What you need to know
- iCloud Private Relay will only be available as a beta when iOS 15 is released.
- iCloud+ users will be able to turn the feature on if they wish.
iCloud Private Relay is getting half of the Shareplay treatment when iOS 15 releases this fall. It'll actually be there, but it will only come in the form of a beta.
Spotted by 6 Colors, the 7th developer beta of iOS 15 release notes (opens in new tab) reveal that iCloud Private Relay will be released as a beta and turned off by default. iCloud+ customers, however, will have the option to turn on the feature.
iCloud Private Relay will be released as a public beta to gather additional feedback and improve website compatibility. (82150385)
The report goes on to speculate that the feature is only being released as a beta because Apple is having issues getting enough websites to work correctly with the new feature and will need more web developers to implement changes before it can run smoothly enough across the web.
It seems like Apple's slowing this roll-out down, at least in part, because there are lingering compatibility issues with some websites—most notably sites that are displaying the wrong region-specific content, or getting confused when signing in. There are some fairly easy remedies web developers can do to make these issues go away, but getting the web to adjust to any new feature takes time, and Apple appears to have erred on the side of caution.
iCloud Private Relay is one of the new privacy features that will be available to Mac, iPad, and iPhone users when iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey release this fall. The feature processes web traffic through two separate proxy servers, bringing a little more privacy to your internet browsing.
