Through additional functions such as: Hide My Email With iCloud Private Relay in iOS 15, Apple is doubling down on its privacy policy for users. After updating to iOS 15, you may notice iCloud Private Relay as an active banner in Notification Center. Here's what iCloud Private Relay means when it's active on your iPhone.
Before we go ahead and start explaining, you need to understand what iCloud Private Relay means in the first place.
What is iCloud Private Relay?
Apple's iCloud Private Relay is a privacy extension that hides your IP address and browsing activity from advertisers and trackers. It's currently available for Safari and Mail. The service will prevent third-party companies from monitoring your web browsing habits.
Anyone on your local network can see which websites you've visited via DNS queries when you browse the web. These companies then build your online profile and track your online activities. With iCloud Private Relay, Apple aims to prevent this practice.
First, the add-on is only available to iCloud+ subscribers (those who have paid for one of the iCloud plans). The service runs silently in the background, and most users won't notice the effect while working or browsing the web.
Enabled by default, when you visit a website in Apple's Safari browser, Private Relay splits your IP address and DNS request. It encrypts your DNS request to an Apple-branded proxy server and sends the encryption keys to a third-party server.
Because your DNS request is encrypted, Apple can't see the website you're trying to visit. The company only has your IP address (an approximate location).
Instead of sending your IP address to a third-party server, Apple simply sends an anonymous IP address associated with your region or city. Yes, iCloud Private Relay doesn't work like a VPN and doesn't send an IP address from a different country. The third-party server still gets your location, but it won't be able to pinpoint your exact location.
According to research, Apple uses Cloudfare servers to transfer user data. When these servers go down, you'll see iCloud Private Relay turn off for a period of time.
The outage typically lasts only a few moments. Once iCloud Private Relay returns, users will notice that iCloud Private Relay is an active notification on their iPhone.
How to Turn Off iCloud Private Relay Is Active Pop-Up Feature
There can be times when Apple's servers are off and may leave you with dozens of iCloud Private Relays down or notifications active.
Assume you are already using Safari alternatives Like Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge on iPhone. In this case, it doesn't make sense to enable iCloud Private Relay because the feature won't work with other browsers on iPhone.
Step 1: Open Settings on iPhone.
Step 2: Go to List Profile.
Step 3: Locate iCloud Open the menu Private relay.
Step 4: Disable switching Private relay from the following list.
Since all of your web traffic is going through an Apple-branded server, you'll also notice a drop in internet speeds. In this case, you can disable iCloud Private Relay Also.
From now on, you won't see iCloud Private Relay as an active pop-up window at the top. The service is disabled on your iPhone, but it will remain active on your other devices, such as your Mac or iPad.
Turn off iCloud Private Relay for Wi-Fi
Apple also offers the option to disable iCloud Private Relay for a specific Wi-Fi network. For example, you can keep it disabled on your home Wi-Fi network and enable it for public networks.
Step 1: Open menu iPhone Settings.
Step 2: Go to List Wi-Fi access.
Step 3: Select a network Wi-Fi access.
Step 4: disable “Limit IP Address Tracking” from the following list.
Turn off iCloud Private Relay for Mail
As mentioned earlier, iCloud Private Relay works on Safari and Mail. You can also disable Mail Activity Protection for the Mail app. Here's how.
Step 1: Open an app iPhone Settings Go to the application Mail
Step 2: Open menu Privacy protection.
Step 3: Disabled “Protect mail activity” from the following list.
Understanding iCloud Private Relay on iPhone
We recommend that iCloud+ users keep Private Relay enabled on their iPhone by default. If you're constantly bothered by Private Relay notifications on your iPhone, you can follow the steps above and disable the service.
