Apple introduced iCloud Private Relay as a part of its iCloud+ subscription service at its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) in 2021. The feature has been available to paying iCloud+ customers as an opt-in beta feature only, but a report suggests the scope and availability of the feature could change when iOS 16 debuts at WWDC 2022 later this year.

This week, a new report from Digiday cites information from “several” unnamed sources suggesting that iOS 16 will bring several privacy improvements and Private Relay will be improved in the process. According to Charles Manning, CEO of mobile analytics firm Kochava quoted in the report, Apple’s focus on privacy has a lot to do with the expanding scope of Private Relay. The CEO believes Apple will be “relying on Private Relay” to enforce privacy policies. He adds that with iOS 16, it could become “an always-on feature for in-app behavior.”

To get you up to speed, iCloud Private Relay helps iCloud+ customers route browsing traffic from Safari through Apple servers. This allows the users to keep their IP addresses masked online. A significant downside is that the feature doesn’t work with third-party apps. According to the report, Apple could expand the scope of the feature such that it works with all third-party apps.

That said, the details in the report are somewhat sketchy, and we haven’t come across other rumors from reputed sources to corroborate this improvement in iOS 16. Would you like to use iCould Private Relay with third-party apps as well? Tell us why in the comments section below.