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iCloud+ Hide My Email addresses will remain on icloud.com

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Re: iCloud+ Hide My Email addresses will remain on icloud.com

#161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you do this you immediately get thousands of emails a day from bots trying common first names etc. Much better to maintain an explicit list of names you're currently allowing.

Surprisingly not. I have catch-all emails on several of my domains, and rarely get common name spam. I've blacklisted less than a dozen names on my domains in over 20 years.

A friend of mine does the same. Catch-all, and buying expired domains he thinks funny or related to projects and customers he previously worked with. On multiple occasions he has received emails that truly where never meant for him, not spam but actual emails.

So far I think he's returned at least two domains to their previous owners, because letting them laps was a mistake.

Re: iCloud+ Hide My Email addresses will remain on icloud.com

#162
post #58

This is a huge selling point. Private email relays often get blocked, the only lasting solution is to put them on the same domain as, and in the same format as, a significant number of non-private email addresses. As far as I’m aware the only other provider doing this is Fastmail. Comments about lock-in aren’t wrong, but it has to be this way. You can make arbitrary email addresses at your own domain, but anybody who…

I configured about a dozen domains to have MX records for the mailinator disposable inbox service for about a decade for free as a gift and the domains were toxic for any other email use case for years afterwards… they were so abused you couldn’t even sign up for most web services with any email associated by the time I stopped renewing them… there are still GitHub lists of disposable email addresses that list to bla…

So assuming that I wanted a domain, which would be worthless on any mailing listing and pretty much any service, only good for regular emails, then letting them sit a mailinator aliases for a year or so is a good option?

Sadly mailinator and similar services aren't really working anymore.

Re: iCloud+ Hide My Email addresses will remain on icloud.com

#163
post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - similarly, if a vendor leaks or sells my data and I start receiving marketing from somewhere I don't expect it's easier to trace the source of the leak (and in some cases just blackhole that entire email address) This is exactly why I do it, it's eye opening to see exactly which companies leaked your address. As a result of being able to blackhole the leaked addresses I no longer get any spam, the Dvorak dream. I…

I find this very interesting in 2026. I use my gmail address for everything and I don't really get spam (except from services I've subscribed to legitimately but haven't bothered to configure to not send promotional mail). I never really get promotional mail from 3rd parties at all. Is this just gmail filters being very good?

Yes, gmail filters are VERY good.

Re: iCloud+ Hide My Email addresses will remain on icloud.com

#164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find this very interesting in 2026. I use my gmail address for everything and I don't really get spam (except from services I've subscribed to legitimately but haven't bothered to configure to not send promotional mail). I never really get promotional mail from 3rd parties at all. Is this just gmail filters being very good?

Gmail filters are very good, dod you check your spam folder?

No why would I do that? :)

Re: iCloud+ Hide My Email addresses will remain on icloud.com

#165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you do this you immediately get thousands of emails a day from bots trying common first names etc. Much better to maintain an explicit list of names you're currently allowing.

Going back on topic, Apple offers mail hosting for custom domain, along with the optional “one mailbox, infinite aliases” feature we’re discussing right now. I’ve been using it for a while now and no bot spam. No spam at all actually.

> along with the optional “one mailbox, infinite aliases” feature we’re discussing right now.

They’re not exactly the same thing. Aliases are alternate addresses (under one domain) you set up yourself, while a catch-all just accepts any address in the domain as valid. While iCloud Mail does allow catch-all¹, aliases are capped at a maximum of three².

¹ https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/icloud/mm9e3ee0680f/ic...

² https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/icloud/mm074af79454/ic...

Re: iCloud+ Hide My Email addresses will remain on icloud.com

#167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find this very interesting in 2026. I use my gmail address for everything and I don't really get spam (except from services I've subscribed to legitimately but haven't bothered to configure to not send promotional mail). I never really get promotional mail from 3rd parties at all. Is this just gmail filters being very good?

Gmail filters are very good. But if someone with the same name as you starts using your e-mail address for everything because they don't understand or care about needing to see the e-mails they receive then there's very little you can do to stop it other than unsubbing from lists they sign up for (where possible). I've been getting someone else's e-mail traffic for about 5 years now, on two separate Gmail accounts, a…

why'd you get a Gmail with your personal name? isn't it kinda risky to give that out to every site and etc?

Re: iCloud+ Hide My Email addresses will remain on icloud.com

#168
post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Going back on topic, Apple offers mail hosting for custom domain, along with the optional “one mailbox, infinite aliases” feature we’re discussing right now. I’ve been using it for a while now and no bot spam. No spam at all actually.

> along with the optional “one mailbox, infinite aliases” feature we’re discussing right now. They’re not exactly the same thing. Aliases are alternate addresses (under one domain) you set up yourself, while a catch-all just accepts any address in the domain as valid. While iCloud Mail does allow catch-all¹, aliases are capped at a maximum of three². ¹ https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/icloud/mm9e3ee0680f/ic... ²…

Ha, I didn’t realize “catch-all” was a technical term of art. Thanks for clarifying!

Re: iCloud+ Hide My Email addresses will remain on icloud.com

#169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

money from advertising basically dwarf user lifetime purchase of privacy tax you mentioned

The ad business has a lot of people chasing after the same ad spend. Superbowl ads, TV ads, radio ads, print ads, billboard ads, public transit ads, youtube ads, podcast ads, search ads, e-mail ads, social media ads, in-app ads, in-store ads, sports team sponsorship, individual athlete sponsorship, stadium naming, product placement ads, elevator ads, cinema ads, bathroom ads. And Coca-Cola doesn't increase their adve…

yet and they still dwarf

if any, Apple user are the most expensive ads money industry willing to pay for

Re: iCloud+ Hide My Email addresses will remain on icloud.com

#170
post #13

I've noticed a chilling new trend of apple listening to the community.

Anyone have a theory why this even made it to this point? the switch was such obviously a bad idea. just corporate weirdness that no one there bothered to raise their hand and be like "uh, are we really doing this?" or was there a story here that anyone knows about?

Whoever operates the smtp servers for icloud.com complained loudly enough that their job was too hard because of all the traffic, but not loudly enough for someone smart enough to hear about it, until it was announced to the public.
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