iCloud Private Relay is deactivated for your mobile phone plan

Pagiediy81 · 24. Feb

iCloud Private Relay is deactivated for your mobile phone plan

Hello,

When I try to activate Apple’s iCloud Private Relay, I receive a warning that my mobile phone tariff does not support this function. As a result, I can no longer access any web addresses via Safari until I deactivate the function again.

Unfortunately, I can’t find anything about this in my user account or anywhere else on Swisscom.ch and I don’t know why this function is blocked.

Does anyone know the problem and a solution? Or does anyone have an explanation as to why Swisscom is blocking the service?

Many thanks in advance.

WalterB · 24. Feb

I have no problems using all Apple functions with my ABo “L”.

Activate iCloud Private

And you have subscribed to this?

If you subscribe to iCloud+, you can use iCloud Private Relay to prevent websites and network providers from creating a detailed profile of you. When iCloud Private Relay is enabled, traffic leaving your iPhone is encrypted and sent through two separate Internet relays. This prevents websites from identifying your IP address and exact location and network providers from collecting data about your browsing activity in the Safari app.

24. Feb changed by WalterB

Pagiediy81 · 24. Feb

WalterB

Thanks for your message. I don’t know what it is in my case either.

I just tried again and got the following message: “Your mobile phone plan does not support iCloud Private Relay”

I have subscription “M” and as I said, I don’t see any option to deactivate/activate this function for my tariff.

I have subscribed to iCloud+ and the Private Relay function. This is how it looks for me.

24. Feb changed by Pagiediy81

WalterB · 24. Feb

Pagiediy81

The only difference between the ABo “M” and “L” is that you can call from Switzerland to Europe and Canada ?

Roaming is also active for me, is that the same for you? I have Firefox installed as my Internet browser.

**Do you get the error message as soon as you switch on the private relay (green buton) ?

*Important: I have the iPhone 14 PRo and beta iOS18.4 ?

24. Feb changed by WalterB

Pagiediy81 · 24. Feb

WalterB

Yes, that’s why it can’t actually be due to the Swisscom subscription. This restriction with Mobile M would also be found somewhere else.

I also have roaming activated and “Restrict IP address tracking” in the mobile data settings.

Yes, the error message appears 10-20 seconds after I activate the function. Plus a quasi push message describing the same problem.

WalterB · 24. Feb

Pagiediy81

*Now the question arises whether it is an isolated case or whether others also have a problem ?

What kind of iPhone do you have and which iOS is installed?

Pagiediy81 · 24. Feb

WalterB

I’ll try to contact Swisscom support directly later.

I’m currently using an iPhone 13 Pro with the latest stable iOS release 18.3.1

WalterB · 24. Feb

Pagiediy81

I have not activated the (Tracking) below because I work with Firefox !

"Roaming is also activated for me and also “Restrict IP address tracking” in the mobile data settings. "

24. Feb changed by WalterB

Pagiediy81 · 24. Feb

WalterB

I also deactivated it at the beginning, but got the same error message. I then activated it on a trial basis.

DomiP · 24. Feb

At https://www.coopmobile.ch/de/was-ist-das-icloudapple-private-relay?srsltid=AfmBOoplmtMsy_r8BTx11tYrJcWXeChaZA-SpBYu4XZb_qnGnWyLCLrD you will find a quasi Swisscom guide to setting up the relay. It is from Coop Mobile, but as it is the same infrastructure as Swisscom, this should make no difference.

German media reported several months ago that the network operators were referring to an iOS bug.

Pagiediy81 · 24. Feb

DomiP

Thanks for your message. Unfortunately, there is nothing new in the instructions from Coop Mobile and they are all steps that I have already tried several times (activated/deactivated). I am aware that certain functions (Swisscom Cockpit) are not automatically available with Private Relay. However, as soon as I activate Private Relay, I can no longer connect to the Internet at all via Safari.

Prelude · 24. Feb

Pagiediy81

I have the M mobile subscription and it works…. Almost always. Sometimes I get an error message on my iPhone saying that the private relay had been deactivated. But a few hours later it reactivates automatically.

24. Feb changed by Prelude

WalterB · 24. Feb

DomiP

As I said, I have the Beta iOS 18.4 myself and need Firefox on the iPhone 14 PRo, in my opinion safer than Safari.

DomiP · 24. Feb

Pagiediy81 hmm, okay. Do you have any VPN software or a custom DNS enabled on the device?

Pagiediy81 · 24. Feb

WalterB Thanks for the tip. Does that make a big difference on iOS? The browsers all still use Apple’s WebKit API and therefore everything runs through Apple anyway. But I also use Brave rather than Safari on the Mac and iOS/iPadOS

DomiP

Thanks for the tip. It really was a problem with ControlD’s DNS over HTTPS. Once disabled and re-enabled and private relay worked again.

DomiP · 24. Feb

Pagiediy81 Great that it works now! Maybe you can set up a workflow via the automation app that activates the custom DNS when the relay is not active 😉.

By the way, you’re right; Firefox is also a browser on iOS with the Apple engine under the bonnet: https://firefox-source-docs.mozilla.org/overview/ios.html

I’m still a big fan of Safari on both my iPhone and iPad. Basically, I believe that on-board tools are usually the best in terms of performance and security.