What Is iCloud+? What To Know About Apple’s Security & Storage Service

Apple’s newest subscription service is an upgraded version of an older one.

Wondering what is iCloud+? You’re not alone. Many people have that question as it seems to be a new Apple subscription service, but also one that has been around for years.

Technically, iCloud+ is Apple’s newest subscription service. The company announced it in Summer 2021 and it went live in September 2021 with the release of the iPhone’s iOS 15.

iCloud+ joins a host of other subscription services Apple offers including Apple Arcade, Apple News+, Apple Fitness+, Apple TV+, and Apple Music. But iCloud itself isn’t new. iCloud has been around for years. What is new is the “+” portions. But what does those include?

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iCloud+ can be thought of a combined security/privacy plus storage subscription service. It has five main features:

• iCloud storage: iCloud+ comes with upgrade iCloud storage options. iCloud+ offers three different storage tiers including 50GB, 200GB, or 2TB of storage.
• Hide My Email: This is a privacy feature of iCloud+. Hide My Email allows you to create as many as email aliases as possible. You can then give these email aliases to other people, websites or apps. The advantage here is that any emails sent to a Hide My Email email alias will be routed to your real email address (without the person/app/website seeing your real address. If you ever want the person/website/app to stop sending you emails, you can simple delete the Hide My Email alias. 
• iCloud Private Relay: This is Apple’s Tor-like service (currently in beta). It hides your IP address in Safari so the websites you visit can’t see your real IP (and thus use it to track you around the web).
• Custom Email domain: This allows you to use a custom domain as the domain for your email address.
• HomeKit Secure Video: This gives you secure, encrypted video storage on iCloud for your home security systems that are HomeKit compatible.

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As with other Apple services, iCloud+ is a monthly subscription plan. It comes in three different tiers:

$0.99 Tier

For $0.99 a month you get:

• 50GB of iCloud storage
• Hide My Email
• iCloud Private Relay
• HomeKit Secure Video support for one HomeKit-compatible camera
• Custom Email Domain

$2.99 Tier

For $2.99 a month you get:

• 200GB of iCloud storage
• Hide My Email
• iCloud Private Relay
• HomeKit Secure Video support for five HomeKit-compatible cameras
• Custom Email Domain

$9.99 Tier

For $9.99 a month you get:

• 2TB of iCloud storage
• Hide My Email
• iCloud Private Relay
• HomeKit Secure Video support for an unlimited number of HomeKit-compatible cameras
• Custom Email Domain

No matter which iCloud+ plan you subscribe to, you can also share all the benefits with up to five other members of your household.

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As mentioned earlier, iCloud has been around a long time. Long before iCloud+. If you have an Apple ID, you have an iCloud account. An iCloud account gives you access to things like iCloud Drive document syncing and an iCloud email. However, free iCloud accounts are limited to just 5GB of storage.

This is a tricky question. It really depends on how engrained you are int he Apple ecosystem and how much you care about privacy. If you use a lot of Apple apps and services (iCloud Photos, iCloud Drive, etc) iCloud+ alone is worth it for the upgraded storage options. Also, if you care about companies tracking you around the web, iCloud+’s Hide My Email and iCloud Private Relay are must-haves.

But if you only own an iPhone and not a Mac or if you mainly use Google services, iCloud+ might not be a subscription you would take much advantage of.

And check out How To Download Apple TV+ Videos! And Is Apple Arcade Worth It? And take a look at How to Recover Deleted iCloud Files.

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Michael Grothaus

Apple expert and novelist, Michael Grothaus has been covering tech on KnowYourMobile for the best part of 10 years. Prior to this, he worked at Apple. And before that, he was a film journalist. Michael is a published author; his book Epiphany Jones was voted as one of the best novels about Hollywood by Entertainment Weekly. Michael is also a writer at other publications including VICE and Fast Company.

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