diff --git a/scripts/ci/ios-sim/smoke-test.sh b/scripts/ci/ios-sim/smoke-test.sh
index dd9feed0d1..de8d8da927 100755
--- a/scripts/ci/ios-sim/smoke-test.sh
+++ b/scripts/ci/ios-sim/smoke-test.sh
@@ -339,6 +339,10 @@ search_in_new_chat() {
 }
 
 xcrun simctl install "$SIM_UDID" "$app"
+# private routing to unknown servers only: the preset servers that would proxy name lookups can't reach the test SMP
+# server on localhost
+prefs=$(xcrun simctl get_app_container "$SIM_UDID" "$bundle_id" group.chat.simplex.app)/Library/Preferences/group.chat.simplex.app
+xcrun simctl spawn "$SIM_UDID" defaults write "$prefs" networkSMPProxyMode -string unknown
 xcrun simctl launch "$SIM_UDID" "$bundle_id"
 
 # onboarding to the chat list