T-Mobile Says iOS 15.2 Bug Turning Off iCloud Private Relay for Some Users

[MacRumors]

T-Mobile has not disabled iCloud Private Relay for its subscribers, in contrast to recent reports suggesting the carrier was preventing iPhone users from enabling the feature.

In a statement to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, T-Mobile said that iOS 15.2 device settings that default to the feature being toggled off, and that Apple has been contacted. T-Mobile explicitly says that iCloud relay has not been blocked.

Overnight our team identified that in the 15.2 iOS release, some device settings default to the feature being toggled off. We have shared this with Apple. This is not specific to T-Mobile. Again though, we have not broadly blocked iCloud Private

Yesterday morning, 9to5Mac published a story that said T-Mobile was preventing subscribers from enabling iCloud Private Relay in the United States, and this was a function that was rolling out to all iPhone users.

The article was based on a handful of reports from T-Mobile users who were unable to turn on iCloud Private Relay, and were receiving a message that it was disabled for their carrier.

T-Mobile has since informed 9to5Mac that some subscribers who are using plans and features with content filtering are not able to access iCloud Private Relay, though 9to5Mac claims that some of the users unable to access iCloud Private Relay do not have content filtering enabled.

Customers who chose plans and features with content filtering (e.g. parent controls) do not have access to the iCloud Private Relay to allow these services to work as designed. All other customers have no restrictions.

Based on what T-Mobile has said, it appears the issue is linked to content filtering and a problem with certain features being disabled by default, but the company has now made it clear that iCloud Private Relay is not being explicitly blocked for T-Mobile subscribers.

Apple today updated its iCloud Private Relay support document to clarify how users can make sure that iCloud Private Relay is enabled for a cellular network in iOS 15.2 by going to Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options and ensuring that "Limit IP Address Tracking" is turned on.

There was instant concern about T-Mobile's intentions following the reports yesterday because European carriers banded together to call for iCloud Private Relay to be restricted because it prevents "networks and servers from accessing vital network data and metadata, including those operators in charge of the connectivity."

In the U.S., AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile have not spoken out against iCloud Private Relay nor have they suggested U.S. networks won't support the feature.

Article Link: T-Mobile Says iOS 15.2 Bug Turning Off iCloud Private Relay for Some Users

 

[0924487]

“Bug”

 

[siddavis]

Soooo Apple dropped the baton

 

[TehFalcon]

EU Operators what it blocked because it doesn’t let them see what you are doing, thus not being able to limit your traffic to certain sites and spy on you. How wonderful

 

[ghostface147]

They got caught with their pants down again and call it a bug....maybe.

 

[centauratlas]

EU Operators what it blocked because it doesn’t let them see what you are doing, thus not being able to limit your traffic to certain sites and spy on you. How wonderful

Exactly. Europe claims to protect privacy but in reality they want access to all the sites you visit and what you do. It isn’t just the carriers either, it is the governments also who want access.

 

[poematik13]

hahahaha yeah right. they got caught being scummy and threw apple under the bus in efforts to salvage PR

Between this, their ****** app/website, and the constant security issues with SIM swap attacks, I don't think ill be a tmobile customer for much longer

 

[827538]

Yeh, sure, bug.

All of this panic by cell providers tells me I should turn it on.

 

[sw1tcher]

hahahaha yeah right. they got caught being scummy and threw apple under the bus in efforts to salvage PR

Proof to back up your claim that this is T-Mobile's fault?

 

[clevins]

Jesus people... this isn't a T-Mobile issue. I'm not sure it's an Apple issue. If you signup for parental control filtering on your T-Mobile plan (or any other carrier) they HAVE to be able to see where you're going or they can't filter. If the Limit IP tracking feature is off, then by default they assume it to be OK.

And for all of you outraged about this being tracked... you all WERE using a VPN, right? RIGHT??

 

[Bandaman]

hahahaha yeah right. they got caught being scummy and threw apple under the bus in efforts to salvage PR

Between this, their ****** app/website, and the constant security issues with SIM swap attacks, I don't think ill be a tmobile customer for much longer

Your logic is ... illogical. If they were scummy, they wouldn't have said anything in the first place.

 

[Macintosh TV]

Soooo Apple dropped the baton

Only happening to some users on one network of the hundreds around the world? Seems it's much more T-Mobiles fault here than something specific to iOS.

In this case, T-Mobile is blocking traffic if they can't determine the IP address and filter it. This is on them, not Apple.

 

[BrownyQ]

With today's Apple software quality? Totally plausible it's a bug.

As it stands, I don't know if carriers are even capable of doing this sort of block on a specific feature. Seems way too advanced for them.

 

[Macintosh TV]

Proof to back up your claim that this is T-Mobile's fault?

You clearly didn't bother to read the article.

Customers who chose plans and features with content filtering (e.g. parent controls) do not have access to the iCloud Private Relay to allow these services to work as designed. All other customers have no restrictions.

So T-Mobile is blocking the use of iCloud Private Relay if people have content filtering turned on. That's on T-Mobile. They're the ones blocking such.

 

[Macintosh TV]

With today's Apple software quality? Totally plausible it's a bug.

As it stands, I don't know if carriers are even capable of doing this sort of block on a specific feature. Seems way too advanced for them.

This is all on T-Mobile. It's not an Apple issue at all. Read the article. T-Mobile is blocking the use of iCloud Private Relay if the T-Mobiel account has content filtering enabled. They're the ones blocking it based on their own inability to analyze the content because it's hidden from them.

T-Mobile needs to remedy this issue, not Apple.

 

[DotCom2]

These are the days of shoot out mis-information and hope it sticks. SIGH

 

[clevins]

So T-Mobile is blocking the use of iCloud Private Relay if people have content filtering turned on. That's on T-Mobile. They're the ones blocking such.

Of COURSE they are. If someone has content filtering turned on, they have to in order to do what the customer ASKED FOR. Think before you post next time.

 

[clevins]

This is all on T-Mobile. It's not an Apple issue at all. Read the article. T-Mobile is blocking the use of iCloud Private Relay if the T-Mobiel account has content filtering enabled. They're the ones blocking it based on their own inability to analyze the content because it's hidden from them.

T-Mobile needs to remedy this issue, not Apple.

There's nothing TO remedy. Customer says 'Hey T-Mobile, please filter content". At that point T-Mobile has to be able to see the traffic so it can do what the customer asked them to do. If the customer wants to use Private Relay, they need to turn off content filtering. You cannot have both things.

Some of you really need to stop commenting on things that you clearly don't understand just to whine about a corporation.

 

[rictus007]

Unifi/ubiquiti also blocks the iCloud private relay if you enable certain functions on the firewall to monitor traffic. Firewall is working as expected. Not sure about T-mobile but makes sense that not every user is affected

 

[Macintosh TV]

There's nothing TO remedy. Customer says 'Hey T-Mobile, please filter content". At that point T-Mobile has to be able to see the traffic so it can do what the customer asked them to do. If the customer wants to use Private Relay, they need to turn off content filtering. You cannot have both things.

Some of you really need to stop commenting on things that you clearly don't understand just to whine about a corporation.

Hahahaha. Okay. So T-Mobile blocks things when they can't understand them. That's a poor policy and not what's stated in their policy for the function. It would also indicate that they need to read far more into what's being sent than they let on.

Pretty pretentious with your comments through this thread. Do you work for T-Mobile and feel the need to justify their mistakes?

 

[britboyj]

Hahahaha. Okay. So T-Mobile blocks things when they can't understand them. That's a poor policy and not what's stated in their policy for the function. It would also indicate that they need to read far more into what's being sent than they let on.

T-Mobile cannot block content it cannot see. It needs to be able to see traffic in order to filter it.

To make this a metaphor: A traffic cop cannot direct traffic with a blindfold on.

 

[poematik13]

Proof to back up your claim that this is T-Mobile's fault?

Learn to read.

Customers who chose plans and features with content filtering (e.g. parent controls) do not have access to the iCloud Private Relay to allow these services to work as designed. All other customers have no restrictions.

 

[Taz Mangus]

Learn to read.

Before you start sniping at others, maybe it would be good to understand there really is nothing wrong with what T-Mobile has done. You can’t have Private Relay turned on and content filtering on at the same time, otherwise how would T-Mobile know what content to filter. It is a case of 2 different things creating a mutual exclusive case.

 

[sw1tcher]

Learn to read.

And you should learn to understand how T-Mobile's content filter works and why it's incompatible with iCloud Private Relay.

T-Mobile's content filtering is working as designed.

 

[LogicalApex]

You clearly didn't bother to read the article.



So T-Mobile is blocking the use of iCloud Private Relay if people have content filtering turned on. That's on T-Mobile. They're the ones blocking such.

It is like ordering a coca-cola and wondering why there is sugar in the drink... I mean it is kind of the whole point...

It is like buying an iPhone and wondering why you can't open Android apps or the Google Play Store...

Hopefully you get the idea...

If you turn on content filtering then the content needs to be visible to their algorithm to filter it. There is no loss of privacy or anything else since filter is opt in. That isn't all that hard to understand. Or it shouldn't be...

Especially if this was activated by a parent who want to limit their kid's access to harmful content. T-Mobile can't just silently disable it and throw their hands up saying the kid found the magic button on the iPhone to bypass it all...