5 iCloud Features You Need To Know About

With the arrival of iOS 15 and macOS Monterey, Apple introduced iCloud+, an optional subscription plan that offers many benefits for those who are willing to pay. Think of iCloud+ as a rebranded version of paid iCloud. In addition to cloud storage, paying for a plan now includes iCloud Private Relay, Hide My Email, Custom Email Domains, and HomeKit Secure Video. Regarding that latter feature, the number of cameras you get support for depends on how much iCloud storage you purchase; the 50GB plan only supports one camera, for example, whereas the 200GB plan supports five. Regardless of the plan, HomeKit Secure Video recordings do not count toward your iCloud storage.

iCloud Private Relay, Hide My Email, and HomeKit Secure Video are all privacy-related features. When iCloud Private Relay is enabled, it acts like a pseudo VPN within Safari and Mail and essentially hides your IP address while in those apps. Hide My Email does exactly as the name implies — it hides your email address by giving you a custom randomized email address anywhere you don’t want to give out your email address. And finally, when you have a HomeKit-compatible video camera or video doorbell, Apple will encrypt your video feed and store all of that data in iCloud. 

Custom Email Domains is pretty straightforward, too. If you own a domain and want your email powered by iCloud, you can do so with Custom Email Domains. You’ll get one email address of your choosing, and if you’re in an iCloud Family Sharing group, each member can have their own custom email address. Apple allows each member to have up to five aliases per account.