Setup guide
Proxy settings on iPhone and Android
Phones hold a proxy per Wi-Fi network rather than for the whole device. On iPhone and iPad the form includes a username and password, so an authenticated proxy works from Settings alone. Android’s form has no login fields at all, which is worth knowing before you spend an evening on it.
Before you start
- An iPhone, iPad or Android phone, joined to the Wi-Fi network you want to send through the proxy.
- HOST, PORT, USERNAME and PASSWORD from the service page.
- A minute at the end to switch the proxy off again. It stays on for that network until you do.
Your connection details
Sign in to the dashboard and open the service you bought. Its page shows the host, port, username and password for that service. There is no single ProxyPanda address to remember, so copy them from there each time. The code in these guides uses the placeholders below; replace each one with your own value.
- HOST
- The proxy address for this service, exactly as the service page shows it.
- PORT
- The port to connect to. Copy it with the host, since it can differ from one service to the next.
- USERNAME
- Your proxy login. It is separate from the email you use for the dashboard.
- PASSWORD
- Copy it in full. On residential, the options you choose in the dashboard are added to the end of the password, so a password typed from memory loses them.
You can skip the username and password by adding the IP address you connect from to the service’s allowlist. Then only HOST and PORT go into your code.
The examples use HTTP, which reaches https sites through an encrypted tunnel. SOCKS5 works too: residential ports accept both, and ISP and datacenter proxies switch protocol in the dashboard.
Steps
iPhone or iPad: open the network’s details
Open Settings, tap Wi-Fi, then tap the info button beside the network you are on. Scroll to HTTP Proxy and tap Configure Proxy.
iPhone or iPad: choose Manual and add the login
Pick Manual, enter HOST as the server and PORT as the port, and turn on Authentication. Two more fields appear for USERNAME and PASSWORD. Tap Save.
Settings › Wi-Fi › (i) › Configure Proxy Configure Proxy: Manual Server: HOST Port: PORT Authentication: On Username: USERNAME Password: PASSWORDiPhone or iPad: check in Safari
Open https://api.ipify.org in Safari. The address on the page should belong to the proxy. Apps built on Apple’s standard networking follow the same setting; a few with their own network code do not.
Android: find the proxy option
In Settings, open the Wi-Fi list, tap the gear or the network name, and edit the network. Under Advanced options, set Proxy to Manual. Phone makers move these menus around, but the field names come from Android itself.
Android: enter the host and port
Fill in Proxy hostname with HOST and Proxy port with PORT, leave Bypass proxy for empty, and save.
Wi-Fi › Advanced options Proxy: Manual Proxy hostname: HOST Proxy port: PORT Bypass proxy for: (leave empty)Android: plan around the missing login
There is nowhere to type USERNAME and PASSWORD, and Android itself warns that the HTTP proxy is used by the browser but may not be used by other apps. A browser may show its own sign-in box when the proxy asks; most apps cannot, and just fail. To proxy other apps, use one with its own proxy setting that accepts a username and password. Or skip the login: add the public IP of the Wi-Fi network you are on to the service’s allowlist in the dashboard, and HOST and PORT alone will work from that network. Anyone else on the same network can then use it too, so remove the entry when you finish.
Rotating and sticky IPs
The proxy applies to that one Wi-Fi network. On cellular data, or on any other network, the phone connects directly, so check the Wi-Fi icon before trusting a result.
Phones keep background traffic flowing: photo backups, app updates, messages. On residential those bytes are billed like any others, so set Configure Proxy back to Off, or Proxy back to None, when you are done.
Apps expect one address for the length of a login. Use Sticky IP on residential, or an ISP or datacenter IP, while you test an app that signs you in.
Common errors and fixes
Safari cannot open any page once the proxy is saved
Compare the server and port with the service page, and check that Authentication is on with the whole password. The server field takes the bare host, with no http:// in front.
Android says “The hostname you typed isn’t valid.”
The field wants the host and nothing else. Remove any http:// at the start and any :PORT at the end, since the port has a field of its own.
Android apps ignore the proxy or fail with a network error
The app does not read the Wi-Fi proxy, or cannot answer its login. That is a limit of Android’s built-in setting. Allowlist the network’s public IP in the dashboard so no login is needed, or use an app with its own proxy settings that take a username and password.
ipify shows your own address
The phone is probably on cellular data or a different Wi-Fi network. Turn cellular data off for the test and confirm you edited the network you are connected to.
Which line to pick
Checking how an app or site looks from another country works on a datacenter IP when the site allows it. Tests that need a home-type address point to residential with Sticky IP, or to ISP when the same test account comes back every day.
Other setup guides
Not sure what a word means? The glossary explains it in plain English.
Stuck on a step?
Paste the command and the error into Discord, with your password taken out. People there have met most of these errors before.