How to Hide Your IP Address on iPhone in Safari
The iPhone gives you a number of free, built-in tools to hide your iPhone’s IP address from websites, ad trackers, and other parties looking for your data. Your IP, or Internet Protocol, address is a unique address assigned to your iPhone when it’s online that can be used to track your activity, build a profile of you, and target ads or sell data. One of the most important places to hide your IP address is the Safari web browser. That’s where the vast majority of parties that want to track your IP will try to access it. Follow these steps to hide your IP in Apple’s pre-installed Safari browser:
How to Hide Your IP Address on iPhone Using iCloud Private Relay
While Safari is how trackers track your IP, it’s not the only way. Advertising trackers can be inserted invisibly into emails sent to you. Apps can do all kinds of tracking, including your IP, to help create user profiles that are sold to target ads (App Tracking Transparency can help with this). So, if you’re really serious about hiding your IP and maintaining your privacy, you need to take another step.
Trackers and Websites: This blocks advertising technology that follows you across many different websites, plus the websites you visit directly, from tracking your IP.Trackers Only: This blocks only advertising trackers, but lets websites see your IP. You might need this if a website requires that you be in a certain country to access it (your IP can be used to determine what country you’re in) or if you have work websites that are configured to specifically work with your IP.
Tap the option you prefer and your IP will be hidden in Safari. Apple’s iCloud Private Relay is similar to a VPN (Virtual Private Network) and can hide your IP address. It’s included with all paid iCloud+ plans (which start as low as US$0.99/month). When iCloud Private Relay is enabled on your iPhone, your IP address is hidden from everyone—even Apple! To enable iCloud Private Relay, first make sure you have iCloud+ and then follow these steps:
Other Ways to Hide Your IP Address on iPhone
The two methods mentioned so far are easy and powerful ways to hide your IP address on your iPhone, but they’re not the only options. Some other options to consider include:
Mail Privacy Protection: This feature built into iOS 15 and up blocks ad trackers that are invisibly embedded in emails. Enable it by going to Settings > Mail > Privacy Protection > move Protect Mail Activity slider to on/green. Hide IP in Cellular Settings: You can block ad trackers in both Mail and Safari with just one setting. Go to Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options > move the Limit IP Address Tracking slider to on/green. VPN: When you connect to the internet using a VPN, all of the data you send and receive is routed through a highly secure VPN connection. This hides your IP. As mentioned above, iCloud Private Relay is similar to a VPN, but you can also subscribe to paid VPN services, too. Ad Blockers: If you’re most concerned about hiding your IP address from ad trackers, the tips about Safari and Mail above will help a lot. If you want to go one step further, install a third-party ad blocker app. Make sure the one you pick can block trackers.
