Apple has announced changes to the domains used for two of its privacy-focused email forwarding features, according to a developer update posted on August 24, 2026.
Starting later this year, new Sign in with Apple addresses will be issued on a new domain, private.icloud.com, replacing the previously used privaterelay.appleid.com domain, Apple said. The company clarified that existing addresses already issued on privaterelay.appleid.com will continue to function as before, with mail forwarding to users without interruption. In other words, no current Sign in with Apple relay addresses will stop working — the domain change applies only to newly generated addresses going forward.
Separately, Apple said that after further consideration and community feedback, iCloud+ Hide My Email addresses will remain on the icloud.com domain rather than being moved. This appears to reverse or settle an earlier consideration of relocating Hide My Email addresses to a different domain, though the source does not specify what prior plan or proposal prompted the “further consideration” language.
Hide My Email is an iCloud+ subscriber feature that lets users generate random, unique email addresses that forward to their personal inbox, intended to let people share an email address with apps, websites, or services without revealing their real one. Sign in with Apple is a related but distinct system that allows users to log into third-party apps and websites using their Apple ID, with an option to hide their real email address behind a relay address rather than share it directly with the app or site.
Apple’s announcement is directed primarily at developers who build apps or websites that support Sign in with Apple. The company said these developers need to update their account systems, email validation logic, and allowlists to accept addresses on the new private.icloud.com domain in addition to the existing privaterelay.appleid.com domain. Apple did not specify an exact date later in the year when the new domain will begin being used, nor did it detail what will happen to any allowlists or systems that fail to update in time.
The announcement does not include additional detail on the reasoning behind either the new Sign in with Apple domain or the decision to keep Hide My Email addresses unchanged, beyond citing consideration of community feedback in the latter case.
Key facts
- Apple announced the change in a developer update dated August 24, 2026
- New Sign in with Apple addresses will move to private.icloud.com starting later this year
- Existing privaterelay.appleid.com addresses will keep working and forwarding mail without interruption
- iCloud+ Hide My Email addresses will remain on icloud.com, following community feedback
- Developers must update account systems, email validation, and allowlists to accept the new domain