Apple

17499 readers

108 users here now

Welcome

to the largest Apple community on Lemmy. This is the place where we talk about everything Apple, from iOS to the exciting upcoming Apple Vision Pro. Feel free to join the discussion!

Rules:

No NSFW Content
No Hate Speech or Personal Attacks
No Ads / Spamming
Self promotion is only allowed in the pinned monthly thread

Lemmy Code of Conduct

Communities of Interest:

Apple Hardware
Apple TV
Apple Watch
iPad
iPhone
Mac
Vintage Apple

Apple Software
iOS
iPadOS
macOS
tvOS
watchOS
Shortcuts
Xcode

Community banner courtesy of u/Antsomnia.

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

MichelleG@lemmy.world

RoyalEngineering@lemmy.world

thisisdee@lemmy.world

Hide My Email - Too much friction? (lemmy.ca)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by michaelporter@lemmy.ca to c/apple_enthusiast@lemmy.world

21 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Request for advice at the end of this!

I want to use a throwaway email, using iCloud's Hide My Email, in a web form.

How it is (I think):

Open System Settings (which always seems to default to Appearance, for some reason)
Click on Name/Apple ID
Click on iCloud
Click on Hide My Email
Click "+"
Fill in a label (I usually just put the URL)
Click Continue
Click Copy address
Go back to web form and paste.

9 steps! Or 10, depending on how you're counting.

How it should be:

I click or right-click on the email field in the web form
My Mac asks me if I want to create a new email, I click yes (A new email is created, filled in, and registered in my list of email aliases, with no further input from me)

2 steps.

Apple really likes to suggest that things "just work" so they hide things. I think they've lost their way with respect to usability. Sorry, ranting.

Request(s) for advice

Is the quick method already possible somewhere in the UI, and I'm just missing it? If it isn't already there, does anyone have a solution, say a script for a service, that would accomplish this?

I would appreciate any advice, instructions, or even just commiseration on hidden UIs. Thanks 😊

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] malloc@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

On macOS (and iOS), you have to use Safari. When you are filling out the form, usually it should show a list of common emails to auto fill but you can scroll to the bottom and select “hide my email” to generate one.

Some website forms are not configured correctly or use janky HTML hacks (so it’s not recognized as an email field), so you have to generate it manually as you describe.

[–] michaelporter@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Tried a couple of sites, it didn't work. Nothing happened on clicking, other than activation the insertion cursor.

[–] malloc@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

strange, are you on macOS 12 or later?

https://support.apple.com/guide/icloud/set-up-hide-my-email-mm9d9012c9e8/icloud

In Safari: Open a website, click in an email field, then click Hide My Email to generate a new random email address or use one you’ve already created for the website.

This works as expected for me. I have tested this on lemmy.world sign up page as well