Apple has reversed part of its planned email domain change after developers and users raised concerns about Hide My Email moving away from iCloud.com. The company now says Hide My Email addresses will continue using the iCloud.com domain, while Sign in with Apple addresses will still move to private.icloud.com.
Apple confirmed the updated plan in a new developer document published Monday, explaining that existing email addresses will continue working and forwarding will remain uninterrupted. The decision reduces the risk of websites or email systems rejecting Hide My Email aliases after an unexpected domain change.
Hide My Email will remain easier to use across websites
Hide My Email works across websites because its generated addresses use the same iCloud.com domain associated with regular Apple email accounts. Moving those aliases to private.icloud.com would have made them much easier for websites and email providers to identify and block as a group.
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That created a bigger problem because Hide My Email does not require direct support from websites. Users can generate an alias and enter it anywhere, which means administrators would have needed to update filters, allowlists, and account systems across a wide range of services.
By keeping Hide My Email on iCloud.com, Apple avoids that compatibility problem and also makes it harder for websites to block privacy aliases without affecting normal iCloud email users.
Sign in with Apple presents fewer issues because websites have to support the feature directly. Its current private relay addresses use privaterelay.appleid.com, so the move to private.icloud.com also fits Apple’s shift from the Apple ID name to Apple Account.
Existing Sign in with Apple addresses will continue working, so users should not see interruptions when receiving forwarded messages.
Hide My Email still has limits as a privacy feature because Apple connects each alias to the user’s account, and the service does not provide complete anonymity. Its main benefit remains giving users more control over which websites know their real email address and making unwanted messages easier to manage.
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