Why does Mail app contact iCloud when sending a non-iCloud email?

(lapcatsoftware.com)

61 points | by cdrnsf 2 hours ago

10 comments

  • transcriptase 1 hour ago
    Fun activity: install glasswire on windows for a day or 2, set it to prompt you before any connection is allowed, and watch as about 500 different windows components attempt connections with Microsoft as a result of any and every action. And how many onedrive exes randomly fire off throughout the day despite having never once used it. And how onedrive changes its version number every day when it realizes it can’t connect.
    • dylan604 38 minutes ago
      OneDrive is the most annoying of all the apps I never use that was installed alongside an app that I do use. Thankfully, I have now blocked it from notifying me that it can no longer connect to the mother ship.
    • bigyabai 24 minutes ago
      Pack-in slopware and it's consequences have been a disaster for the desktop operating system duopoly.
  • datakan 41 minutes ago
    Isn't this Private Relay masking your IP? https://support.apple.com/en-us/102602

    The article calls out Safari but my understanding is it applies to email also.

    • lapcat 28 minutes ago
      No, I don't use Private Relay or subscribe to iCloud+
  • speak_plainly 1 hour ago
    Probably Handoff and cross-device application state syncing.
    • artisinal 44 minutes ago
      Most likely answer so far. While writing an email you can take it over between iPhone, iPad and Mac. Once you hit send it probably gives a “you can stop Handoff now” signal.
    • lapcat 27 minutes ago
      I've disabled Handoff.

      Also, why would Handoff be triggered by sending an email rather than composing an email? Mail app uses IMAP for syncing mailboxes.

  • kridsdale1 41 minutes ago
    One Apple Mail feature nobody here has commented on was called Piano Mover internally. I don’t know the public marketing name. It lets attachments over 10MB in emails be replaced with iCloud hosted file references.
    • pinkyboy 17 minutes ago
      the marketing name is "Mail Drop", and it is separate from iCloud mail; though it should only fire if there's a 20mb+ attachment on the email.

      cloudd is used by a shit-ton of services though, so I'm not sure how to track it down without better tracing of what actually initiated the call, or the contents of the call.

    • Onavo 24 minutes ago
      I think every major email hosting provider (that's not a dumb IMAP only platform) has some variant of this.
  • bantunes 1 hour ago
    I assume for the same reason the OS pings Cupertino when you run a binary - surveillance, masquerading as protection.
    • SoftTalker 1 hour ago
      Yes, the safe assumption is that Apple reads all your mail. Not that any other provider is better---most are probably worse.
      • bantunes 1 hour ago
        I don't think they read all of it. Probably just metadata. But would be good to know what's being sent.
      • zikduruqe 44 minutes ago
        For a company who hangs their hat on privacy, it is a dang shame that their native mail client can't support PGP/GnuPG. I mean it'll do S/MIME, but who uses that regularly.
      • tjoff 1 hour ago
        "Not that any other provider is better"

        Is that your pretend justification for buying apple?

        • Barbing 52 minutes ago
          Figure they do it for three-letter agencies who’re not in my threat model, otherwise I’d have to spend much time busying with… Whonix? Tails? Qubes?

          And lose/reimplement my Universal Clipboard and AirDrop and iMessage… (so yeah I deserve consequences of my love of convenience)

          Though the more Apple fails to choose the good soap the more I should worry https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49074631

          • tjoff 33 minutes ago
            I don't think you have to look far nor hard for a mail-client that doesn't communicate with the developer because you send an email...

            Universal Clipboard, AirDrop and iMessage - is that really the value add of apple? iMessage... do we really want to encourage that behavior?

            • spacedcowboy 26 minutes ago
              > Universal Clipboard, AirDrop and iMessage - is that really the value add of apple? iMessage... do we really want to encourage that behavior?

              Er, yes ?

              iMessage is awesome.

            • zer0zzz 10 minutes ago
              > Universal Clipboard, AirDrop and iMessage - is that really the value add of apple?

              Yes. I want my desktop and mobile systems to have a widely deployed system for beaming files and text quickly. That’s like a fundamental feature that most platforms don’t even attempt to figure out.

              > iMessage... do we really want to encourage that behavior?

              Yes. I want to encourage companies shipping a widely used, secure, native, cross-device messaging feature consistently over the course of almost two decades with no ads or annoying features like stories and communities.

  • Barbing 40 minutes ago
    Why’s this post below an older less popular one? https://i.ibb.co/jnpcFJz/IMG-0549.jpg
  • zer0zzz 1 hour ago
    Everyone wearing their tinfoil hat while using Gmail and drive for everything
    • lapcat 26 minutes ago
      > while using Gmail and drive for everything

      I don't.

      • zer0zzz 20 minutes ago
        You’d be in the minority.
        • lapcat 12 minutes ago
          I'd also be the author of the submitted article.
          • zer0zzz 2 minutes ago
            I admire your work greatly then. I definitely appreciate uncovering this sort of telemetry, but I feel the reaction from some may be a little more Tin-foil-hatted for my taste. I do thank you for doing the work though!

            I also applaud you for not using the mainstream thing. That’s good too.

    • cynicalsecurity 55 minutes ago
      Gmail doesn't pretend to be private.
      • zer0zzz 20 minutes ago
        Did Apple ever claim they don’t send telemetry for their applications? It’s wildly known they ping Apple.com every time an exe is launched.
  • Barbing 50 minutes ago
    Jeff Johnson is an Apple privacy information hero and deserves every penny for his apps like StopTheMadness https://underpassapp.com/StopTheMadness
  • tomasf 18 minutes ago
    [dead]