Apple's "Hide My Email": Useful, but hardly improved
Apple introduced its forwarding service against spam 5 years ago. Unfortunately, you still have to click through half the system to use it.
iCloud on an iPhone.
(Image: nikkimeel/Shutterstock.com)
Anyone who pays Apple for more cloud storage also subscribes to a number of other functions with iCloud+. One particularly popular feature is “Hide My Email.” The idea behind it: On Apple devices, you can generate a new email address with a few clicks, which is then forwarded to your main account. This is helpful, for example, when creating accounts for e-commerce offers or other websites if you fear receiving spam or other unwanted offers. With “Hide My Email,” you can simply disable such an account if it becomes bothersome. The problem: The function, now five years old, has hardly been changed by Apple since then. It therefore unfortunately has some usability weaknesses.
The problem is the integration
While it is easy to generate a new email when a web offer or app supports the additional service “Sign in with Apple,” where Apple also manages the logins. Then it's just one more click. However, if only “Hide My Email” is to be used, the simplicity depends on the system used.
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In Safari on iPhone and iPad, Apple apps, and certain third-party applications, you can select the new address when creating accounts with a click above the keyboard. But this is inconsistent. Otherwise, an excursion into the system settings under Apple Account and iCloud is always necessary. Only here can new addresses be consistently created and existing ones managed.
Excursion into System Settings
On macOS, “Hide My Email” is displayed even less frequently. Even in Safari, the option often appears not at all. Alternative browsers like Chrome, which now support iCloud passwords, also lack this feature. In addition, managing it via system settings is rather annoying. Selecting, creating, and searching for existing addresses is not easy; for example, they are displayed as an overlay on the Mac.
The new address is not automatically copied to the clipboard. At least on the Mac, a button must be clicked (at least that's the impression Apple gives). It is currently not possible to use your domains for “Hide My Email,” although iCloud already supports these Custom Domains. All in all, despite its usefulness, “Hide My Email” still seems unfinished. It is particularly surprising why Apple has made practically no changes over the last half-decade with all the updates for iOS, macOS, and co. At least: In daily practice, the feature is reliable – and it also helps against annoying spam.
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