As iCloud Private Relay works like a VPN, the service is not allowed to operate in all countries and regions. Recently, Russia has been added to this list of countries as users who are on iOS 15 RC have reported that they get a message that the service is not supported in their country.
Apple’s iCloud Private Relay, part of the company’s iCloud+ subscription, is a private VPN that ensures that any browsing activity from Safari is encrypted so that nobody can create a detailed profile of the user. This service was announced at WWDC 2021, as part of iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey updates, but was postponed to a delayed launch this year.
Which countries or regions do not support iCloud Private Relay?
With the recent addition of Russia to the list of countries and regions where iCloud Private Relay will not be available, here is how the updated list looks like now:
- China
- Belarus
- Colombia
- Egypt
- Kazakhstan
- Saudi Arabia
- South Africa
- Turkmenistan
- Uganda
- Russia
- Philippines
As we had said before in our initial coverage of iCloud Private Relay, it is an amazing new addition to iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and allows users to easily gain an additional layer of privacy for the same price that they pay for their existing iCloud+ subscription. The service encrypts and routes browsing data from Safari to two Internet relays, which separate the DNS and IP address from the request to ensure that the original server where the website is hosted, cannot see these details.
Apple has not officially shared any explanation of why iCloud Private Relay is disabled in Russia, but there is a possibility that this is due to regulatory policy changes. The company earlier removed the ‘Smart Voting’ election app on the Russian government’s demand.
iCloud Private Relay is currently available as a beta in iOS 15 and will be launched later this year. iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 will launch to all users on September 20, but it is unclear when macOS Monterey will launch as Apple has not announced its launch date yet.
Read more:
- Apple could start offering custom domains for schools after bringing them to iCloud+
- iCloud subscribers can create custom domains on iCloud+ beta
- iCloud Private Relay feature leaking users’ original address through WebRTC
- iCloud Private Relay makes advertisers worry about future of fingerprinting on the web
- Apple’s new iCloud Private Relay puts VPNs to shame by strengthening browsing privacy – Report
