How to use Apple’s special migration feature with iCloud Plus

One of the coolest new features available with iOS 15, iPadOS 15 and macOS Monterey is iCloud Plus, Apple’s updated iCloud subscription service Which adds some major privacy features. Among these is Private Relay, a VPN-like service designed to hide your devices’ internet traffic from anyone trying to spy.

Here’s how to use it:

To get started, you must be using iOS 15, iPadOS 15, or macOS Monterey and be on one of Apple’s iCloud plans. Everyone Paid iCloud Plans – Including a 50 GB plan for $0.99 per month – Eligible, plus shared iCloud family plans or those purchased with a shared Apple One subscription.

The operation of a special relay is very simple.

• On your iPhone or iPad, head to Settings > Apple ID > iCloud > Private Broadcast and toggle on the “Private Broadcast” switch
• On a Mac, go to System Preferences > Apple ID > iCloud and check the “Private Migration” box

Unlike most VPNs, Private Relay offers a configurable option: the ability to choose the location of your IP address. Apple gives you two options here: you can use a “public IP address” so that websites will continue to provide you with approximate location data, or you can choose a broader IP address somewhere in your country and time zone (which provides greater anonymity in calculating more accurate content across Internet).

However, in particular, private relay only allows you to surf the web based on your current (approximate) geographic location, so you can’t use it for more common VPN activities, such as streaming Netflix content from a different country or circumventing local rules. Sports insurance. .

Apple says Private Relay is actually more secure than a traditional VPN, noting that the traffic is twice hidden. When you go to a URL in Safari, it is first sent to Apple, which removes the information from your IP address, and then sends it to a second server, maintained by an as-yet-unrecognized third party, to assign a new temporary IP. talking with. The net result is that no Apple, a third-party relay company, or a website can track you.

There are some restrictions on your relay. For starters, it won’t be available in many countries: China, Belarus, Colombia, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkmenistan, Uganda, and the Philippines. apple dice Reuters This is due to the regulatory restrictions in those countries.

Also, Private Relay only works with Safari, not other web browsers or apps, which makes it a much more limited option than other VPN services, especially when combined with the fact that it can’t be used to circumvent geo-location limits.

But given that Private Relay is listed as a free add-on for iCloud subscribers, it’s a great addition, especially if you’re a user who’s more interested in the privacy benefits of a VPN for regular web browsing than in specific use cases. VPN. Restricting Safari can only help users to use the Apple browser over competitors like Chrome or Firefox as well.