Apple rescues Hide My Email feature from the privacy scrap heap
- ID
- 17664
- Status
- summarized
- Published
- 25 Aug 2026, 10:46 PM
- Fetched
- 25 Aug 2026, 11:45 PM
- Provider
- TechCrunch
- Category
- technology
- Original URL
- https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/25/apple-rescues-hide-my-email-feature-from-the-privacy-scrap-heap/
- Source URL
- https://techcrunch.com/feed/
Summary
- Score
- 3.5
- Created
- 25 Aug 2026, 11:46 PM
- Tags
- Audience
- developerssaas_founders
What happened
Apple reversed its plan to move Hide My Email addresses from @icloud.com to @private.icloud.com, keeping them indistinguishable from regular iCloud addresses. Users had criticized the proposed @private.icloud.com domain because sites could easily detect and block it during sign-ups. John Gruber reported Apple employees had objected internally to the change all along.
Why it matters
If you build sign-up or email verification flows, Hide My Email aliases will continue coming from @icloud.com, not a distinguishable subdomain, so you cannot easily filter them out. No code changes are needed if you already accept @icloud.com addresses, but this confirms disposable-alias traffic will remain invisible in your user data.
Discussion angle
Whether SaaS sign-up flows should treat disposable email aliases (Hide My Email, SimpleLogin, etc.) as a signal of churn risk or as a privacy feature worth supporting without friction.