iOS encrypted DNS guide: iCloud Private Relay & Little Snitch notes appear incorrect/outdated

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Assessment

Difficulty
2/5
Estimated time
1-3 hours
Newbie friendliness
78/100
Issue type
Documentation
Clarity
Clearly specified
Activity status
Quiet
Tech stack
ios
Domain
documentation

Research direction

Open docs/en/Setup_Guides/iOS/iOS_14_and_later_(Encrypted).md and review the “VPNs, iCloud Private Relay, Little Snitch” section against Apple’s iCloud Private Relay Overview, especially “Custom DNS settings.” Update the guide so its encrypted-DNS behavior is accurate and its iOS-specific software references are valid; done means the section no longer makes the reported claims.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Description

Referenced Document

https://github.com/Quad9DNS/documentation/blob/a3db09da7bb2949e47ec58d763e1b043e3a4f851/docs/en/Setup_Guides/iOS/iOS_14_and_later_(Encrypted).md?plain=1#L6

Summary

The section titled "VPNs, iCloud Private Relay, Little Snitch” appears to contain two issues specific to iOS:

  1. The statement about iCloud Private Relay not respecting DNS profiles is inaccurate when custom encrypted DNS (DoH / DoT) is used
  2. Little Snitch is mentioned in an iOS‑only guide, but Little Snitch is not available on iOS
iCloud Private Relay clarification

The document currently states:

“Apple private relay will use its own DNS servers at the system level, with no way to override it.”

However, Apple’s own iCloud Private Relay Overview documentation states:

If a user has configured custom‑encrypted DNS settings using a profile or an app, the DNS server specified will be used instead of ODoH.

Source (Apple):
https://www.apple.com/privacy/docs/iCloud_Private_Relay_Overview_Dec2021.PDF
(“Custom DNS settings” section)

Based on Apple’s documentation:

  • Encrypted DNS (DoH / DoT) configured via profile or app is respected by iCloud Private Relay
  • Unencrypted DNS (manual Wi‑Fi DNS / DHCP DNS) is not used for iCloud Private Relay traffic
Little Snitch mention

The heading and warning include Little Snitch, however:

  • Little Snitch does not exist on iOS
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Avg merge
18h 31m
Merged PRs (30d)
2

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