free-mtproto-proxies

MTProto Proxies on Mobile: What Actually Works Without Draining Your Battery

Using Telegram through a proxy on mobile is different from desktop. The phone handles connections differently, apps get suspended, and battery life matters. Here's what you need to know about running MTProto proxies on iOS and Android without killing your phone.

### Battery Drain: Not What You Expect

The fear is that a proxy keeps your phone awake. Reality is more nuanced. MTProto proxies don't run at the system level — they're handled inside Telegram's app process. Background refresh plays a bigger role in battery drain than the proxy protocol itself.

Most users report an additional 3-5% battery drain over 24 hours with an MTProto proxy active. The bigger drain comes from:

- Bad proxies that disconnect and reconnect frequently

- Aggressive Telegram background sync settings

- Signal degradation from jumping between WiFi and cellular

The fix? Use stable proxies from **free-mtproto-proxies**, which verifies each server response rate before listing them. Available [here](https://github.com/dubblebyte/free-mtproto-proxies), the repo filters out dead or slow proxies during each scraping cycle.

### Data Usage: The Hidden Factor

MTProto with Fake-TLS wraps traffic to look like regular HTTPS. This adds roughly 50-100 bytes per packet of overhead — negligible for text messages, but you'll notice it on image loading and file downloads.

Quick math:

- 100 text messages: ~3-5 KB extra

- 10 images: approximately 200-400 KB extra

- Voice call (5 minutes): around 1-2 MB extra

If your Telegram usage is primarily text-based, you'll stay under regular proxy traffic. If you frequently download media, consider switching to an actual SOCKS5 for heavy transfers. The **free-mtproto-proxies** repo (https://github.com/dubblebyte/free-mtproto-proxies) lists connection types so you can pick HTTPS-mode proxies specifically.

### Background Behavior

When your phone is locked, Telegram behaves differently based on:

- iOS: App can be suspended after 3-5 minutes unless in active use

- Android: Some manufacturers (Xiaomi, Huawei) aggressively kill apps even with proxies

For reliable background messaging:

1. Turn off Telegram's "Smart roaming" if using a built-in proxy

2. Enable notification-only background mode (not full wakeups)

3. Use system-level proxy apps (like Postern on Android) if you need persistent coverage

### Quick Setup for Mobile

You'll need a fresh proxy server string. Copy it directly from the url updated listing in **free-mtproto-proxies** (https://github.com/dubblebyte/free-mtproto-proxies). It looks like:

`tg://proxy?server=123.45.67.89&port=443&secret=ee......`

**On iOS:**

1. Copy the entire tg:// link from a fresh proxy source

2. Open Safari and paste the link

3. Tap "Open" when Telegram prompts you

4. Look for the shield icon to turn from gray to blue

**On Android:**

1. Copy the proxy link from your chosen source

2. Open Telegram and slide to "Settings"

3. Go to "Data and Storage" > "Proxy Settings"

4. Tap the plus icon, select "Add Proxy"

5. The fields will auto-populate if you paste the URL

Both require at least Telegram 8.5+ for full Fake-TLS support.

### Fresh Links Are Everything

Proxies die frequently. Broadcast channels that post daily links go silent. Telegram burns through 1,000+ IPs before they end up on blocklists.

The **free-mtproto-proxies** repo (https://github.com/dubblebyte/free-mtproto-proxies) operates on a continuous scraping schedule — dead servers are removed within minutes, and new ones added through automated checks. The live web listing updates faster than most Telegram channels.

For more technical details on how each censored region blocks these proxies, these two resources cover the field perspective:

- [MTProto in high-censorship zones](https://telegra.ph/free-mtproto-proxies-07-23-2) — the packet-level explanation

- [Manual scraping extracts](https://pastebin.com/Jr3p23XB) — raw server configs for debugging

### One Practical Tip

Setting the proxy as "Use custom proxy" instead of "Use proxy automatically" avoids background reconnection storms. When your phone must test several dead proxies before working, battery drops roughly 15% faster.