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By contrast, Hide My Email can generate addresses used across a wide range of websites without those site administrators knowing the feature is in use, which would require broader adoption of the new domain on allow lists to prevent email delivery issues. If both Sign in with Apple and Hide My Email were moved to private.icloud.com, websites and email providers could have identified and blocked the shared domain outright, which could have blocked all aliases generated through the feature. Moving only Sign in with Apple to a distinct domain avoids this issue, since that feature is optional and is expected to return an anonymised address when selected by the user.
This reversal is due to concerns about possible disruptions that could arise from changing the main names for the website administrators and email. Because individual websites must implement and maintain Sign in with Apple, they are positioned to address the domain change directly as it takes effect. A recently released developer document shows that Hide My Email will stay on icloud.com instead of moving to private.icloud.com as originally planned. The new domain replaces the previous one, privaterelay.appleid.com, aligning the email domain naming with the updated account terminology.
The shift of Sign in with Apple to private.icloud.com follows an earlier change in terminology, where Apple moved from the term “Apple ID” to “Apple Account. Apple has backed down on a change to its Hide My Email service after criticism from developers and users. However, Sign in with Apple will migrate to the new domain. Existing addresses on Hide My Email services will keep working without interruption. Unlike Hide My Email, the Sign in with Apple domain change is expected to cause fewer disruptions.