Apple’s iCloud Private Relay service has been experiencing significant outages, impacting users across several regions, including Europe, India, Japan, and the United States.
These disruptions have limited users’ ability to access web services and apps that require internet connectivity, creating widespread inconvenience.
The issues have been ongoing since at least Thursday, according to reports.
Apple’s System Status page has confirmed the outage, indicating that the service may be “slow or unavailable” for some users.
This statement corroborates the experiences of many who have been unable to use the service as intended.
Launched in 2021, iCloud Private Relay is designed to enhance user privacy by encrypting internet traffic and employing two separate relays to prevent tracking by web trackers and internet service providers (ISPs).
This advanced privacy feature uses the Oblivious DNS-over-HTTPS protocol, a technology co-developed by Apple and Cloudflare.
In response to the outages, affected users have the option to temporarily disable iCloud Private Relay in their device settings to restore normal internet connectivity.
Despite the ongoing issues and user concerns, Apple has not yet provided a public comment or explanation regarding the cause of the outages.
The situation remains fluid as users and industry observers await further updates from Apple on when the service will be fully restored.
