Apple to Release iOS 15 iCloud Private Relay as a Public Beta

When iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 launch this fall, iCloud Private Relay will be included, but Apple plans to provide the features as a public beta rather than a finalized addition.

According to Apple's release notes for the seventh beta of iOS 15, ‌iCloud‌ Private Relay is being released as a public beta to allow Apple to "gather additional feedback and improve website compatibility" before the official launch of the feature.

So when iOS 15 and the other updates are released, ‌iCloud‌ Private Relay will be available for customers to use, but it will officially be usable in a beta capacity.

In the latest iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 betas, ‌iCloud‌ Private Relay is now listed as a feature that's in beta, with Apple providing the following information: "Private Relay is currently in beta. Some websites may have issues, like showing content for the wrong region or requiring extra steps to sign in."

‌iCloud‌ Private Relay is a service that's designed to ensure Safari traffic leaving an iPhone, iPad, or Mac is encrypted through two separate internet relays so that companies can't use personal information like IP address, location, and browsing activity to build detailed profiles about Apple device users.

Apple's release notes for the new updates made available today also confirm that several issues have been addressed.

• The Bay Bridge now scales correctly at high zoom levels in the Maps app.
• Siri can be used to switch to a Focus other than Do Not Disturb.
• Safari Extensions now correctly appear in the Smart Search field when Show Separate Tab Bar is selected.
• The clear button in the search bar in Safari is no longer clipped.
• VPN apps now connect if they use a private API that no longer exists in iOS 15.
• Collapsing the hardware keyboard shortcut bar now properly invokes leading and trailing edge changes for UIKeyboardLayoutGuide.

With seven betas now released, we are getting close to the end of the testing period for iOS 15. We can expect the new software to launch ahead of refreshed iPhones, likely in September.