Maya Robertson
Apple has revised its previously announced plan to move both Sign in with Apple and iCloud+ Hide My Email addresses to a new private.icloud.com domain later this year. Under the updated plan, only new Sign in with Apple relay addresses will make the switch, while Hide My Email addresses will remain on icloud.com.
The change modifies the transition Apple originally outlined in June. At the time, the company said newly generated addresses for both privacy services would move to private.icloud.com, consolidating Sign in with Apple and Hide My Email under the same domain. Sign in with Apple currently uses privaterelay.appleid.com, while Hide My Email uses addresses associated with icloud.com.
In an update published yesterday, Apple said it had reconsidered the Hide My Email portion of the plan after reviewing community feedback. As a result, iCloud+ Hide My Email addresses will continue to use icloud.com rather than migrating to the new private domain.
The change for Sign in with Apple is still going ahead. Starting later this year, newly issued Sign in with Apple relay addresses that would previously have used privaterelay.appleid.com will instead use private.icloud.com. Apple has not specified an exact date for the transition.
Existing Sign in with Apple addresses will not be replaced. Apple said addresses already issued on privaterelay.appleid.com will continue operating and forwarding messages to users without interruption.
Sign in with Apple’s private email relay lets users create accounts with participating apps and websites without exposing their personal email address. When a user chooses to hide their email, Apple generates a relay address that forwards messages from the developer to the user’s actual inbox. Hide My Email, available with iCloud+, similarly lets users generate unique addresses that forward to their personal inbox.
Despite narrowing the scope of the domain transition, Apple is still asking developers to prepare for the new Sign in with Apple addresses. Apps and websites using the authentication service should ensure their account systems, email validation logic and allowlists recognize private.icloud.com alongside the existing privaterelay.appleid.com domain.
That requirement is particularly relevant for systems that validate users based on expected email domains. Once Apple begins issuing the new addresses, rejecting or failing to recognize private.icloud.com could interfere with account creation or email handling for users who choose to conceal their email address through Sign in with Apple.
The revised plan therefore leaves Apple with separate domains for the two services. New Sign in with Apple addresses will move to private.icloud.com, existing privaterelay.appleid.com addresses will continue working, and Hide My Email will remain on icloud.com.
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