Apple Private Relay can break certain websites when using Safari

I’ve been hearing a lot about Meta’s Threads lately, and it piqued my curiosity. So, yesterday, I decided to create an Instagram account on their website since it’s the only way to access Threads. However, I ran into a problem. Every time I tried to access the website, I kept getting an error message saying, “ Sorry, this page isn’t available. The link you followed may be broken, or the page may have been removed. Go back to Instagram. “ It was frustrating, and I couldn’t understand why this was happening.

After some investigation, I discovered that the issue was related to Apple Private Relay. As it turns out, Private Relay was causing problems with the Instagram website. You can find more information about this in this support article.

Why does this happen

If a website is not compatible with Private Relay, it may employ measures such as IP filtering, monitoring, or rate-limiting to hinder your ability to access its content.

How to exempt a webpage from iCloud Private Relay

To continue using the website, you can temporarily grant it access to view your IP address. Tap the Page Settings button (AA) on iPhone or iPad and select Show IP Address. On Mac, choose View > Reload and Show IP Address in Safari.

By the way, I didn’t sign up for an account. I’ll explain why in a separate post.

Originally published at https://ldstephens.me on July 15, 2023.