iPhone Users Who Pay for iCloud Storage Receive These Five Perks

[MacRumors]

If you pay for iCloud storage on your iPhone, did you know that Apple offers you five perks beyond the extra storage space, at no additional cost?

Here are the perks included with all iCloud+ plans:

• Private Relay keeps your Safari browsing history entirely private from network providers, websites, and even Apple.
• Hide My Email generates unique, random email addresses whenever needed.
• HomeKit Secure Video allows you to capture and review home security footage in an end-to-end encrypted format.
• Custom email domains enable you to personalize your iCloud email address.
• You can create event invitations in the Apple Invites app.

In the U.S., iCloud+ plans range from 50GB for $0.99 per month to 12TB for $59.99 per month.

Article Link: iPhone Users Who Pay for iCloud Storage Receive These Five Perks

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

How are they ‘free’ perks if they’re part of the deal you’re paying for? McDonald’s don’t tell you that the burger in the bun is free…

 

[Lizzard899]

This is old news. Must be a slow day in the news cycle. Maybe apple should focus on fixing the bug in icloud storage where it keeps increasing storage by a lot. Its gotten better over time but still needs work. This has been a bug in ios 18. Ive reported it many times on the feedback page.

 

[CharlesShaw]

I don't need more storage, but I DO need hide my email, and happily pay the $0.99 per month. Only a select few critical entities get my real email.

 

[God of Biscuits]

"users who pay get free things". Irony is dead. Capitalism killed it.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I have no interest in any of those "free features".

What I do have an interest in is some storage choices between 200GB & 2TB

 

[Godspeed8230]

I always wondered , how does Private Relay work with uploads/downloads? Anybody knows?

 

[dustin_]

i don’t get HKSV for free. i specifically pay for an upgraded icloud plan for multi-camera access.

 

[TheDailyApple]

Have to agree with the other comments that it's not really free, just part of the package you're paying for. A better title might be "What an iCloud Subscription Gets You Beyond Storage."

I myself do pay for it for the extra storage though, as iCloud has been the easiest option for keeping documents synced I want accessible across all my devices. I have hide my email, custom domains, and VPN service with proton, so these features are less useful to me. Apple's implementation of VPN (private relay) is severely limited by its exclusion to web browsing and its lack of an easy on/off switch (I don't want to have to dig in to settings each time). I prefer proton for the email stuff just because I want to avoid locking myself into one ecosystem.

 

[krspkbl]

lol yes I know about the "Free" Perks... that's why I subscribe I don't even need the 50GB storage. I joined for Hide My Email and Private Relay. I don't really need it anymore but It's £12/year so whatever. I also just bought my own custom email domain so good to know I can use it with iCloud should I choose.

 

[winxmac]

Have to agree with the other comments that it's not really free, just part of the package you're paying for. A better title might be "What an iCloud Subscription Gets You Beyond Storage."

Sad to say, even MacRumors is not immune to clickbait titles.

 

[iVoid]

Sadly, this one: "HomeKit Secure Video allows you to capture and review home security footage in an end-to-end encrypted format."
Requires a new Home Hub that's not my existing iPad Air or Mac mini M4 Pro.

 

[baryon]

The only reason I pad for iCloud is because it syncs photos. Really no storage would be required, all I need is to have photos I take on my iPhone appear on my Mac, without having to AirDrop them one by one each time. If they just airdropped over automatically in the background whenever the two devices were near, that would be perfectly fine by me. But no, you need to pay for online storage to send photos from one device to another for some reason.

Google drive is much better for online storage, as it allows you to generate links quickly that you can share with people, who can then download your files. iCloud does that in theory but it's so many clicks and steps and people keep thinking they need to log in to download your files (they don't, but the interface nags them to create an iCloud account), and it's tiring to have to explain to people to just dismiss the prompt and download the files. Google drive just works. But it doesn't sync my photos... So you need two separate storage packages.

 

[Michael0816]

Technically those features are free, depending on since when you paid for iCloud+. Because, as far as I remember, none of those features where included from the very beginning and so you paid mainly for the storage. I could be wrong though. 🤷‍♂️

 

[turbineseaplane]

The only reason I pad for iCloud is because it syncs photos. Really no storage would be required, all I need is to have photos I take on my iPhone appear on my Mac, without having to AirDrop them one by one each time. If they just airdropped over automatically in the background whenever the two devices were near, that would be perfectly fine by me. But no, you need to pay for online storage to send photos from one device to another for some reason.

Because Apple nuked PhotoStream

(partly so people would have to pay for iCloud subscriptions)

 

[mdriftmeyer]

Sadly, this one: "HomeKit Secure Video allows you to capture and review home security footage in an end-to-end encrypted format."
Requires a new Home Hub that's not my existing iPad Air or Mac mini M4 Pro.

My Reolink cameras are not supported so that's a feature not available.

 

[EuroChilli]

I have no interest in any of those "free features".

What I do have an interest in is some storage choices between 200GB & 2TB

This. I had to jump from 200GB to 2TB. Now using 316GB. It's going to take a very, very long time before I get my monies worth.

 

[Joe Rossignol]

Technically those features are free, depending on since when you paid for iCloud+. Because, as far as I remember, none of those features where included from the very beginning and so you paid mainly for the storage. I could be wrong though. 🤷‍♂️

I agree with this, but I nixed Free from the title to please the crowd.

 

[EuroChilli]

Because Apple nuked PhotoStream

(partly so people would have to pay for iCloud subscriptions)

I don't need cloud storage, SSDs are way cheaper. The Samsung T9 4TB is on my Amazon shopping list for €350. I also don't consider iCloud as a backup. That's what Time Machine is for. What I think most people want is some kind of syncing service, because my wife and I do like to see all our photos on all devices.

 

[TOM1211]

Agree with others not really free but I moved all my cameras to Apple HomeKit video and they have never let me down quite impressed I used my Apple Watch this morning to look at one lol . Nothing better than going I think I’ve got a picture when talking to someone and it’s all just there in photos easy to find. One subscription all under one roof .

 

[Frankied22]

Just asking for information...

Are there any other free services that do the same thing as Private Relay? That is one I really enjoy in my iCloud subscription. I like having all my internet traffic being hidden from my internet provider without having to turn a VPN on and off. I think it's a pretty nice feature since it only affects Safari, but I would love to know of other cross platform options.

 

[BabyBoii]

I'd legit pay double just for hide my email. best feature by far.

 

[CapitalIdea]

I don't need more storage, but I DO need hide my email, and happily pay the $0.99 per month. Only a select few critical entities get my real email.

Hide my email has been excellent. The minute I start seeing random “buy more from us” money bets I just deactivate the address, and I can tell who did it so I know not to patronize that business anymore.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I don't need cloud storage, SSDs are way cheaper. The Samsung T9 4TB is on my Amazon shopping list for €350. I also don't consider iCloud as a backup. That's what Time Machine is for. What I think most people want is some kind of syncing service, because my wife and I do like to see all our photos on all devices.

Yep! It was PhotoStream ... it was great, and Apple killed it. 😔

 

[Kottu]

I use 3 functions and most of the times I am happy with my choice.