Cannot see iOS simulator traffic with charles proxy

Question

I have installed Charles proxy, then installed the root certificate and root certificate for iOS simulator. Then I ran the application of the simulator but I cannot see any request inside charles.

When I curl the same request with proxy it shows up in the Charles

curl --proxy 127.0.0.1:8888 -k -v https://example.com

Make sure to start Charles before the simulator, also have you enabled SSL proxying and tried adding the host name? — James P, Nov 08 '16 at 14:45
I can see only the traffic done by curl command from terminal, If I send it with a proxy — hariszaman, Nov 08 '16 at 15:02

kubano · Answer 1 · 2021-09-13T21:30:56.493

6

There is no need to use curl.

Xcode simulators use the host OS's network settings so when you change anything in the (macOS) System Preferences or in the Charles Proxy app, you have to restart the simulator.

You should complete the following settings:

Enable this option in the Charles app: Proxy > macOS Proxy (It will set your localhost as a proxy on the (macOS) System Preferences > Network > Advanced > Proxies tab)
On iOS 10.3 or later, navigate to Settings > General > About > Certificate Trust Settings on your phone/simulator and enable full trust for the Charles Proxy certificate.
Restart the Xcode Simulator

edited Sep 13 '21 at 21:30

answered Oct 13 '18 at 16:04

kubano

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option 2: Where are you referring to? General menu, general settings in System Preferences... where? – Aaron Bratcher Sep 08 '21 at 16:06
on your phone navigate to Settings > General > About > Certificate Trust Settings – kubano Sep 14 '21 at 13:20

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 15 '16 at 18:15

New16 may be on to something -

Not sure which simulator you use, but I assume that it uses your Mac's internet connection, unlike real devices that connect to Charlesproxy through the http port that you specify (8888 by default).

While http traffic proxied through that port will always be recorded by Charles, recording the traffic of desktop apps like your simulator is optional. Thus the simulator's traffic will only be recorded if you check the corresponding option in the "Proxy" menu. (In Charles on Windows, the available options are "Windows Proxy" and "Firefox Proxy", not sure what are the options on a Mac.)

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 28 '22 at 09:15

While you have done the other steps for macOS Proxy and Certificate Trust Settings etc, one important thing to validate is adding ATS flag to your debug build:

<key>NSAppTransportSecurity</key>
<dict>
  <key>NSAllowsArbitraryLoads</key>
  <true/>
</dict>

You must remember to re-enable ATS before you release your app to take advantage of the security that ATS provides.

Best place to troubleshoot any Charles configuration issue: https://www.charlesproxy.com/documentation/faqs/

Did not work for me. – Kendall Helmstetter Gelner Aug 15 '22 at 17:10 — Kendall Helmstetter Gelner, Aug 15 '22 at 17:10

Cannot see iOS simulator traffic with charles proxy

3 Answers3

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