After 48 hours of downtime, iCloud Private Relay is fully up and running for iCloud+ users around the world.
iCloud Private Relay Went Down for 48 Hours, Apple has Finally Fixed Everything and You Can Start Using it Normally
Whenever an Apple service goes down, it usually comes back online within a few minutes or a couple of hours. iCloud Private Relay went down on Thursday and returned online (fully) on Saturday. That is an unusually long time, given how important this feature is. Now that it’s back online, you can start using it normally and stay safe online.
Private Relay is only available to those who have subscribed to iCloud+ – the paid-tier of iCloud. Once subscribed, you get a bunch of perks such as unlimited HomeKit camera recording storage and of course, Private Relay. The latter works by routing your Safari traffic through two relay servers, so that your ISP has no clue about your activity online through Safari. I want to emphasize on the fact that Private Relay works in Safari only. It does not work in apps and other experiences on your iPhone, iPad or Mac.
If you want system-wide protection, you may want to refer to a VPN which routes all traffic, not only Safari, through a secure channel. However, keeping a VPN active all the time may not be feasible as it may incur additional costs if you exceed your bandwidth. iCloud Private Relay is truly unlimited and works within the confines of Safari. But, there are several countries where the feature does not work at all because it’s banned by regulatory authorities.
Those who are subscribed to iCloud+, you should make use of this feature. In countries where it works properly, you can use it to access websites that are otherwise inaccessible on a regular Wi-Fi or cellular network. Think of it as VPN, but for Safari only.
