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Is there any way to use Charles proxy selectively with particular applications like iOS Simulator on Mac OS X? Currently while monitoring HTTP traffic to and fro iOS application running with iOS Simulator, Charles also monitors HTTP traffic from other apps like Chrome and Mail app etc. This is really distracting. Is there any way to do this except adding the list of domains that we want to bypass under Charles Proxy settings ?

Chrome is really a problem because it uses Mac OS X proxy settings. I tried extension like Proxy Switchy but it either doesn't help or I don't know how to configure it.

Any pointers will be highly appreciated. Thanks!

indiantroy
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4 Answers4

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You can indeed filter the records in Charles proxy. Just go to Proxy>Record Settings... Then u can include or exclude any domain that you need to. Thats the only way to do it. using domain, port, path or query.

If you dont wanna record things coming from google Chorme, just disable the option pressing Cmd+Shift+P , this will disable Mac OS X Proxy.

enter image description here

Arthur Neves
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Using the Sequence tab, you can set a filter:

enter image description here

Quick, easy and no proxy menus and settings to worry about.

djibouti33
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  • Upvote x10, totally worth it. When I saw your screen shot I said aloud "HOW DID I MISS THAT??!!!!" – Tom Pace Mar 20 '13 at 03:34
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    Note that this will only filter the recorded requests that are displayed. Removing this filter will show you all of the recorded requests. For more flexibility, and to filter what is actually recorded, see Arthur Neves answer. – Feckmore Apr 03 '14 at 20:15
  • It works only if your app uses a single base url, but unfortunately it doesn't tell you about all the traffic you have coming from your app. So it is useless if we want to audit the app's networking, e.g. to check the compliance with GDPR. – Michal Cichon May 22 '19 at 14:28
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I was trying to do something similar. Consider this as an alternative. If you have an iOS device, you can run your app on the device and configure Charles to only show traffic from remote clients by disabling the "Mac OS X proxy"

Here is an example setup: Using one remote client (say an iPad in this case) and a Mac running Charles as your proxy host, disable the "Mac OS X proxy" by deselecting the checkbox in Proxy Settings >> Mac OS X Tab >> Enable Mac OS X proxy (See image below.)

By doing so, you essentially filter your simple setup to only display traffic that is coming from remote client (the iPad).

enter image description here

Doug
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    Perfect answer and the only one which lets you isolate your iOS traffic. – Sam Oct 24 '16 at 12:50
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    Hmm this either doesn't work or no longer works, I've unchecked and am still seeing all my Mac's traffic. Anyone know of updates that can solve for this today? – ThePartyTurtle Sep 21 '20 at 19:09
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To audit the whole traffic, I actually had to use a real device. it's not possible to filter the client app easily with an iOS simulator because the simulator and the host (your mac) shared the same IP. But it's pretty nice if you use a device. More info Help > SSL Proxying > Install Charles Root Certificate on a Mobile Device or Remote Browser.

  1. Check your IP, make sure the device and your mac are in the same network (your IP can be checked in the "Install Charles Root Certificate..." above-mentioned section of Charle's Help.
  2. Open chls.pro/ssl on your device and install the certificate on your device.
  3. Make sure your certificate pinning is off (if you use some sort of it).
  4. Check you Proxy > SSL Proxying Setting as normally (make sure all hosts you want to track are there).
  5. Run the app.
  6. Accept the upcoming traffic from your device in Charles if asked.
  7. Save the session and filter outside from the Charles because there is still no Client Address/Client IP filterable in Charles. Alternatively, it's quite easier to see the traffic from a device listed in the app and distinguish from 127.0.0.1 and "anything else".

BTW. To filter my application backend I prefer not to use the basic filter feature (on the bottom) as djibouti33 proposed, but rather Focused Hosts (View > Focused Hosts...). And there is a toggle/check box to hide/show other calls on the sequence list. Pretty convenient.

Michal Cichon
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