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Proxy Setup by Device, Browser and App

A proxy can be set in three places: on the whole device, in one browser, or around a single app. Which is right depends on how much you want to send through it.

Updated · 2 min read

The guides

  • WindowsWindows has one proxy setting that most programs follow. It takes a host and a port; the username and password are asked for the first time a program connects.
  • macOSOn a Mac the proxy is set per network connection, and macOS can store the username and password with it.
  • LinuxOn Linux, most command-line programs read their proxy from environment variables. Desktop environments have their own setting on top.
  • iPhone and iPadiOS sets a proxy per Wi-Fi network, with a place for the username and password. It applies to Wi-Fi only, not to mobile data.
  • AndroidAndroid sets a proxy per Wi-Fi network, as a host and a port. There is no field for a login, so the browser asks for it, and many apps cannot use the proxy at all.
  • Google ChromeChrome has no proxy setting of its own. It follows the computer's setting, or a proxy extension, or an address given when it is started.
  • FirefoxFirefox has its own proxy setting, separate from the computer's, so it can use a proxy while every other program connects directly.
  • FoxyProxyFoxyProxy is a browser extension for Chrome and Firefox that stores proxies with their logins and switches between them in a click.
  • SwitchyOmegaProxy SwitchyOmega is a proxy switcher for Chromium browsers. The original is no longer updated; its successor for current Chrome is ZeroOmega, which works the same way.
  • ProxifierProxifier makes any program on Windows or macOS use a proxy, including programs that have no proxy setting and programs that cannot send a login.
  • ShadowrocketShadowrocket is an iPhone and iPad app that sends the device's traffic through a proxy, on Wi-Fi and on mobile data alike.
  • TelegramTelegram has a proxy setting built into the app, on phones and on desktop, with a username and password.
  • ClashClash, and its maintained successor mihomo, route traffic by rules written in a configuration file. An ordinary HTTP or SOCKS5 proxy with a login is one of the proxy types it accepts.
  • ProxychainsProxychains forces a single Linux or macOS command through a proxy, even if the program knows nothing about proxies.
  • Android emulatorsBlueStacks, LDPlayer, NoxPlayer and MEmu run Android on a Windows PC. There are two places to put a proxy: inside Android, or on Windows around the emulator.

Which level to choose

  • One browser only: a proxy extension, or Firefox's own setting. Nothing else on the computer is affected.
  • One app that has no proxy setting: a proxy manager such as Proxifier.
  • The whole device: the system setting. Remember that everything then counts against your plan.

The login

Operating systems mostly ask for a host and a port and leave the login to each program. Where a program cannot ask, use a tool that stores the username and password and sends them for it.