Apple Keeps Hide My Email Addresses on iCloud.com After Backlash

The company’s previous proposal to migrate users toward an @private.icloud.com domain drew sharp criticism across platforms like Reddit, where users argued that the distinct suffix would allow websites to identify and reject masked emails with ease. By maintaining the original @icloud.com format, Apple ensures these generated addresses remain indistinguishable from standard user accounts.

While Apple offered no official explanation for the pivot, industry observer John Gruber noted that internal opposition from company staff had existed since the change was first proposed. This reversal arrives on the heels of a separate security failure reported earlier this year by 404 Media, which found that a persistent bug in the system was leaking real email addresses when messages were rejected as spam—a vulnerability that remained unpatched for over a year.