A few days ago, some Apple device users complained that they were being blocked from using the new VPN-like feature. The new feature, called iCloud Private Relay, comes as part of the latest iOS update as a beta feature. When enabled, it masks internet traffic from Apple and your ISP. Unfortunately, some users discovered that they couldn’t enable the feature.
Instead, they found this error message:
“Your cellular plan doesn’t support iCloud Private Relay. With Private Relay turned off, this network can monitor your internet activity, and your IP address is not hidden from known trackers or websites.”
This led users to believe that their carrier has disabled the feature. After all, some European carriers have reportedly blocked the feature prior to this discovery. One of the European carriers that blocked the feature was T-Mobile. And with the error popping up in the states, many started to speculate that the Un-carrier has followed this path.
Today, however, the three major carriers in the country have confirmed to The Verge that they are not blocking the new feature. Both AT&T and Verizon directly said that they are not blocking the feature. A spokesperson from Verizon said that the feature is working fine on both cellular and Fios internet connections. Meanwhile, a spokesperson from AT&T said that their policy is not to block the feature.
T-Mobile, on the other hand, has a bit more complicated situation. While most customers shouldn’t have a problem enabling Private Relay, those who have activated content filtering services will not be able to use the feature. This includes customers who are using T-Mo’s Family Controls.
“Customers who chose plans and features with content filtering (e.g. parent controls) do not have access to the iCloud Private Relay to allow these services to work as designed. All other customers have no restrictions,” Bennet Ladyman, a T-Mobile spokesperson, said.
The carrier also found an issue with the recent iOS 15.2 update, which caused the feature to be toggled off after the update. “Overnight our team identified that in the 15.2 iOS release, some device settings default to the feature being toggled off. We have shared this with Apple. This is not specific to T-Mobile.”
So there you have it, folks. The feature should be working fine on your device. But you can check by going to Settings and tapping your name on top > choose iCloud > Private Relay.
Source: The Verge
