What is iCloud+ and How Is It Different from iCloud?
Jun. 10, 2021iCloud+ enhances the capabilities of iCloud with new privacy features. The features in question includePrivate Relay, Hide My Email, and expanded HomeKit Secure Video support. Before we start, it is worth pointing out that iCloud Plus features are exclusive to paid iCloud customers.
Private Relay is a new feature that helps protect your privacy while browsing the web through the Safari browser. According to Apple,Private Relay uses a dual-hop architecturewhile you are browsing. All the web traffic that leaves your device is encrypted and sent through two internet relays.
While the first relay assigns an anonymous IP address, the second relay decrypts the web addresses and takes users to the destination. This way, no single entity can identify the user and the sites they visit. Think of it as a VPN, but Apple’s implementation of Private Relay isn’t exactly the same as what you’d find on a VPN.
Hide My Email featurelets users generate random email addressesthat they can use to keep their primary email address private. Apple has integrated this feature into Safari, iCloud settings, and the native Mail app. According to Apple, you can generate and delete as many addresses as you need.
But if you are someone who’s not in Apple’s ecosystem, you could use a service like Firefox Relay or SimpleLogin to generate email aliases. To learn more, go through our guide on how you canget Hide My Email feature on Windows and Android.
Another iCloud Plus perk is wider HomeKit Secure Video support. With this expansion,users can link more cameras to monitor home security video footagein the Home app. Notably, the video footage will not count against your iCloud’s storage capacity.
You can connect one, five, or an unlimited number of cameras based on your plan. To be specific, you can connect a single HomeKit Secure Video camera with the 50GB plan, up to five HomeKit Secure Video cameras in the 200GB plan, and unlimited cameras in the 2TB plan.
iCloud+ will be available to all users later this fall. The service will go live in regions where Apple already operates iCloud. However, Apple has confirmed toReutersthatiCloud Plus’ Private Relay feature will not be available in Chinaand select other countries citing regulatory reasons.
Apart from China, iCloud+’s Private Relay will also be unavailable in Belarus, Colombia, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkmenistan, Uganda, and the Philippines.
As we discussed earlier, iCloud+ is not meant to replace iCloud. Instead, itbrings new features to enhance the iCloud experience. The best part is that you get all the new iCloud+ features at no additional cost.
Get New Privacy Features with iCloud+
Subin writes about consumer tech, software, and security. He secretly misses the headphone jack while pretending he’s better off with the wireless freedom.
