configuration file carries 289 rules, one host mapping and three URL rewrites, with further sections for HTTPS decryption and filtering. Rules match on domains, CIDR address ranges or GeoIP results, so one set of traffic can take a proxy while everything else goes direct — the behaviour that makes this a network tool rather than an on-off tunnel. Configurations can be imported from a URL, uploaded over wifi or restored to defaults, and a rule tester checks what a given request would do. Script subscriptions add rules maintained by other people, with all the trust that implies.

What $2.99 Buys, and Two Things to Watch

One payment, no subscription, no in-app purchases, a 53.8 MB install and 4.5 stars from about 12,000 App Store ratings. Two cautions belong with that. The app can decrypt HTTPS traffic, which requires installing a root certificate on the device — genuinely useful for inspecting your own app traffic, and a serious risk if the certificate or configuration comes from someone else. And whether running a proxy is permitted depends on local law and on the rules of the network you are using; the tool is neutral, the responsibility for where it points is not.