iCloud Plus membership comes with a privacy feature called Hide My Email. This feature enables users to create and use randomized iCloud email addresses instead of their dedicated iCloud email address. In this way, users can keep their actual email address a secret and avoid spam.
When using Hide My Email, users can manually create a new address or use the one presented to them. If they don’t want to use the address presented, they can tap “Use Different Address” to create a new one. Users can add a label and enter a note to keep track of what the address might be used for.
Once the new iCloud email address is active, it will automatically forward email sent to it to the user’s true iCloud email address. This allows users to give out the Hide My Email address to a person or business rather than their real email address.
To test Hide My Email, users can send an email from a Gmail account to the random address. The email will arrive at the user’s true iCloud email address, with the sender never seeing the actual email address. The sender will only see the Hide My Email address.
If a user wants to deactivate the address, they can do so in the Hide My Email settings. Deactivating an address will prevent any sender who has the address from sending another email to the user.
One of the most common ways to use Hide My Email is when an email is requested from a website. Users can generate a separate iCloud address and enter a label and note to refer to what the address is being used for. This way, if the address is spammed, users can easily identify which websites, apps, or individuals passed on the address to email marketers.
Utilizing Hide My Email’s randomized addresses rather than the email address directly associated with the iCloud account will not only cut down on junk email but will also protect user privacy. Deactivated addresses are saved in the settings, and users can easily reactivate them if necessary.
In conclusion, Hide My Email is an excellent privacy feature for iCloud Plus users. It provides a layer of protection that helps keep users’ true email addresses safe from spam and other unwanted emails.