How does iCloud Private Relay handle HTTP requests outside of Safari?

Question

How does iCloud Private Relay handle connections that are HTTP in other browsers like Brave or Chrome?

I know that it only masks your IP address completely when you're using Safari - but - it also seems like (If I am understanding correctly) if a connection in an app is running without SSL it'll automatically "upgrade" the connection by routing it through Private Relay.

So, I guess, my question is if I am using Private Relay on my Mac or my iPhone and I'm browsing with Brave will it route me through private relay if I visit a HTTP only site?

I'm not aware of any sites that tell you your IP that don't run over SSL, so I have not been able to test it myself.

I'm coming up on the end of my renewal for my VPN and curious if iCloud Private Relay will be enough. I only use it to protect myself on public WiFi and don't really care about anonymity outside of the local network nor location masking.

Answer 1

Here is an HTTP "Show my IP" site.

I tested this on both my Mac and iPhone using (different ones on both) 3rd party browsers. Both showed an iCloud Private Relay Address, not my "actual" IP Address. On the same Apps/Browsers, an IP Address site that loads through TLS shows my ISP's IP. FWIW, I tested this a few years back when iCloud Private Relay was first released, and I got the same result (a Private Relay IP address). I imagine you'd get the same result.

my question is if I am using Private Relay on my Mac or my iPhone and I'm browsing with Brave will it route me through private relay if I visit a HTTP only site?

iCloud Private Relay has a leak (amongst many) where some sites, even in Safari, aren't routed through the service (for some unknown reason), and in many cases without warning. The way it's supposed to work, it will only route the insecure connections via Private Relay. Any secure connections will continue to be routed outside Private Relay. That means secure links, images, etc, even on a "Not Secure" site, will go through the network provider's connection.

I'm coming up on the end of my renewal for my VPN and curious if iCloud Private Relay will be enough. I only use it to protect myself on public WiFi and don't really care about anonymity outside of the local network nor location masking.

It depends what you mean by "enough" and "protect". What would you like to achieve with these services? If you simply want to have some degree of preventing insecure web traffic floating around public Wi-Fi, iCloud Private Relay is better than nothing, but it has far too many failures - against Apple's claims - that it can be trusted to be reliable.

Sharing what specific goals you have would help in finding the answer you are looking for.