iCloud+'s New Custom Email Domain Feature Now Available in Beta

[junpit]

Just had a strange email from sky vip arrive at my icloud account despite my MX records and DNS being fine. (mxtoolbox reports them as configured correctly). There are no (NONE) pointers to apple anywhere in my dns.

I'll keep the email for the engineers. I can confirm the email states in the bod who it was sent to and its my customer email domain. I have approx 10-20 emails for my custom email domain hit my gmail account. This is one stray one which has ended up in my icloud when it should't have.

This means

1. Apple are still handling email for my custom email domain as they are routing any email received into my mail account.

2. Looks like we have some stray DNS settings (maybe SPF or TXT at a guess) being issued by apple or being held and not refreshed from the google NS servers which are authorative for my domain.

What a mess!

 

[offdwall]

Just had a strange email from sky vip arrive at my icloud account despite my MX records and DNS being fine. (mxtoolbox reports them as configured correctly). There are no (NONE) pointers to apple anywhere in my dns.

I'll keep the email for the engineers. I can confirm the email states in the bod who it was sent to and its my customer email domain. I have approx 10-20 emails for my custom email domain hit my gmail account. This is one stray one which has ended up in my icloud when it should't have.

This means

1. Apple are still handling email for my custom email domain as they are routing any email received into my mail account.

2. Looks like we have some stray DNS settings (maybe SPF or TXT at a guess) being issued by apple or being held and not refreshed from the google NS servers which are authorative for my domain.

What a mess!

More likely the sender’s DNS was not up to date and still had your previous MX records cached. If you have removed Apple’s MX records, Apple can’t be “issuing” anything.

 

[sojer2005]

There is definitely some improvement. For example: my domain aliases, which I deleted from iCloud a while ago, actually no longer exist and I can't send an email to them anymore (they bounce off the server finally).
Just waiting for the DKIM fixes now.

 

[junpit]

More likely the sender’s DNS was not up to date and still had your previous MX records cached. If you have removed Apple’s MX records, Apple can’t be “issuing” anything.

Surely any server has to obey the TTL. I don't expect anything to still be there after a day.

 

[offdwall]

Surely any server has to obey the TTL. I don't expect anything to still be there after a day.

Nor would I but my point was that Apple as zero influence on this. It’s all your DNS and how that gets propagated out to the sender’s DNS. Once you changed out Apple’s MX records, the mail goes where the DNS tells it to. It’s not unusual for someone who “once” provided email for a domain to continue to deliver that email IF it somehow arrives for a period of time. The alternative would be for your sender to just get an undeliverable error back.

 

[cube4ever]

There is definitely some improvement. For example: my domain aliases, which I deleted from iCloud a while ago, actually no longer exist and I can't send an email to them anymore (they bounce off the server finally).
Just waiting for the DKIM fixes now.

I wonder, will the DKIM alignment work automagically or will it require an update for existing NS records?

 

[mstroiu]

I wonder, will the DKIM alignment work automagically or will it require an update for existing NS records?

Yes, we'll have to update a DNS TXT record like this one for example:

k=rsa; t=s; p=MIGfMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBAQUAA4GNADCBiQKBgQDGMjj8MVaESl30KSPYdLaEreSYzvOVh15u9YKAmTLgk1ecr4BCRq3Vkg3Xa2QrEQWbIvQj9FNqBYOr3XIczzU8gkK5Kh42P4C3DgNiBvlNNk2BlA5ITN/EvVAn/ImjoGq5IrcO+hAj2iSAozYTEpJAKe0NTrj49CIkj5JI6ibyJwIDAQAB

For more information, please see this https://support.dnsimple.com/articles/dkim-record/

 

[samwa3]

Actually we're all already setting a CNAME for sig1._domainkey so Apple could just start at anytime to use it. No need for additional work from our side.

 

[dhruveonmars]

Regarding the DKIM support, the team is aware of this missing feature.

I guess there was no timeline on this? How did you manage to get in touch with the iCloud Mail Team?

 

[ErikGrim]

Regarding the DKIM support, the team is aware of this missing feature.

When if ever are they going to fix the issue with deactivated AppleID accounts?

 

[cube4ever]

I guess there was no timeline on this? How did you manage to get in touch with the iCloud Mail Team?

Any updates on this?

 

[dhruveonmars]

Any updates on this?

Doesn't seem to be working yet from what I can tell. When I send an email to https://www.mail-tester.com from Spark (my email app), I get a score of 6.5/10, but when I send from iCloud.com, I get a score of 10/10.
When I try from Apple Mail App, I get 9/10, but says "Your message is not signed with DKIM" which is why it's not 10/10.

At the moment, I tend to write up my email as usual, save it as a draft, and then go to iCloud.com and send from there.

 

[Polas]

DK hostmaster is where I pay for my domain name. One.com is my webhotel, which I would like to skip to save money, so I assumed I had to add mx01.mail.icloud.com to my domain name host and not my webhotel.

Hej Capt. Haddock, did you finally get a solution on moving a .dk email domain to Apple?
I have the same problem as you describe and I want to move my .dk domain from HostGator to Apple. I have requested Apple to register their NameServers with DK-Hostmaster many times but never get a reply.

 

[samwa3]

Hej Capt. Haddock, did you finally get a solution on moving a .dk email domain to Apple?
I have the same problem as you describe and I want to move my .dk domain from HostGator to Apple. I have requested Apple to register their NameServers with DK-Hostmaster many times but never get a reply.

Apple is not a public domain registrar, so why/how do you except to be able to move your domain name (regardless of the TLD) to Apple. They're only now offering an e-mail service. To use it, you have to modify the respective entries inside your DNS zone on the name-servers that you're using. Which usually is the one that your registrar allows you to use, though you could also go to another third-party for that or even host your own. In any case, Apple won't do that.

Also read the answer from user Saturnine inside the post that you replied to. They actually seem to have a clue how DNS works. Capt. Haddock seems to be confused about something.

 

[cube4ever]

At the moment, I tend to write up my email as usual, save it as a draft, and then go to iCloud.com and send from there.

With that workaround, I hope you don't have to send a lot of mails per day

 

[dhruveonmars]

With that workaround, I hope you don't have to send a lot of mails per day

Aha yeah I wouldn't have been able to, had this come out before June.

But I've gone for a full time position since June, so only need the email for freelance work on weekends/evenings, and some of my clients have accounts for me on their emails, and some communicate over WhatsApp/iMessage, so even less so.

I did think of moving back to gsuite, but unless I start sending loads of emails again or start seeing stuff go into spam again, I don't think I will.

 

[ManuCH]

So I've been playing around with iCloud Mail a bit as I've never used it before (currently using FastMail).

Am I missing something, or doesn't the iCloud Mail web interface (on icloud.com) have a global search feature? Is there any way to search for an email through all folders, or is the only way to click through each and every folder, if I don't know where I put an email? Seems like a pretty basic feature ?

 

[offdwall]

So I've been playing around with iCloud Mail a bit as I've never used it before (currently using FastMail).

Am I missing something, or doesn't the iCloud Mail web interface (on icloud.com) have a global search feature? Is there any way to search for an email through all folders, or is the only way to click through each and every folder, if I don't know where I put an email? Seems like a pretty basic feature ?

In the web interface, I don’t believe you can have a search span all folders. You can however do that in Apple Mail on the Mac or iOS with an iCloud account.

 

[pdp1]

View attachment 1823154
Apparently you can't use your own domain email if it's associated with another AppleID.

I don't see the logic in this? Apple could host my email (via one iCloud account) while I used that very same email for another iCloud account. Thoughts??

Or even better Apple could just give us a way to merge AppleIDs already!

Does this mean if I'm using, for example, me@mydomain.com as my Apple ID login, then I CANNOT setup iCloud+ to host that email address?

By the way, I would be using that same Apple ID/iCloud account, me@mydomain.com, to setup the custom domains. Not sure if that makes a difference?

EDIT: nevermind, I finally reached a post 10 pages into this thread that answered my question.

 

[pdp1]

Sadly, this is about as useful as a screen door in a submarine! Think about it...any personal domain email you set up gets dumped into the same inbox as your existing @iCloud.com email address. What good does that do? I use my @iCloud.com address for several things but I'd like to move my personal domain from Google Workspace, but this won't suffice because it's not treated as a separate account. I set up a test account to try it, just to make sure I was reading it right...I am. Everything comes to your one inbox. I supposed you could implement a filtering system using rules...but why bother when other solutions already exist.

Let me see if I have this right. You register "yourdomain.com" under your Apple ID, and your Apple ID has an iCloud email account "yourname@iCloud.com" associated with it. Then you create 3 email addresses called "first@yourdomain.com", "second@yourdomain.com", and "third@yourdomain.com". Email that is sent to any of those 3 addresses, plus email sent to "yourname@iCloud.com", all get dumped into the same inbox? If that's right, then which email address will be used to send outgoing email?

Furthermore, aif you register another domain, "yourotherdomain.com", under the same Apple ID as above, will email going to that domain also get dumped into the same inbox?

I too wanted to switch from Google Workspaces to iCloud (I read Google is going to get rid of their legacy free tier of Workspaced starting May), but if everything just gets crammed into a single iCloud email inbox, then that won't work at all.

 

[samwa3]

then which email address will be used to send outgoing email?

The one that you choose when sending the email.

under the same Apple ID as above, will email going to that domain also get dumped into the same inbox?

Yes. Domain doesn't matter.

but if everything just gets crammed into a single iCloud email inbox, then that won't work at all.

Depends on the use-case. Personally I'd much rather have one mailbox and then use filters etc. to sort mails the way I want instead of having to set up and maintain multiple different mailboxes just because they have different e-mail addresses. In the end it's just a technicality, but the other option means more work.

 

[offdwall]

Let me see if I have this right. You register "yourdomain.com" under your Apple ID, and your Apple ID has an iCloud email account "yourname@iCloud.com" associated with it. Then you create 3 email addresses called "first@yourdomain.com", "second@yourdomain.com", and "third@yourdomain.com". Email that is sent to any of those 3 addresses, plus email sent to "yourname@iCloud.com", all get dumped into the same inbox? If that's right, then which email address will be used to send outgoing email?

Furthermore, aif you register another domain, "yourotherdomain.com", under the same Apple ID as above, will email going to that domain also get dumped into the same inbox?

I too wanted to switch from Google Workspaces to iCloud (I read Google is going to get rid of their legacy free tier of Workspaced starting May), but if everything just gets crammed into a single iCloud email inbox, then that won't work at all.

You can choose to ”send as” any of the emails/domains you have associated with that iCloud account.

If you want separate inboxes and you have “Family” members to burn, you can associate each custom domain with a different icloud account. Make them all part of your “Family” then set up the six icloud accounts, each with a different custom domain.

 

[offdwall]

Does this mean if I'm using, for example, me@mydomain.com as my Apple ID login, then I CANNOT setup iCloud+ to host that email address?

By the way, I would be using that same Apple ID/iCloud account, me@mydomain.com, to setup the custom domains. Not sure if that makes a difference?

EDIT: nevermind, I finally reached a post 10 pages into this thread that answered my question.

Yes you can, you just have to use the icloud account associated with that Apple ID me@mydomain.com. You can’t add mydomain.com as a custom domain to another Apple ID/icloud account and use me@mydomain.com as an address.

I’ve had to do exactly that since me@mydomain.com was an Apple ID I had for decades but my primary icloud environment was me@icloud.com. I set up icloud mail at the old me@mydomain.com Apple ID, then made that part of me@icloud.com’s family. It actually works out better since my me@mydomain.com email comes into a separate inbox from my icloud email.

The insanity is that Apple won’t let you delete old unused Apple ID’s or combine them so you HAVE to do as above. Even if you delete the old me@mydomain.com Apple ID (DON’T), you’re forever barred from using that email as a custom email or another Apple ID.

It’s very easy to get yourself in a catch 22 since Apple will let you add mydomain.com to your primary icloud account. You can set up any xxx@mydomain.com emails but as soon as you try to use the old me@mydomain.com, it won’t let you add what is probably the ONE address you Really need.

I went through hell getting this sorted.

 

[pdp1]

The one that you choose when sending the email.


Yes. Domain doesn't matter.


Depends on the use-case. Personally I'd much rather have one mailbox and then use filters etc. to sort mails the way I want instead of having to set up and maintain multiple different mailboxes just because they have different e-mail addresses. In the end it's just a technicality, but the other option means more work.

Thanks for your insight, I can now see how this might still work for me. However, I still have a couple issues since all the custom domain email addresses appear to just be aliases for your main icloud.com inbox:

1) If you use a regular IMAP email client, it seems you can only login using the icloud.com email address and none of the aliases. This also means I can't seem to send email using the aliases with a generic IMAP client. When you mentioned "The one that you choose when sending the email", I believe that only applies to Apple iCloud email clients correct? Is there a way to send emails from the custom domain emil addresses with a generic IMAP client?

2) You can only have 3 aliases per iCloud email inbox. I have up to 10 aliases I use for each email inbox.

3) I also use distribution list aliases which I don't think iCloud email supports, or does it?

You can choose to ”send as” any of the emails/domains you have associated with that iCloud account.

If you want separate inboxes and you have “Family” members to burn, you can associate each custom domain with a different icloud account. Make them all part of your “Family” then set up the six icloud accounts, each with a different custom domain.

Yes, I came to the same conclusion as you after playing with the iCloud custom domains for the past couple days, so thanks for confirming my findings. I've even decided that I'd only need to email host a single custom domain so it might almost work for me, as long as I can work around the 3 issues/questions I pointed out above.

 

[samwa3]

Is there a way to send emails from the custom domain emil addresses with a generic IMAP client?

That's a standard feature of every e-mail client (to able to choose your sender address). However, I have only tested it with iCloud using Apple Mail. But I would strongly assume that if you setup address1@example.com in your iCloud settings, then when you send an email to Apple's SMTP servers with address1@example.com as the sender address, it won't get rejected.

You can only have 3 aliases per iCloud email inbox. I have up to 10 aliases I use for each email inbox.

Definitely a big limitation there.

I also use distribution list aliases which I don't think iCloud email supports, or does it

One alias for multiple mailboxes? No. This Apple offering is basically for the people that want "dad@example.com" and "kid1@example.com", "kid2@example.com" etc. -- for everything more complicated, it's probably not the right solution.