is safari private relay a vpn

What is Apple Private Relay and is it worse than a VPN?

Is Apple's shiny new privacy tool really a 'VPN killer'?

(Edit: This article has been updated with comments from various VPN providers)

Apple has announced several important new privacy features at its annual development conference, WWDC 2021 . By far the most significant - and controversial - is 'private relay', a technology which enables users to browse the web without revealing their real IP address , making it more difficult for sites to track their web browsing activities.

The feature is one of several additions to Apple's upcoming iCloud + account. Despite the 'Plus', existing iCloud accounts will be upgraded at no extra cost, which means you could benefit from the private relay feature from as little as $0.99 a month with 50GB of cloud storage .

This doesn't necessarily mean it's time to ditch your VPN subscription; far from that. There are a number of reasons for that, and we'll get onto those later, but one of the most important is that private relay won't protect all your traffic: it covers Safari , Apple’s web browser, and insecure connections only (apps which use HTTP rather than HTTPS.) 

More crucially, the technology has other issues, too, which become clearer when you look under the hood.

• These are the best iPhone VPN services available

How does Apple Private Relay work?

Private Relay is easy to use, with none of the app hassles you'll see with a regular VPN. Just sign into your iPhone , iPad or Mac with an iCloud+ subscription, enable Private Relay in your iCloud settings, and the technology starts shielding your Safari activities. When you next connect to a website, Private Relay randomly chooses two servers to handle your traffic. 

Your device makes a speedy and secure QUIC/ HTTP3 connection from the internet to the first server, the Ingress, run by Apple. The connection is authenticated via a technique called RSA Blinded Signatures, which allows you access without having to transmit a username, password, or any account details at all - no need to have the best password manager here. The Ingress Proxy doesn't even know which website you're visiting, as that information is encrypted on your device. Read our primer on proxy servers .

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You could still be identified by your IP address, so the Ingress Proxy replaces it with an approximate geographical location. If you've a Staten Island IP address, for instance, it might simply use 'New York. (You can alternatively tell Private Relay to choose an IP from your country and time zone, giving it a much wider pool of IPs to choose from.)

The Ingress Proxy now makes an encrypted connection to the Egress Proxy, passing it your request. This second server is run by an independent content provider, not Apple and likely to be a partnering CDN provider, ensuring it has no way to figure out who makes any particular request. 

The Egress Proxy then decrypts your request, to find out which website you're visiting. This is the separation of knowledge which preserves your privacy: the Ingress Proxy knows a little about who you are (your IP address), but not what you're doing; the Egress Proxy knows what you're doing, but nothing about who you are.

The Egress Proxy doesn't know your IP address, but it has to pass something to the website you're trying to visit, to ensure it can display localized content. To make this happen, the Egress Proxy looks at the approximate location it's received ('New York'), and allocates you a random IP address from a pool in your approximate area. 'Manhattan? That'll do.'

This approach allows websites to have enough of an idea of your location to display relevant content, but not to identify you. The IP address they see changes every time you visit, and your real IP is never revealed. All they know is the connection was made via the Egress Proxy, so they pass their content back in an encrypted form to that address, and it's routed back to the Ingress Proxy, and then to you.

The Private Relay network

Sign up for a VPN and you'll want to check out all kinds of details about the network: how many servers it has, how many locations, who runs them, and more. Unfortunately, Apple hasn't released any details at all, not even who is running the website-facing side of the network, but other sources provide some major clues.

Users running Private Relay on the iOS 15 beta have reported that they're allocated Cloudflare IP addresses, for instance, a strong indication of at least one provider.

There's another clue in an Apple developer video, which explains that Private Relay uses 'Oblivious DoH' (ODoH.) This is a new DNS standard which encrypts requests to ensure that when you connect to Private Relay, the first server (the Ingress Proxy) can't see the website you're trying to access. It's a brand new technology developed by Apple, Cloudflare and Fastly , another big CDN provider who would make a lot of sense as a Private Relay partner.

A recently published report speculates that Akamai is Apple's third provider, and suggests the Private Relay link is behind a rally in the share prices for all three companies. If this is true, it's good news.

These are CDN giants - Akamai alone has 300,000+ servers in more than 130 countries - and adding Cloudflare and Fastly to the mix should ensure you're never far from a Private Relay server. That’s one or two orders of magnitude higher than any VPN provider out there.

Can you trust Apple Private Relay?

Private Relay's design looks good to us, but is it good enough? Tor also uses a system where your connections are routed through multiple relays. But while Apple stops at two, Tor defaults to three, and there can be many more. These are all run by volunteers, too, greatly reducing the chance that any one person can track what you're doing, and we've seen arguments that this makes Tor safer than Private Relay.

That sounds reasonable in theory, but there's a problem. Having Tor's servers provided by volunteers rather than big business might sound appealing, that doesn't make them any more trustworthy. Security researcher nusenu has been tracking Tor relays since 2020, and a recent blog post reported that '25% of the Tor network’s exit capacity has been attacking Tor users' using various attacks.

Private Relay's two-server approach, where Apple always controls the Ingress Proxy, a second big corporation runs the other, could still be seen as a problem. If you don't trust either of them, you're probably not going to be impressed by Apple's privacy promises.

It's likely that everyone running Private Relay will be under US jurisdiction, too, and we've seen user concerns that any anonymity will disappear just as soon as the first warrant or subpoena arrives.

Is this realistic, though? Apple isn't just promising not to log, it's saying the design makes that impossible. The Ingress Proxy doesn't know who you are beyond an IP address, or which site you're trying to access, so there's no way for Apple to spy on you; the Egress Proxy knows the site, but nothing about you, not the IP. Only your device knows everything.

You don't have to automatically trust Apple to realise the impact on its reputation if this turns out to be wrong, and it really does hand over user data as soon as it's asked. It would be goodbye to any claims of privacy expertise, and the greatest gift to Google and Microsoft they could ever give. No-one can know for sure, but it seems to us that's a very big incentive for Apple to be very, very, very sure that Private Relay works as promised.

• Also check out the best Mac VPN

A look at the performance of Apple Private Relay

Using Private Relay requires more encryption and routes your traffic through two extra servers before it reaches its destination, which suggests there's going to be some performance hit. But Apple has said there will be minimal speed impact: can it be right?

If your ISP throttles some traffic types - video, say - then the extra encryption bypasses that, immediately improving speeds. Private Relay's use of the speedy UDP-based HTTP/3 is a plus, and should help compensate for the extra server hops.

And while passing your traffic through two extra servers must affect speeds, Private Relay isn't like a regular double-hop VPN, where maybe one cheap VPS server in a data center somewhere connects to another. 

CDN providers like Cloudflare and Akamai use powerful hardware, smart routing and all kinds of other technologies to shave off milliseconds here and there, and that will keep any overheads to an absolute minimum. Delivering data securely and with as little lag as possible is what they do.

Put it all together and we expect to see some speed impact, though less than you'd get from a VPN. There are lots of factors to consider, though - your location, demand on nearby servers, your device and network - and we'll have to wait until release date to find out for sure.

What are the advantages of Apple Private Relay?

Private Relay improves on VPNs in a number of ways. 

Building it into the operating system reduces any technical hassles. You don't need to run an app, figure out which settings work best, or remember to connect before you do anything sensitive. Sign up for iCloud+, check a box to turn the technology on, and it just works.

The two-server approach, each run by a different company, means you no longer have to trust that your provider is living up to their privacy promises. A VPN server gets your account details when you authenticate, and then gets to see everything you're doing online, making it very easy to log your activities.

With Private Relay, Apple can't associate an internet action with an account, so it's unable to log what you're doing. And all your destination website sees is the randomly selected Egress Proxy IP address, leaving no way for any internet action to be connected back to you.

We're glad to see Private Relay encrypt DNS and protect insecure HTTP connections by default. Most VPNs do the same, but it's good to know these potential data leaks will be plugged.

We can't describe Private Relay's Safari-only protection as anything other than a weakness, but it does have one positive side: it won't cause issues with banking, payment or other apps which might complain if you're using a VPN. (Safari traffic may still be blocked by PayPal and others, as they're looking to use IP addresses as a record of identity, but we'll have to wait and see if Private Relay is more or less affected than VPNs.)

You don't have to choose between using Private Relay or a VPN, though: you can run both. Apple explains that 'if your app provides a network extension to add VPN or app-proxying capabilities, your extension won't use Private Relay and neither will app traffic that uses your extension.' Proxy traffic also ignores Private Relay, and your apps work just as they did before.

What are the limitations of Apple Private Relay?

While Private Relay is technically very smart, it's all about security and privacy, and it's never going to fully compete with a commercial VPN. 

There's no option to choose another location, for instance. And that's by design. Private Relay chooses the location of your Ingress and Egress Proxies, and it's those servers working together who get to decide your eventual IP address. There's no way to do that within the existing system.

It doesn't look like this will change in the future, either. An Apple developer session stated: 'Private Relay guarantees that users can't use the system to pretend to be from a different region, so you can continue to enforce region-based access restrictions.' An issue for users, but it makes sense for Apple. 

The company wants to work with content providers, not alienate them by providing ways to bypass their regional blocking schemes. It is a major content producer itself and the last thing it would want to do is become the go to VPN for Netflix .

Reuters highlighted a similar issue at the country level, reporting that Apple's new service won't be available in Belarus, China, Colombia, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkmenistan, Uganda and the Philippines. 

If you're hoping to use Private Relay to get online from some VPN-unfriendly country, be prepared for disappointment. Don't expect that to change in future, either - Apple isn't going to compromise its China revenue by encouraging the breaking of Chinese law.

Keep in mind, also, that although Private Relay shields your real IP address, a website or network can still check that IP and see it relates to a Private Relay hostname. If you currently use a VPN to bypass network-level blocking policies on public Wi-Fi, Private Relay may not help, at least not for long. All any network admin has to do is block Private Relay's hostnames, and Apple is already explaining how that's done.

If you think Private Relay might bypass parental control services, that's unlikely to work, either. The technology allows content filters to inspect traffic before it travels through Private Relay, so they'll block all the same content as before.

Even where Private Relay does match a regular VPN, for normal browsing, it can't protect you from all tracking. If you sign into a web account or just accept cookies, for instance, the site already knows who you are. Private Relay isn't a complete privacy solution, and you'll still need to use features like private browsing and optimise Safari's privacy settings to keep yourself safe online.

How does Private Relay compare to other privacy solutions?

Proxies are poor, rating perhaps a lowly 2 out of 10 on our made-up privacy scale. They hide your IP address by routing your traffic through another server, a welcome plus. But you must set them up on every app where you'd like to use them (if that's possible at all), they don't encrypt your traffic, and a malicious server operator can see a lot, maybe all of what you're doing.

Tor is significantly better, encrypting your traffic and routing it through multiple randomly selected relays to conceal your IP. But various Tor weaknesses - including slower speeds - and attack vectors have appeared over the years, and headlines like '25% of the Tor network’s exit capacity has been attacking Tor users' suggest you really shouldn't trust it entirely. We'd still rate it 5/10.

VPN works system-wide, encrypting all your traffic by default, and allowing you to choose an IP address from one of many countries around the world. But you're placing all your trust in a single provider, and if a VPN wanted to log your internet activities, it could do that. And even if a VPN proves it's completely trustworthy, there may be scope for a hacker to gain useful data on users. We'll score VPNs 7/10.

Private Relay is (mostly) Safari only, but it does a great job of hiding your IP, and as no one entity knows who you are or what you're doing, there's no way for anyone to connect your account to any internet action. As our rating is about privacy more than features, we have to edge Private Relay in front with a score of 8/10. (Yes, VPNs can protect all your devices, but if they're all vulnerable to logging, that's not a big privacy plus.)

What would a 10/10 look like? Private Relay levels of protection for all your apps and devices would help, ensuring you're covered whatever you're doing. We'd like some transparency on the low-level details of how Private Relay works, too, so that others can take a view on how well the system works. The technology has only just been released, though, so there's likely a lot more information to come. We'll take a closer look when it arrives.

What comes next for Apple Private Relay?

Private Relay doesn't begin to deliver the features you'd get from a full VPN, but that's not what the system is designed to do. The technology is focused on improving your privacy, not breaking existing company and regional restrictions, and in many ways that's a plus. If Private Relay could be used to unblock various platforms, many companies would simply block its IPs, and that's no benefit to anybody. By living within the rules, rather than breaking them, Private Relay should stay working in more locations.

There's certainly scope for some improvement, though, most obviously in which traffic is protected. Making Private Relay a (mostly) Safari-only thing is a big plus for the browser, but it's hard to see it lasting long-term, and the service makes most sense as a technology that works system-wide.

Wherever Apple goes with Private Relay, it already outperforms the operating system competition. Right now, the best Google can offer is its VPN by Google One , for instance, a very standard US-only service which doesn't begin to match Private Relay for privacy. Google, Microsoft, maybe even Amazon are going to have to come up with some major privacy innovations of their own if they want to compete (leave Facebook out of the equation because… well, it didn’t go down well with Onavo ).

In the long term, if the top operating systems and devices begin moving into the VPN space, that puts pressure on specialist providers to up their game. 

The top VPNs have many more features, for instance, but if even a few users feel they don't need anything extra to protect their iDevices, that might leave them questioning whether it's worth buying a subscription to cover anything else. Providers may have to drop their prices to keep users on board.

The real issue is trust, though. With Private Relay designed to guarantee that no one provider can see what you're doing online, VPN website promises that 'we don't log, honest' look more unconvincing than ever. Will even no-log audits convince an ever more skeptical user base? It'll be interesting to find out. Watch this space.

So what do VPN Providers think of Apple's Private Relay?

NordVPN says : "Private Relay is part of Apple’s continued effort to foster a privacy-oriented operating system, but there will still be some caveats, and that is where solutions such as NordVPN will thrive.

Apple says Private Relay hides a user’s traffic from ISPs, advertisers, and even Apple itself. While there are similarities, when you turn on a VPN (Virtual Private Network) on your computer, smartphone, tablet, smart TV, or even router, it protects your data by putting everything you do online through a tunnel.

Private Relay is available only on Safari. This means Apple users who stick with Chrome or Firefox are not utilizing Private Relay whatsoever. Instead, these users will begin or continue to rely on VPNs like NordVPN . So unless you fully trust your data privacy, traditional VPNs such as NordVPN are still the go-to.

Although Apple does not appear to offer full-fledged VPN features, it will become the first step towards cybersecurity for many users who wouldn’t have considered taking action otherwise. I’d say that this will boost cybersecurity awareness in general, and this is a big win for the whole industry. 

Additionally, big tech entering the VPN market suggests the solidity and importance of the industry. Tougher competition raises standards and this is something users will benefit from.

Finally, tech companies stopped treating digital privacy and cybersecurity in the narrow sense of the words. NordVPN is also taking a step forward by offering the password manager NordPass as well as the file encryption tool NordLocker , which also has a cloud storage add-on. In the future, we might offer additional antivirus-like features."

• Also check out our complete list of the best VPN services

Mike is a lead security reviewer at Future, where he stress-tests VPNs , antivirus and more to find out which services are sure to keep you safe, and which are best avoided. Mike began his career as a lead software developer in the engineering world, where his creations were used by big-name companies from Rolls Royce to British Nuclear Fuels and British Aerospace. The early PC viruses caught Mike's attention, and he developed an interest in analyzing malware, and learning the low-level technical details of how Windows and network security work under the hood.

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• Services & Software

No, Apple's Private Relay is not a VPN, but you can still try it out with iOS 15

Apple's new Private Relay encryption feature aims to give iOS 15 browsers and apps a privacy push.

Apple touted its privacy work at its online WWDC event earlier this year.

When Apple announced a trio of new privacy perks for its iCloud Plus subscription service in iOS 15  at  Apple's WWDC event in June, the headliner was Private Relay -- a browser-based encryption boost, aimed at the growing number of people who are turning to virtual private networks for better online privacy. Now, with iOS 15's arrival on Monday (here's how to download iOS 15 ), a wider swath of Apple users will be able to test drive the proxy service for themselves. 

Although Apple executives have begun positioning the new Safari encryption service as a trustworthy alternative to commercial VPNs , Private Relay is not, strictly speaking, a VPN. We're still waiting on the details of how the service works, but confusing it for a VPN may prove dangerous to those who rely on them for personal safety, and ineffective for those seeking ways around government censorship. 

On the other hand, Private Relay can be used alongside a traditional VPN, whether that's a personal or company VPN. According to Apple developers, that currently means Private Relay will ignore the traffic of your VPN. The tech behind Private Relay, however, could theoretically represent a significant leap forward for overall privacy among commercial (though not enterprise) VPN users as additional research emerges on its potential to prevent a shady VPN provider from identifying you . 

Read more : Apple privacy updates tell you more about how apps use your data

With an underlying technology that centers on encryption, it's unlikely Private Relay will be offered in countries where it may interfere with domestic surveillance or contradict anti-encryption laws. Apple confirmed Private Relay won't be available in China, one of its most important markets. Private Relay will also be unavailable in Belarus, Colombia, Egypt, Kazakhstan, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkmenistan and Uganda. 

Apple said it will offer Private Relay only in accordance with local laws but that other announced iCloud Plus privacy features, like Hide My Email, may be available in restricted areas as local laws permit. 

For the average US user , however, Private Relay's addition to Safari represents a potentially groundbreaking shift in how browsers can be fundamentally reshaped to better protect you from aggressive tracking by advertisers. More than raising the bar on browser privacy, however, a curious piece of underlying tech in Private Relay is poised to open a new chapter in the browser wars. 

Read more: Change these browser settings ASAP to protect your privacy in Chrome, Firefox and more

Apple Private Relay vs. a standard VPN

*Private Relay's browser-based IP address encryption benefits are limited to Safari

How Private Relay is different to a VPN

No device-wide encryption via the app : While many VPNs offer a secondary, browser-only plugin, a true standalone VPN is designed to encrypt all of the information coming out of your device through its app. It will then assign you a new IP address, and connect you to one of its network of servers before spitting you out at your destination website. In Apple's case, however, only some of your device's traffic is specifically handled by Private Relay for encryption. In its developer-focused presentation , Apple said Private Relay encryption only covers Safari, the DNS-related traffic on your device, and a small subset of traffic from apps. Developers said any connections your app makes over the local network or to private domain names will be unaffected, and that any traffic that comes from using a proxy will also be exempt. In other words, if you use the Chrome browser from your iPhone, don't expect any Private Relay protections or features.

No geo-blocking : A key feature of a VPN is the ability to overcome geographic restrictions and access global content on an open web. Some use that feature to access streaming media services while abroad and watch their home country's entertainment catalog. But for those in countries burdened by censorship and oppressive regimes, VPNs offer the ability to circumvent geo-restrictions to safely access crucial information and news. Private Relay is explicitly designed to comply with geo-blocking and does not hide your general region or city from internet providers or authorities. 

No web traffic obfuscation : Encrypted web traffic created by using a VPN looks a lot different than non-VPN traffic, but the best VPNs camouflage themselves to appear like normal traffic in a process called obfuscation or, as it sometimes specified, VPN obfuscation. The ability to overcome geo-blocking and escape organizational networks relies on more than appearing to be from a different location; it relies on your traffic looking inconspicuous. That's where VPN obfuscation comes in. Although Apple at times uses the term obfuscation in a non-technical sense to describe how their traffic may appear as normal traffic in some contexts, when you're using Private Relay to connect to a business or school network, Private Relay's proxy server traffic is readily identifiable and the service makes no effort to obfuscate itself with traditional VPN-type obfuscation. Accordingly,  Apple developers have clearly offered instructions to business and school network managers on how to make allowances for this traffic, or how to isolate it for exclusion by blocking the hostname of the iCloud Private Relay proxy server.

Split-tunneling differences : A handy feature found among most leading VPNs, split-tunneling is an option that allows you to forgo device-wide encryption, in favor of encrypting only one or more apps on your device. Thus, you create two "tunnels" of internet traffic. This feature is helpful in several use-specific cases, like if you want to use a VPN to achieve faster torrenting speeds but you'd like to continue browsing normally. Private Relay has a similar feature that works differently. You can still use Private Relay even when you connect to your workplace's private network, for instance. 

Multiple hop architecture : Many VPNs offer you the option of multi-hopping (or a "double hop"), which allows you to better cover your trail by connecting you to a series of servers, one after the next, before you land at a website. Private Relay offers what it calls "dual hop architecture," which is different from VPN multi-hopping. When using Private Relay, the two "hops" you make first give you a new, semi-anonymous IP address, and then secondly decrypt the name of the website you're requesting. 

Read more : Best iPhone VPN of 2022

Editors' note, Feb. 9, 2022 : The VPN industry has undergone significant change in the past few months, with all three of our top VPN choices announcing major changes in corporate ownership. In December, ExpressVPN announced that it had officially joined Kape Technologies , a company that already owns several other VPNs and has raised privacy concerns in the past . In February, NordVPN and Surfshark announced the two companies were merging , though they'll continue to operate autonomously. We're in the process of reevaluating all of our top picks in light of these changes. We will update our reviews and, if necessary, our rankings to account for this new competitive landscape. 

What we know about Private Relay

Private Relay has two end goals. The first is to limit how much data advertising companies and ISPs can see about your browsing. The second goal is to ensure Apple can see only who you are and not what sites you're visiting, while the third-party servers which get you to those sites can see where you're going and your rough location but not who you are. 

Here's how it's done. Privacy Relay is built into both the forthcoming iOS and MacOS versions, but it will only work if you're an iCloud Plus subscriber and you have it enabled from within your iCloud settings. 

Once it's enabled and you open Safari to browse, Private Relay splits up two pieces of information that -- when delivered to websites together as normal -- could quickly identify you. Those are your IP address (who and exactly where you are) and your DNS request (the address of the website you want, in numeric form). 

Once the two pieces of information are split, Private Relay encrypts your DNS request and sends both the IP address and now-encrypted DNS request to an Apple proxy server. This is the first of two stops your traffic will make before you see a website. At this point, Apple has already handed over the encryption keys to the third party running the second of the two stops, so Apple can't see what website you're trying to access with your encrypted DNS request. All Apple can see is your IP address. 

Although it has received both your IP address and encrypted DNS request, Apple's server doesn't send your original IP address to the second stop. Instead, it gives you an anonymous IP address that is approximately associated with your general region or city. 

That approximate location can mean different things in different places, however. "It's obviously very different technology but in general with approximate location on the iPhone, the size of the area can change depending on the place in the world you are and population density and things like this," an Apple spokesperson told CNET.

Using San Francisco as a hypothetical example, the size of that approximate location could narrow. 

"With the approximate location, I could be anywhere in the peninsula of San Francisco. So you could think that I'm up at the northern end of San Francisco near Ghirardelli Square or the app could be getting information that I'm down near Cesar Chavez [Street]. It still gets a precise location. It's just that my precise location bounces around within that general area in such a way that no one knows where I actually am," the spokesperson said. 

Once it has assigned the new IP address, the Apple proxy server sends the encrypted DNS request and that new IP address to the next stop. That second stop is another proxy server, one not run by Apple but by a currently unknown third-party company that's ready to decrypt your DNS request. 

Finally, that third-party proxy server decrypts your DNS request and sends it to your destination website along with your general location. While the destination website can't pinpoint your exact location because it doesn't have your true IP address, it can still see what region your device is in. 

The tech behind the curtain 

With the second proxy server's ability to see what websites you're requesting and your general city, the pressing question quickly becomes who's running that third-party server, a question Apple has so far declined to answer. 

Within hours of Private Relay being announced, however, it became evident that Cloudflare is at least one of Apple's partners in powering Private Relay when app researcher Jane Manchun Wong took to Twitter to confirm she'd been issued an IP address belonging to Cloudflare while using the currently available developer version of Private Relay. Wong's tweet was followed by a wave of other users noting the same results, drawing comparisons between Private Relay and proxy app Cloudflare Warp.

Cloudflare was a primary partner in Apple's push to standardize the potentially game-changing element of Private Relay -- its in-browser use of something called Oblivious DNS-over-HTTPS, or ODoH.

It's really awesome that iCloud Private Relay uses protocols Apple helped develop / spearheaded at the #ietf for standardization - It is using MASQUE ( https://t.co/nPBvN4vcoJ ) with Oblivious DoH https://t.co/c3wQsExXAA ) using QUIC and HTTP/3 — Paul Wouters (@letoams) June 8, 2021

What's the big deal with ODoH? It's poised to answer a major problem that has puzzled privacy advocates since 2018 when -- in a previous browser-encryption collaboration with Cloudflare -- Mozilla pioneered a way to route internet traffic called DNS over HTTPS, or DoH, from within a browser. A testament to its anti-surveillance effectiveness, the new method earned Mozilla the laughable award of " Internet Villain of the year " by a UK ISP lobby in 2019 -- meaning, essentially, the privacy technology had the potential to break the ISPs' business models that revolve around sucking up, bundling and selling as much of your usage data as possible. 

Though hailed as a breakthrough for privacy, the new method wasn't without its flaws. 

When Mozilla enabled DoH for US Firefox users in early 2020, CNET's Stephen Shankland dug into those flaws . The most pressing of which are that DoH could centralize DNS activity and that it could offer companies a new way to track you online . Among DoH's critiques, perhaps the most prescient quote came from Bert Hubert , creator of the PowerDNS software . 

"I find it highly disappointing that Mozilla decided, on behalf of all users it deems American, that this was a good idea," Hubert said in an email. "While encrypted DNS is great, it matters a great deal who you encrypt your DNS to ... They did not perform surveys, for example, on how people would feel about giving a trace of all their internet activities to Cloudflare."

Read more : Cloudbleed bug: Everything you need to know

Theoretically, ODoH would reduce the amount of identifiable information Cloudflare would obtain about a user, compared to that which they'd see with DoH. Cloudflare hasn't been free of security concerns, however. In 2017, a flaw dubbed Cloudbleed afflicted websites using Cloudflare's products. Cloudflare fixed the problem , but the exposure included usernames, passwords, messages and other potentially identifying information. 

Criticism of the ODoH protocol came in January of this year, when digital privacy advocates at the Electronic Frontier Foundation cautioned that the protocol could ultimately facilitate more censorship than it overcomes. 

"One possibility worries us: Using ODoH gives software developers an easy way to comply with the demands of a censorship regime in order to distribute their software without telling the regime the identity of users they're censoring," EFF said. 

In other words, by choosing a reputable ODoH proxy that refuses to resolve censored websites, software companies could make headway into distributing software in heavily censored countries like China and Saudi Arabia so long as that censorship was baked in, such as by distributing a censored version of the software.

"This would remove any potential culpability that software developers have for revealing the identity of a user to a government that can put them in danger, but it also facilitates the act of censorship. In traditional DoH, this is not possible. Giving developers an easy-out by facilitating 'anonymous' censorship is a worrying prospect," EFF said.

Cloudflare didn't return CNET's request for comment. 

Aside from Apple's reluctance to name their proxy partners, another roadblock for Private Relay users may be their own individual school or business networks. Most leading VPNs take measures to camouflage themselves and blend in with non-VPN traffic, but proxy servers are readily identified and blocked by most private networks. That means it's going to be up to individual campuses and companies to allow proxy traffic from Apple devices. Otherwise, Apple said, you won't be able to use the service. 

For right now, more is unknown than known about Private Relay. We expect more specifics and documentation to emerge about the gears of Private Relay as the full launch of iOS 15 and new MacOS/iPad OS approaches in the fall. Since a slow leak of discrete partnerships is par for course with Apple -- at least as far back as its Maps-TomTom collaboration -- we also expect more information to emerge about the nature and scope of its partnerships with third-party intermediaries.

Until then, Apple's choice to blind themselves to user DNS requests with Private Relay could allow the company to put some distance between itself and the contentious debate over encryption more generally that it has recently been mired in. What remains to be seen is whether the tech giant's use of the new ODoH protocol will push other browsers to adopt their own versions of it in lieu of the more widespread DoH. 

But even if Private Relay falls short of being a full-fledged VPN, Apple may well view it as a win-win: it gets to wrap itself in the privacy flag (a continuing differentiation upsell to users versus Google and Facebook), even as it collects less and less user data by default -- potentially obviating subpoenas when government agencies come calling . 

• WWDC 2021: Everything Apple revealed
• WWDC21: Apple previews iOS 15 for the iPhone
• FaceTime gets Android, Windows support in browser

Update, June 16 : Adds clarifying language distinguishing app-routed from default device encryption, VPN-specific obfuscation from other obfuscation types and specifies browser-based IP address encryption benefit requirements.

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How-To Geek

What is apple's private relay, and is a vpn better.

Apple just announced a VPN-like feature ... but it's not a VPN. Here's what we know.

Quick Links

What does private relay do, is private relay a vpn, is private relay like tor, what will private relay look like, can private relay replace a vpn.

"Private Relay" is a new VPN-like service scheduled for iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monteray in fall 2021. At WWDC 2021, Apple announced Private Relay alongside  some other privacy-focused services . These will be included with iCloud's paid plans, which will be renamed to iCloud+ .

At the time of the announcement, Apple went into a few details on how Private Relay will work. For one, it seems that it will be exclusive to the Safari browser on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. When enabled, it will encrypt all data leaving your device, including the address of any sites that you want to visit. Then, it will send your data through two so-called "relays." The first will assign you a random IP address in your region, and the second will decrypt the name of the site and send you there.

Related: What Is Apple iCloud+?

By using two servers in this way, Apple claims that it will protect your identity "because no single entity can identify both who a user is and which sites they visit." The whole proposition sounds enticing and seems like a good way to bolster Apple customers' privacy---at least, for those who've already signed up to iCloud's paid plans.

Of course, the first question on our minds was whether or not Private Relay is a VPN. According to The Verge , Apple denies that it's a VPN. That being said, it does sound like it has some of the functionality of a virtual private network , like how it assigns you a new IP address, but there are some key differences, too.

One of the most important is that Private Relay uses two relays rather than the single server of a VPN. This means that Apple is neatly sidestepping a VPN's biggest Achilles' heel: The possibility of a VPN provider keeping logs, which is a privacy concern when using VPNs .

Related: What Is a VPN, and Why Would I Need One?

In short, when you connect to a website, a record is kept of that connection by your internet service provider (ISP). When you use a VPN, the ISP can't see the sites that you visit anymore, but the VPN can. This is a big issue and one of the reasons that you should always make sure that you're doing business with a no-log VPN .

By using two servers, Apple renders this issue moot: Supposedly, while Apple does know what the first server is doing, it can't know what the second is up to because everything is encrypted. It's a pretty elegant solution overall. In fact, it's reminiscent of the Tor , which is also designed for anonymity.

Related: How to Browse Anonymously With Tor

Private Relay's system of routing traffic through more than one point is a lot like how Tor bounces traffic around. Tor users send their traffic to the website that they want to visit by hopping them through so-called nodes, which are usually small servers run by volunteers, maybe even on their home PCs. The difference with Apple Relay---besides calling nodes "relays"---is that there are only two (Tor networks can hop dozens of times in some cases.).

By keeping the hop count down to just two and using proprietary servers---that's an assumption on our part, but knowing Apple, a reasonable one---Apple is solving Tor's biggest issue, namely, that of speed. Even a well set-up Tor network slows connection speeds considerably, but Private Relay seems to be getting around that. We won't know for sure until we check it out for ourselves.

Nobody can do anything but make assumptions about Private Relay until we actually get our hands on iCloud+. At the time of writing shortly after WWDC in June of 2021, it's unclear exactly when it will be rolled out in beta form---although it should be part of iOS 15 in fall of 2021.

When it's rolled out, it won't be available in a number of countries due to "regulatory reasons." These include two countries where VPNs are illegal, China and Belarus, as well as other places, like Saudi Arabia and Turkmenistan, where the government likes to keep an eye on things.

Related: How to Use iCloud+ Private Relay

As it stands now, Private Relay is going to be a Tor-like system that will probably be a lot faster than actual Tor thanks to a low hop count and the use of, most likely, optimized servers. Unlike Tor or a VPN, however, users won't be able to select a server outside of their region, or even pick a server of their choice in their own region. In other words, you can't use Private Relay to appear as if you're browsing from another region or a specific area, as you can with a VPN.

It also looks like Private Relay will be Safari exclusive. Whether or not app traffic is protected is unclear. If it can only be used through Safari---exclusively when browsing---it will be less useful, especially on mobile devices where most activity is run through apps.

Overall, it seems like iCloud+ will be a nice set of added security and privacy features on top of the already reasonably priced iCloud storage plans, but we doubt that Private Relay will replace VPNs and Tor.

While it's obviously secure and private, it removes the choices that users have over how they use it. If Apple made it possible to choose regions and also let it play nice with other browsers and apps, then it would be a force to be reckoned with.

For now, VPNs are still more powerful, flexible tools. But for people who aren't using a VPN, Private Relay will make some VPN-style privacy features even more accessible. That's great news.

ExpressVPN is our top VPN pick. It's fast, inexpensive, and works on every platform---with all your apps. Many of us at How-To Geek have trusted and used it for years.

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What is Apple Private Relay and is it a substitute for a real VPN?

Apple Private Relay, unveiled in 2021, is a Safari feature that’s only available for iCloud+ subscribers and acts similarly to a virtual private network ( VPN ). The browser-based encryption tool is designed to provide an added layer of security and privacy when using any of Apple’s products. Apple Private Relay masks the user’s IP address and encrypts internet traffic, but if you’re hoping to use Private Relay with Chrome on your Mac, sadly, it only works with Safari.

We’ve compared Private Relay and VPNs features, and it’s clear which one provides the best privacy and security.

What is Apple Private Relay?

Apple Private Relay, also known as iCloud Relay, enables users to browse the web without revealing their real IP address – just like a VPN would. The feature is part of Apple’s iCloud+ subscription and is designed to protect your privacy when on the web using Apple’s Safari browser.

How does Apple Private Relay work?

Apple Private Relay is, in some respects, easier to use than a standard VPN. Any iPhone, iPad or Mac with an iCloud+ subscription can enable Apple Private Relay within their settings. 

Once enabled, Private Relay uses two different proxies to hide your information – instead of tunnelling your data, like a VPN would. 

When you access Safari and go to a website, your device connects to the first server, which is run by Apple. The first proxy won’t know the website you’ve visited and Apple won’t be able to see your online activity. Your location will also be disguised and an approximate one assigned – this location can be widened by country or time zone within the Private Relay settings. 

Via an encrypted connection, the first server sends your data to the second server – run by a third-party provider. The second server decrypts the information and directs you to the correct website. It doesn’t know your real IP address, so it selects a random IP address from your approximate location. 

Simply put, the first server knows your IP address but doesn’t know the website you’re trying to access. The second server understands the content you want to access, but not your IP address. 

Is Apple Private Relay a VPN?

While Apple Private Relay has similarities to a VPN, such as masking your IP address and encrypting internet traffic, it is not a VPN and that is where its features stop. A VPN provides a much more comprehensive level of security with privacy features.

Apple Private Relay vs VPN

Private Relay works similarly to a VPN, in the sense that it conceals your real IP address and encrypts your internet traffic, but there are plenty of security and privacy features missing that a VPN for iPhone or VPN for Mac would provide. Apple Private Relay can be used in conjunction with a VPN. If a VPN service is turned on, Private Relay won’t interfere – instead, it will identify the internet traffic and allow it to pass through the relay.  

A VPN has features, such as a kill switch – to automatically disconnect you from the internet if the VPN connection drops – and split tunnelling, which allows you to choose which internet or app traffic to route via the VPN and have everything else run outside of the encrypted tunnel. 

Also, most VPNs follow a no-logs policy, which means that the provider doesn’t log or store any of your user data including web sessions, websites visited and IP addresses. Most providers will also have this independently audited to assure customers that their data is safe and secure. Apple Apple Private Relay operates a minimal logging policy , but it claims none of the data stored can be used to identify account holders and is only intended for maintenance and trouble-shooting purposes.  

We’ve compared the general features that come with a VPN to what you get with Apple Private Relay. 

Apple Private Relay pros and cons

With any VPN, there are always upsides and downsides to the service; the same goes for Apple Private Relay. 

What is Apple Private Relay good for?

• Masking your IP address: Private Relay provides you with a different IP address and conceals your real one from Apple and other third-party websites and applications
• Simple to use: The service is simple for Apple-product users to use and there is no need for downloads or payments 
• Allows customers to create an anonymous email address: The service can send an email to the recipient using an automatically generated email address – keeping your email anonymous and private 

What it isn’t good for? 

• Security and privacy features: With Private Relay, there are no added security features. Unlike VPNs, the service doesn’t have a kill switch or split tunnelling 
• Choosing a server location: You can’t change the server location. Although you can widen your approximate location, this does not give you access to worldwide locations, like you would have with a VPN
• No-log policy: Through Private Relay, your IP address is hidden, along with your data and web activity – no third party or Apple can see this information. However, Private Relay’s privacy policy says it logs minimal user data, but claims none of it can be used to identify account holders. Still, governments could potentially request this data from Apple in the event of a criminal case.
• Unknown level of encryption: Though Private Relay encrypts your Internet traffic, it’s unknown which level of encryption is used by Apple
• Only for iCloud+ subscribers: Users will need to pay for an iCloud+ account to access Apple Private Relay

How to set up Apple Private Relay

For iCloud subscription customers, Apple Private Relay can be used on iPhones, iPads and Macs. Setting up the service for the devices can be actioned in just a few steps. 

Set up for iPhone and iPad:

Step 1: 

Open the settings app and tap your name. 

Step 2: 

Tap iCloud and select Private Relay.

To turn Private Relay on or off, tap Private Relay.

Click IP address location, then choose a setting for your IP address

• To view localised content in Safari while your IP address remains hidden – tap Maintain General Location
• To choose a broader location for your IP address, still, within your country and time zone, tap Use Country and Time Zone

Set up for Macs:

Choose the Apple menu and go into System Settings

Click your name, then select iCloud

Scroll down until you see iCloud+ – under that, click Private Relay 

Step 4: 

Click to turn Private Relay on or off

Step 5: 

Click IP address location first, then choose a setting for your IP address:

• To choose a broader location for your IP address, still within your country and time zone, tap Use Country and Time Zone

Overall, while there are downsides to Apple Private Relay when compared with a VPN, the service itself can protect your identity online and disguise your web activity. 

Private Relay provides the user with a different IP address and encrypts all internet traffic when using Safari. The service also ensures that none of your web activity is revealed to third parties or Apple itself. 

However, a VPN provides so much more than just concealing your IP address and encrypting traffic. With a VPN you have the option to use privacy features, such as a kill switch or split tunnelling. VPNs also come with a higher degree of security if they have a no-logs policy which has been independently audited. 

It really depends on why you require online security. If you don’t need a high-level, Apple Private Relay could be well-suited. For many, Private Relay won’t be of use, not just because it has limited privacy features, but simply for the fact it cannot be activated in Chrome on Macs. 

Frequently asked questions

What is apple’s vpn.

Apple’s Private Relay is similar to a VPN in the way that it keeps your data and sensitive information safe while online and gives you an added layer of privacy. However, Private Relay is not a VPN. Private Relay, when turned on, encrypts the traffic leaving your device and is sent through two separate internet relays.

What does Apple’s VPN do?

Apple Private Relay works by protecting your online identity. Just like a VPN, it encrypts your internet traffic and hides your real IP address while using Safari. Private Relay uses two different proxies to conceal your IP address and web activity, unlike a VPN, which uses an encrypted tunnel. 

How can I access my Private Relay Apple ID email?

Private Relay allows customers to use an anonymous email address. The Private Relay email service routes all emails between you and the user. The service will send an email to the recipient using an automatically generated email address. Access your Private Relay ID email within your Apple ID settings. 

Rachel Sadler

Rachel is a seasoned writer who has been producing online and print content for seven years. 

As a home tech expert for Independent Advisor , Rachel researches and writes buying guides and reviews, helping consumers navigate the realms of broadband and home security gadgets. She also covers home tech for The Federation of Master Builders , where she reviews and tests home security devices. 

She started as a news and lifestyle journalist in Hong Kong reporting on island-wide news stories, food and drink and the city’s events. She’s written for editorial platforms Sassy Hong Kong , Localiiz and Bay Media. While in Hong Kong she attended PR events, interviewed local talent and project-managed photoshoots. 

Rachel holds a BA in English Language and Creative Writing and is committed to simplifying tech jargon and producing unbiased reviews.

Amy is a seasoned writer and editor with a special interest in home design, sustainable technology and green building methods.

She has interviewed hundreds of self-builders, extenders and renovators about their journeys towards individual, well-considered homes, as well as architects and industry experts during her five years working as Assistant Editor at Homebuilding & Renovating, part of Future plc.

Amy’s work covers topics ranging from home, interior and garden design to DIY step-by-steps, planning permission and build costs, and has been published in Period Living, Real Homes, and 25 Beautiful Homes, Homes and Gardens.

Now an Editor at the Independent Advisor, Amy manages homes-related content for the site, including solar panels, combi boilers, and windows.

Her passion for saving tired and inefficient homes also extends to her own life; Amy completed a renovation of a mid-century house in 2022 and is about to embark on an energy-efficient overhaul of a 1800s cottage in Somerset.

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iCloud Private Relay Vs VPN: The Key Differences Explained

Apple rolled out Private Relay as one of the new  security features on iOS 15 — it's available to all paid iCloud accounts (as part of what Apple calls iCloud+), and sounds a lot like a VPN service. Private Relay masks and encrypts all traffic leaving your device via Safari by rerouting it through different servers, so that no one — including Apple — can intercept or compromise your data.

But it's not time to cancel your VPN subscriptions just yet. Although both share some fundamental similarities, Private Relay is still quite different from and limited compared to a VPN service. It's important to understand its limitations so that you don't unwittingly compromise your privacy and security.

Still, iCloud Private Relay may be good enough as a security measure for most people, providing the basic benefits of a VPN to users who are reluctant to sign up for a similar VPN service . Let's take a closer look at how Private Relay works, and how it's different from a VPN.

iCloud Private Relay: what it is and how it works

By default, your network provider and the websites you visit collect some information when you browse the web, such as your DNS (Domain Name System) records and your device's IP address. Add web cookies to the mix, and this information makes it too easy to build and track a detailed profile of your online identity — including your exact location and browsing history. Exploitative advertisers look for that specific personal data to fine-tune their ad-targeting tactics.

In this context, that's how Private Relay intends to protect you, according to Apple . With the feature enabled, Safari sends your web requests through two separate "hops" or internet relays: The first relay is a proprietary proxy server, and the other is an unnamed "third-party content provider." When you use Safari, your data is encrypted and then sent to Apple's proxy server, at which point the DNS request and your device's IP address are separated.

Your IP address remains visible to Apple's proxy server and your network provider, but your DNS records are encrypted. This is passed on to a second relay which decrypts the destination website address, swaps your IP address for a fake one, and connects you to the site.

This means that Apple will have details of your IP address but not your DNS records, and the other partner will have DNS details, but not your IP address (so they cannot pinpoint your identity or location). Neither Apple, nor your network provider or the destination website, has sufficient data to correctly identify you online.

How Private Relay is different from a VPN

Private Relay and VPNs have some functions in common: they both encrypt your data and shield you from intruders online. However, Private Relay is inadequate on several key fronts compared to a VPN.

Primarily, Private Relay only works within Apple's Safari browser, so it provides very limited coverage. As far as online security measures go, it's more like a proxy than a VPN . A VPN provides more extensive protection — all traffic leaving your device is masked and encrypted.

It also does not make your web traffic completely untraceable. Apple replaces your IP address with temporary ones from the closest relay server — allowing necessary websites to use geotagging to deliver localized data (news, weather, relevant ads, etc.). It's a useful feature, but there's a drawback. Even though they can't individually identify you, destination servers and other outside parties can still determine your approximate location. The best VPNs can completely cloak your online identity.

Private Relay also does not allow you to choose a server region. VPNs can allow you to change your region by connecting to a server in a different location, thereby allowing you to watch Netflix from another country or access YouTube content that's not available in your region , or even land better deals while shopping. You cannot do that with Private Relay.

If you want basic protection, then iCloud Private Relay is sufficient enough. But for a more complete, device-wide protection, a VPN service makes more sense.

iCloud Private Relay — Everything You Need To Know

Aside from changing its paid iCloud subscription service to iCloud+ when Apple rolled out iOS 15, the tech giant also introduced a new privacy feature. Apple named it iCloud+ Private Relay , a new privacy protection feature that many have construed as a VPN, or Virtual Private Network. However, according to Apple, iCloud+ Private Relay helps protect user privacy when browsing the web in Safari. And there lies the difference between iCloud+ Private Relay and VPN. Read along to find out everything you need to know about iCloud Private Relay.

iCloud Private Relay — What it Does

As mentioned, iCloud+ Private Relay helps protect your privacy when browsing using Safari. Apple stated that the feature was designed to protect your privacy by ensuring that no single party, not even Apple, can see who you are or what sites you are visiting when browsing the web using Safari.

When enabled, Private Relay sends your requests to two separate and highly secured internet relays. Apple operates one of these internet relays and, together with your network provider, can see your IP address. Although they also receive your DNS records, there’s no way for them to associate your IP address with your DNS records because that data is encrypted. Hence, your personal whereabouts will be safe and secure.

So what about the mentioned second internet relay? Operated by a third-party content provider, this relay generates a temporary IP address and decrypts the name of the website you request before sending you the website. All of the aforementioned processes are carried out using the latest internet standards to maintain a high-performance browsing experience for you while protecting your privacy.

How To Enable iCloud Private Relay on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac

Enabling the feature on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac is fairly easy to do. Just follow the steps outlined below to start using iCloud Private Relay.

Time needed:  1 minute

To enable iCloud+ Private Relay on your iPhone or iPad, follow these steps.

To enable Private Relay on your Mac running macOS Ventura or later, follow these steps:

The steps differ slightly if your Mac is running macOS Monterey.

• Choose Apple Menu > System Preferences.
• Click Apple ID , then select iCloud.
• Click the checkmark next to Private Relay.
• Choose a setting for your IP address (see options in the preceding section)

How to Disable iCloud Private Relay

Remember, iCloud Private Relay is not currently available in all countries or regions. If it is available in your country, you can enable or disable the feature as you wish. You can disable it on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac by following steps 1 to 4 in the preceding section. Note that once you disable the feature, you won’t have that extra layer of protection the next time you browse the web using Safari.

Final Words: Other Important Things You Need to Know

Since iCloud Private Relay is not yet available in all countries and regions, it will automatically turn off when you travel to a country where it is unsupported. When you return to your own country or enter a new country where it is available, the feature will automatically turn back on. Additionally, your device will notify you whenever it becomes unavailable, as well as when it becomes available again.

The bottom line is that it’s still up to you to enable this feature on your Apple devices for that added layer of privacy when browsing websites on Safari. Note that this feature is an add-on to the premium iCloud+ subscription. So, it’s still part of an added expense after all.

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How to use Apple’s Private Relay feature with iCloud Plus

How to use ios 15 and macos monterey’s biggest new privacy feature.

By Chaim Gartenberg

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One of the more interesting new features available with iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey is iCloud Plus, Apple’s upgraded iCloud subscription service that adds a few key privacy features. Chief among those features is Private Relay, a VPN-like service that’s designed to mask your internet traffic on your devices from anyone trying to snoop in. 

Here’s how to use it:

To start, you’ll have to be using iOS 15, iPadOS 15, or macOS Monterey and be a subscriber to one of Apple’s iCloud plans. All paid iCloud plans — including the $0.99-per-month 50GB plan — are eligible, as are shared family iCloud plans or ones purchased through a shared Apple One subscription. 

Turning on Private Relay is extremely simple.

• On an iPhone or iPad, head to Settings > Apple ID > iCloud > Private Relay and then toggle on the “Private Relay” switch 
• On a Mac, head to System Preferences > Apple ID > iCloud, and check the box labeled “Private Relay”

Unlike most VPNs, Private Relay only offers one configurable option: the ability to choose your IP address location. Apple gives you two choices here: you can use your “general IP address” so that websites can still give you approximate location data, or you can choose a broader IP address somewhere in your country and time zone (which offers greater anonymity at the expense of more accurate online content).

Notably, though, Private Relay still only lets you navigate the web through your existing (rough) geographic location, so you can’t use it for more popular VPN activities — like streaming Netflix content from a different country or skirting local sports blackout rules.

It’s missing a few major VPN features

Apple says Private Relay is actually more secure than a traditional VPN, noting that traffic is masked twice. When you navigate to a URL in Safari, it’s first sent to Apple, which strips out your identifying IP address information, and then sends it on to a second server — maintained by an as-yet-unidentified third party — to assign a new, temporary IP address. The net result is that neither Apple, the third-party relay company, nor the website can track you. 

There are some limitations to Private Relay. To begin, it’ll be unavailable in a number of countries: China, Belarus, Colombia, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkmenistan, Uganda, and the Philippines. Apple tells Reuters this is due to regulatory limitations in those countries.

In addition, Private Relay only works with Safari — not other web browsers or apps — making it a far more limited option than other VPN services, especially when combined with the fact that it can’t be used for dodging geographic location limits.

But considering Private Relay is included as a free add-on for iCloud subscribers, it’s a nice addition, especially if you’re the kind of user who is more interested in the privacy benefits of a VPN for regular web browsing than more specific VPN use cases. The Safari-only limitation could help push users toward using Apple’s browser over competitors like Chrome or Firefox, too.

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Manage iCloud Private Relay for specific websites, networks, or system settings

Some websites, networks, and services might need to see your IP address or require the ability to audit traffic, perform network-based filtering, or view your browsing history.

When to manage iCloud Private Relay

Private Relay is designed to protect your internet privacy and maintain a high-performance browsing experience. Some websites, networks, or services might need to make updates for Private Relay , including networks that require the ability to audit traffic or perform network-based filtering — such as business or education networks — or services that rely on viewing your browsing activity, like parental controls or some "zero rated" services that don't count against your data usage.

If a website relies on IP filtering, monitoring, or rate-limiting, you can temporarily allow that website to see your IP address.

If you get a message that a network or service isn't compatible with Private Relay, you can turn off Private Relay for that specific cellular or Wi-Fi network.

If the system settings on your Mac aren't compatible with Private Relay, you can review the third-party apps (such as a VPN or internet filtering software) that you use on your Mac.

If you turn off Private Relay, network providers and websites can monitor your internet activity in Safari.

If you travel somewhere that Private Relay isn't available, it will automatically turn off and will turn on again when you re-enter a country or region that supports it. Private Relay notifies you when it's unavailable and when it's active again.

If a website doesn't work with Private Relay

Websites that rely on IP filtering, monitoring, or rate-limiting might try to prevent you from browsing their site while using Private Relay.

To continue using that website, you can temporarily allow it to see your IP address:*

Mac: In Safari, choose View > Reload and Show IP Address.

If you turn off Private Relay for a specific website, your network provider will also be able to see which site you're browsing.

*If you don't see the option to temporarily allow a website to see your IP address, update your device to the latest version of iOS, iPadOS, or macOS, and try again.

If a network doesn't work with Private Relay

Private Relay can be turned off for a specific network using the Limit IP Address Tracking setting.*

If you turn off Private Relay for a specific network, the setting for that network applies to all of your devices for which Private Relay is turned on.

If you regularly switch between multiple network configurations (such as Dual SIM or Wi-Fi and Ethernet), make sure that this setting is set for each network independently.

You can try to turn Private Relay back on for a specific network in Wi-Fi, Cellular Data Options, or Network settings.

*In earlier versions of iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, this setting is called iCloud Private Relay.

Turn off Private Relay for a specific network on your iPhone or iPad

Open the Settings app, then tap Wi-Fi.

Scroll down and tap Limit IP Address Tracking.

For cellular network, go to Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options, and tap Limit IP Address Tracking.

Turn off Private Relay for a specific network on your Mac

In macOS Ventura or later:

Choose Apple menu  > System Settings.

Click Network in the sidebar, then click the network service that you're using (such as Wi-Fi) on the right.

Click the Details button next to the name of the network that you're connected to.

Turn off "Limit IP address tracking."

In macOS Monterey:

Choose Apple menu > System Preferences.

Click Network and select the network from the list to see more options.

Click the checkmark next to Limit IP Address Tracking.

If your Mac system settings prevent Private Relay from working

In System Settings on your Mac, you might see an alert that says, "Some of your system settings prevent Private Relay from working."

If you do, a third-party app — such as a VPN or internet filtering software — might have installed settings or extensions that are incompatible with Private Relay. For example, the third-party app might have installed a kernel extension or applied custom packet filter rules.

If you want to use Private Relay on your Mac, turn off or uninstall the third-party app. If you can't turn off or uninstall the app, you might not be able to use Private Relay on your Mac.

Additional resources for developers and network administrators

If you're a website owner or developer, network administrator, or app developer, learn how to provide the best possible experience for users of Private Relay on your Network .

Information about products not manufactured by Apple, or independent websites not controlled or tested by Apple, is provided without recommendation or endorsement. Apple assumes no responsibility with regard to the selection, performance, or use of third-party websites or products. Apple makes no representations regarding third-party website accuracy or reliability. Contact the vendor for additional information.

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iOS 15 Includes a Hidden VPN for iCloud Subscribers (Sort Of)

If you subscribe to iCloud and you're running iOS 15, you can boost your privacy in Safari with Private Relay, Apple's pseudo VPN.

Apple aims to change how you browse the web on your iPhone with its new iOS 15 software update. Your iPhone can now mask your IP address and ensure complete anonymity with a feature called Private Relay. So, if you were paying for a VPN purely for secure browsing, you can cancel your subscription now.

Private Relay is a part of Apple's iCloud+ service that's included with every paid iCloud subscription plan. Here, we'll look at how you can use Private Relay in Safari to hide the IP address on your iPhone.

What Is Private Relay?

Private Relay is Apple's VPN-like service that allows you to use a random IP address, rather than your actual one, thereby keeping data such as your location and browsing activity private. However, it's not exactly a VPN because you don't have the option to switch to a different country's IP address.

Therefore, you cannot use Apple's Private Relay to bypass geo-blocks and unlock regional content on services like Netflix, Spotify, and so on.

You can use Private Relay as long as you're paying for iCloud. Once you turn it on, all the traffic that leaves your device is encrypted in such a way that no one, including Apple, can intercept the data and read it. The sites you visit can no longer profile you, which is something many users are concerned about these days. One important aspect to note is that Private Relay only works in Safari. So, you're out of luck if you use a third-party browser like Chrome.

Related: Reasons Why You Need a VPN and What It Is

How to Hide Your IP Address With iCloud Private Relay

Using Apple's Private Relay feature is as simple as enabling a toggle in your iCloud settings. However, some users may want more control over the IP address they use, which you can also get in the settings.

As long as your iPhone or iPad is running iOS 15 or iPadOS 15, you can follow these simple instructions to use iCloud Private Relay:

• Head over to Settings on your iPhone or iPad.
• In the settings menu, tap on your Apple ID name at the top.
• Tap on the Private Relay option from the list of apps and services.
• Use the toggle to enable Private Relay on your device.
• If you want further control over your IP address, tap on IP Address Location .

By default, Private Relay uses the Maintain General Location setting, since that helps with local and targeted content without sharing too much of your location details. Now, all you need to do is launch Safari and browse the web as usual, but you don't have to worry a bit about your privacy this time.

It's not just iOS and iPadOS devices that get access to this privacy-oriented feature. If you own a Mac, you can use Private Relay in Safari in an identical way, as long as it's running macOS Monterey.

Related: How to Use a Fake IP Address and Mask Yourself Online

Apple's Private Relay Isn't Perfect Just Yet

It's important to remember that Private Relay is still in its beta stage, and Apple clearly indicates that in the iCloud settings. Just like a VPN, your internet speed may slow down as a result of using Private Relay, especially when it connects to an IP address located far away from you. You may also face issues with some websites displaying content from the wrong region or requiring additional steps to sign in.

Besides Private Relay, Apple's new iCloud+ service also introduces a new feature called Hide My Email. This allows you to create a unique and random email address that automatically forwards all the emails it receives to your personal inbox. You no longer need to share your personal address with every website or service you sign up for.

To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories .

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How Apple's iCloud Private Relay Can Keep You Safe

If you pay for iCloud storage, then you automatically have access to the extra perks that Apple bundles together under the iCloud+ name—and one of those perks is the iCloud Private Relay service.

If you open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad, tap your name at the top, and then choose iCloud , you should be able to access a Private Relay (Beta) toggle switch that you can turn on or off. It's also under Apple ID and iCloud in System Preferences on macOS. However there's not a huge amount of information alongside the switch telling you what it is and how it works.

That's what we're going to do here, with the help of new documentation that Apple has published about the ins and outs of iCloud Private Relay. By the time you've finished reading, you should know whether this is a feature you need.

Enabling iCloud Private Relay on an iPhone.

As you'll see from the accompanying blurb, when you switch the feature on, iCloud Private Relay "keeps your internet activity private"—and it does that in a number of ways. One way is by hiding your IP address from the websites that you visit: Your IP address indicates where in the world you're connected to the web, and it's one of the key pieces of information that sites and marketers use to work out who you are.

When iCloud Private Relay is enabled, you've got two choices when it comes to IP addresses. You can carry on reporting your general location (which city you're closest to, more or less)—so that local data such as a weather forecast still shows up correctly—or you can go vaguer and only report your country and time zone to websites that request it.

As an additional flourish, the service encrypts your data as it leaves your device, which means no one can digitally eavesdrop on your communications. Many websites and apps already take care of this by default, but where there are gaps, iCloud Private Relay will fill them. It means that anything you type into a form inside a web browser, from searches to addresses, is kept away from prying eyes.

Finally, iCloud Private Relay also keeps your DNS (Domain Name System) queries secret—essentially, the websites you're looking up on your device. As with IP addresses, this data can be used to create a profile of who you are and what you're interested in, which in turn can be sold to advertisers. With iCloud Private Relay enabled, this is much harder for companies to do.

iCloud Private Relay routes your traffic through two relays.

iCloud Private Relay deploys what Apple calls "dual-hop" architecture—there are two stops or relays between your device and the internet. One stop is run by Apple, where the IP address is visible but the name of the website you're visiting is encrypted; the second stop is run by Apple's "third-party partners" and knows the website you're visiting but not what your IP address is (it has the responsibility of assigning a new IP address for you).

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No one gets to see every bit of information: Apple and your Internet Service Provider (ISP) get to see who you are but not where you're going, while the content delivery network (CDN) running the second relay can see where you're going but not who you are. Each part of the process is kept separate to protect your privacy.

To make the process even more effective, the IP addresses assigned to you by the second relay are rotated over time and between sessions, making it even harder for you to be tracked. The service is also designed so that new CDN partners can be brought in and plugged into the system without any disruption from the user perspective.

If you want to get really technical, iCloud Private Relay uses a variety of traffic transport and security protocols to keep all this rerouting efficient and private. The QUIC protocol (also used extensively by Chrome) is used to manage multiple data streams, for example, while a technology called Oblivious DNS over HTTPS (ODoH) makes sure you get to the right website even when your DNS requests are encrypted and obscured.

You can obscure your IP address, but you can't spoof it.

There are a few caveats and bits of small print to know about iCloud Private Relay. To begin with, it only functions through the Apple Safari browser on your iPhone or iPad, so it doesn't apply to any browsing you’re doing through an alternative mobile browser. It applies to data sent through apps, but only data that is unencrypted, and works across cellular networks as well as Wi-Fi.

There are some differences between Apple's service and a traditional VPN (or Virtual Private Network), which does a similar job. iCloud Private Relay can't be used to spoof your location, for example—you can't use it to pretend you're in a different country. You can only obscure your IP address.

It's also worth noting that traffic routed through a traditional VPN won't be handled by iCloud Private Relay, because the VPN will be doing its own rerouting and IP address assigning. While iCloud Private Relay isn't really a VPN replacement, it's a case of choosing one or the other when it comes to protecting your data and keeping your browsing private on an Apple device.

Apple says that its iCloud Private Relay service does not collect any unique identifiers or any information about who you are or where you're going on the internet. It also promises no "noticeable impact" on browsing speeds or performance as your outgoing traffic gets routed through these two internet relays, something which can be a problem with certain VPN services.

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Private Relay Vs. VPN – Which Is The Better Option?

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In June 2021, Apple announced a new feature for their iCloud+ service. The new feature introduced was “iCloud Private Relay,” which offers additional security for the Safari web browser. The Private Relay encrypts traffic and hides your IP address, similar to what a VPN does . Or that’s what most would think since people refer to it as Apple’s version of a VPN.

However, the reality is that while Private Relays and VPNs share similar features of traffic encryption and masking a user’s IP address, they’re different. In this guide, we’ll go over the key differences between an iCloud Private Relay and VPN, how Private Relays work, and whether one is better than the other. Stay tuned because we will go over all of this in detail.

Table of Contents

What is Private Relay?

iCloud Private Relay is an Apple feature introduced with the iOS 15 update. It is accessible for people who are subscribed to iCloud+ and is available on iPhone, iPad, and other macOS devices. Although described as similar to a VPN, a VPN offers more features.

iCloud Private Relay is more browser-specific and only protects the Safari browser. Traffic coming from any other source on your device remains unprotected.

Your web traffic has lots of confidential data about you, such as your IP address and DNS records. Private Relays help keep your DNS records and IP address details private and ensure that third parties, such as your Internet Service providers and Apple itself, cannot identify or see which websites you’re visiting.

The Private Relay feature helps you safeguard your online privacy so that no one can exploit your identity and credentials. It offers security when browsing the internet. It encrypts internet traffic and routes it through two separate relays to mask the user’s IP address and location.

How Does A Private Relay Work?

We know why a Private Relay is used and its purpose, but how does it work exactly? When you turn Private Relay on, it works using two relays: an ingress relay and an egress relay. The ingress relay receives encrypted traffic and gives them a temporary IP address.

The temporarily assigned IP address routes traffic to the egress relay. The egress relay then decrypts the traffic and sends it to the intended website.

It’s a two-hop process that ensures that neither Apple nor a third party gets access to the user’s actual IP address and browsing history. An important thing to consider is that Private Relays only provide privacy and security when using the Safari web browser. It does not provide encryption to all traffic coming to the device. Secondly, this feature is only available to users subscribed to Cloud+ and may have limitations depending on the region you’re living in.

Is iCloud Private Relay A VPN?

Private Relay is not a VPN. At first glance, a Private Relay may look just like a VPN. This is because both share the same features of encrypting your traffic and hiding your IP address. But it doesn’t offer anything more than that. A VPN provides more features.

VPNs route internet traffic coming from all sources, whereas Private Relays mainly focus on enhancing privacy for the Safari web browser. Private Relays wouldn’t be termed a VPN since it doesn’t offer comprehensive security solutions. Private Relays do not provide any security beyond the web browser . VPNs take it further by securing your connection on all devices and applications and accessing geo-restricted content. If you’re looking for something beyond the scope of Private Relays, then VPNs are the right fit.

Private Relays Vs. VPN – The Key Differences 

Both offer privacy and security but have some essential differences that set them apart.

In a nutshell, Private Relays enhance your privacy only within the Apple ecosystem, whereas VPNs offer a more enhanced security experience. VPNs are also more accessible to users across different platforms and devices.

Which Offers Better Security? Private Relays or VPNs?

It is essential to note that the effectiveness of all these security features depends on the VPN provider. Also, the security measures of VPNs can be affected by factors such as Protocols, Server Locations, and Log Policies.

How To Turn On iCloud Private Relay

• Go to Settings and click your Apple ID name at the top.
• Tap iCloud and then click on Private Relay.
• Toggle the switch to green to turn on Private Relay.
• When you turn the iCloud Private Relay on, you can go to the IP Address Location to decide which location information you want to share.
• You can use a general location or your country’s time zone.
• You can access the Private Relay feature on macOS by going to Apple ID and then iCloud in System Preferences.

Wrapping Up: Which is the Better Option?

As we’ve already discussed, both Private Relays and VPNs offer security. They mask your IP address and encrypt traffic. But that’s the only similarity they share. How to determine which one is better than the other? As discussed earlier, VPNs encrypt your internet connection such as AstrillVPN , whereas Private Relays are only limited to the Safari web browser .

AstrillVPN have more location options, and you have thousands of IP addresses. Unlike VPNs, private Relays have minimal location options, and you can’t change your location.

Private Relays are only limited to Apple devices, and even then, require an iCloud+ subscription service. VPNs can work on multiple devices and operating systems.

At the end of the day, it all boils down to your personal goals. If you want to enhance your security and bypass geo-location restrictions, VPN is the right fit. If you’re concerned about your online safety and security and need that extra layer of protection, then a Private Relay just won’t cut it.

On the other hand, if your only concern is making sure that third parties and advertisers don’t get their hands on your confidential data, then go for a Private Relay. iCloud Private Relays are fast and easier to use than VPNs so you can set it up in next to no time.

Can I get tracked through iCloud Private Relay?

Private Relay is a feature for the Safari web browser. You cannot be tracked with a Private Relay. Websites cannot track users’ online activities as they’re provided with a masked IP address.

Should I turn on the Private Relay feature on iPhone?

If your only concern is ensuring that advertisers and third parties don’t use your data, then having Private Relay is a great option. It will protect your online identity.

Does iCloud Private Relay mask your IP address?

When Private Relay is turned on, internet traffic gets encrypted, meaning websites cannot see your IP address. Third parties can’t detect who you are or which websites you visit.

Is it a good idea to use iCloud Private Relay on iPhone?

Yes, it’s good to use Private Relay on iPhone. It was specifically created to safeguard your privacy so that no one can see who you are or your online activities when browsing the Safari web.

Do iPhones have a built-in VPN software?

iPhones don’t come with built-in VPNs. If you want a VPN, you must download and install it from the App Store. iPhones only have a built-in VPN client; you must connect to a VPN server to know its details.

Does Safari use a VPN by default?

Safari does not have a built-in VPN. However, installing a reliable VPN provider can help you enhance your privacy and security.

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Can I Use A VPN And Apple Private Relay Together?

Among the highlights of WWDC 2021, we had the iCloud+ Private Relay. While Private Relays and VPNs are comparable, we have to know if a VPN and Private Relay can work together.

A VPN is still the best option if you want to access restricted content in your country. It is also the only option that masks every bit of data that leaves your iPhone or Mac. Private Relay is a great feature for the casual user who’d like less tracking and more privacy.

Can I Use VPN And Private Relay Together?

We’ve covered how Private Relay works and the difference between Private Relay and a VPN . You can use a VPN and Private Relay together. It is so because Private Relay has filters that exempt some categories of traffic to bypass it.

Apple explained Private Relay in an Apple Developers video , where it also mentioned the traffic that’ll be exempt from Private Relay. Developers can update their apps to enjoy these exemptions and keep their apps working with a VPN, even when Private Relay is turned on.

If an app asks to connect to a local network, private domains, network extensions, VPNs, and proxy, Private Relay will identify this traffic and let it pass.

In simple words, if a VPN is active, Private Relay won’t interfere. Similarly, if your VPN is turned off, you can still use Private Relay or choose to disable it.

What Will Change For You?

If you’re using a VPN service to mask your IP address, you can choose between Private Relay and the VPN. Both options will do the job. If you’re someone who still prefers a VPN, you can turn it on, and Private Relay will get out of your hair.

Using a VPN and Private Relay together is just a layer of added security on iOS and macOS. Even if you don’t want the potential of a VPN, you can enjoy regional content without compromising on privacy.

To summarize, developers will have to make the relevant changes for apps to work with Private Relay. It doesn’t affect you if you’re an end-user. Rather, it gives you an option to maintain your privacy. Moreover, if you are interested in knowing about VPNs that are open source , do check out our linked article here!

VPN And Private Relay FAQs

Private Relay can mask your IP address, like a VPN, but you can’t change your regional location with Private Relay.

Yes, you can use Apple’s Private Replay and a VPN together.

No, using a VPN and Private Relay together won’t slow down your browsing speed. Private Relay lets your VPN traffic flow independently.

With a Master’s degree in journalism, Manik writes about big tech and has a keen eye for political-tech news. In his free time, he’s browsing the Kindle store for new stuff read. Manik also adores his motorcycle and is looking for new routes on weekends. He likes tea and cat memes. You can reach him at [email protected]

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