What is Private Relay in iCloud+ and how to enable it?

Privacy and security in the online world of the Internet is important and vital for all of us. We all like not to be tracked when we browse the web and use different websites throughout the day. We never can accept that someone can have the details of our activities. Apple has understood this concern of users and has provided an interesting service to prevent users from being identified on the Internet. Private Relay provides us with exactly this feature. In this article, we are going to examine this interesting feature and how to use it. Stay with us.

What is Private Relay and how does it work?

Private Relay is one of the features provided in iCloud+ and you can use it when you buy iCloud+ subscription. Of course iCloud+ is also included to Apple One bundle. So you can get iCloud+ storage cheaper when you buy Apple One. This feature helps us to keep ourselves safe and secure when working with the Safari browser and browsing the web. When we search for something on Google, read articles on websites, or use different websites, some information such as network traffic, activity history, DNS history, our IP address, sometimes our location, and so on are available to Internet providers (ISPs) and the websites we visit. They can view this information. Websites and Internet service providers can use this information to determine your identity, estimate your location, and track your browsing history over time.

This is where Private Relay comes into play. It's designed to protect your privacy while you're browsing the web in Safari, so you can rest assured that no one—not even Apple—can track you, see you, or know what sites you're visiting. How Private Relay works is that when Private Relay is enabled, your requests are sent through two separate, secure relays or Internet paths to the destination servers.

In the first relay, your IP address is visible (as is normal), but your DNS records are encrypted so that your ISP can't see the address of the website you're visiting. At this point, the second relay, provided by Apple, steps in and replaces your IP with a temporary IP address so that you can't be identified by the websites you're visiting. After applying your security settings, this same relay decrypts the website you're opening. As a result, you connect to that site without revealing your IP, DNS, or location. This procedure is done for all links, pages, and sites you open in the Safari browser.

Does enabling Private Relay affect internet speed?

Although Private Relay takes a little longer to reach our destination website, since this feature is compatible with the latest web and internet standards, Apple says it doesn't significantly impact internet performance and speed. In addition, many web users who use this feature have not reported any slowdown in their internet speeds. So you can use this feature with confidence.

Is Private Relay the same as VPN?

Although Private Relay, like VPN, gives you a temporary and new IP, its function cannot be considered the same as VPN. Because VPN services assign you an IP from your desired region (for example, other countries) and all your data passes through the VPN tunnel. In the meantime, services that are not active in your region are available to you. However, with Private Relay, an IP is assigned based on your approximate geographical region, and your connection to the Internet passes through Apple's encrypted tunnel. The goal of this service is to give you the same access to the same services that are available in your region and only not to be able to track and identify you.

How to activate Private Relay on different devices?

Private Relay must be enabled on each device individually, so here's how to enable it on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

Setting up Private Relay on iPhone and iPad

1. Open Settings on your device and tap on your Apple ID.
2. Select iCloud.
3. Go to the "Private Relay" section and enable Private Relay.

Setting up Private Relay on Mac OS

1. Open the Apple menu and select System Preferences.
2. Click on your name in the left sidebar.
3. Click on iCloud.
4. Go to the Private Relay section and enable the Private Relay.

Conclusion

One of the best Apple services that is worth buying is iCloud+. This service gives you useful features, one of which is Private Relay. In this article, we tried to review and introduce this feature. There are many  and we will review them in the future. So stay tuned for the next Apple 98 articles.