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Private Relay on macOS 15 Sequoia

I'm on macOS 15 Sequoia, M1 iMac. On macOS 14, prior to upgrade, everything was working fine with Private relay enabled.

Now, when I activate the nextDNS app:

  • the status on my.nextdns.io is: "This device is using NextDNS with iCloud Private Relay"
  • ads are blocked

However after about 90 seconds:

  • ads start appearing
  • my.nextdns.io status now says: "This device is not using NextDNS. This device is currently using ”Cloudflare” as DNS resolver."
  • If I click "view>"reload and show ip address" it says "All good! This device is using NextDNS with this profile." However ads are not being blocked!

The same behaviour happens when using a Configuration Profile instead of app.

(iOS 18, on the other hand, seems to work fine).

28 replies

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    • domhdez
    • 2 mths ago
    • Reported - view

    Same behavior

    • Josh_Pullin
    • 2 mths ago
    • Reported - view

    I have noticed this today too. Using an Apple Profile and was working before MacOS 15 was installed on Tuesday evening.

    Ads are now appearing on websites that were blocked before.

    • Willard_Stevens
    • 2 mths ago
    • Reported - view

    same issue. 

    everything was working great until upgrade now ads are all over the place. private relay is active. 

    MacOS 15 Sequoia Intel i7. 

    Firefox doesn't show ads. so it's clearly going through the NextDNS but not while on safari using private relay. 

    nextdns ad blocking works fine on safari when private relay is off. 

    • HugoDanielOlivera
    • 2 mths ago
    • Reported - view

    Hi. After upgrade mi iMac, MacMini and 3 MacBooks using previous profile all is running like before. Same profile, same all and working fine. All Macs was upgraded to Sequoia. Best.

    • Human_Person
    • 2 mths ago
    • Reported - view

    Same issue. Tried reinstalling the profile.

    Interestingly, everything works fine on iOS 18. Sounds like an Apple issue, not NextDNS, and we're gonna have to hope they fix it. :( 

    • Stefano_L
    • 1 mth ago
    • Reported - view

    I also have the same issue here, and I know its Apple not nextdns they have a major security issue, and many has reported this, I cant remember what risk there is, but Apple knew it already in one of the RC release but where to lazy or ignored it. And this is completely insane they did not patch it before releasing. So some vpns do not work well like Mullvad is one of them I use Proton vpn and have no issue. But Nextdns do not work or is I enabled it I can use safari. 

      • Human_Person
      • 1 mth ago
      • Reported - view

       not sure what security issue you’re talking about. The issue is their firewall is being too aggressive and blocking things it should be letting through. 

    • Jriva
    • 1 mth ago
    • Reported - view

    same here

    • Human_Person
    • 1 mth ago
    • Reported - view

    A workaround is to disable the macOS firewall. That lets things operate aa before.  

    Obviously you need to accept the security implications of that and decide whether it’s worth it.

    • tnpapa.1
    • 1 mth ago
    • Reported - view

    My firewall is not on and I am still seeing that NextDNS and Private Relay do not work together anymore.

    • Human_Person
    • 1 mth ago
    • Reported - view

    Unfortunately, 15.0.1 hasn't fixed things for me, which is worrisome, since this supposedly fixed network issues with "security" software. :(  Turning off the firewall stills works for me, though. 

    • tnpapa.1
    • 1 mth ago
    • Reported - view

    Probably does not work for me because I do not run it on my computer, I run it on my router. But it always did work in the past, so not sure how updates to my OS affected the NextDNS CLI running on the router.

      • Human_Person
      • 1 mth ago
      • Reported - view

       it’s the same issue. What’s changed is how your device is receiving DNS responses. It’s no longer getting  responses from the DNS on your router because it’s blocking them and only using the DNS responses from Private Relay. It should be using both. 

    • Mark.26
    • 1 mth ago
    • Reported - view

    I just wanted to add that I am experiencing the same issue as well on my Mac running 18.0.1. I set up NextDNS using apple configuration profile with apple privacy relay turned on. Initially, the dashboard on NextDNS would show everything is working well. However, if I leave my laptop unattended for a while (go into sleep and waking up), it would cause NextDNS to be shown as not connected on the dashboard. The log will no show traffic is routed through NextDNS. The only way to fix it for me is either

    1. restart my laptop or
    2. toggle Wifi on/off (not guarantee) or
    3. delete NextDNS profile and install again. 

    This is not really sustainable. Could other confirm this is true for them as well? 

    PS: Just to add, NextDNS + Privacy Relay work fine with iOS and iPad OS. 

    • fommuz
    • 1 mth ago
    • Reported - view

    For me it's working again since today.

    MacOS 15.0.1

      • fommuz
      • 1 mth ago
      • Reported - view

      Addition: I think that after the update from 15.0 to 15.0.1 you guys need to disable NextDNS once in the DNS settings of MacOS and enable it again. At least that was the simple trick for me.

      • Mark.26
      • 1 mth ago
      • Reported - view

       I never knew about that interface. Trying it now and report back if there are issues! 

      • fommuz
      • 1 mth ago
      • Reported - view

       Does it work for you now? :)

      • Human_Person
      • 1 mth ago
      • Reported - view

       Thank you! This worked for me and, importantly, continued to work after a reboot (which broke other "fixes").

      I'm very curious what's happening here. I don't like when there's a magical thing to do. 

      • Human_Person
      • 1 mth ago
      • Reported - view

       Update: Unfortunately, this breaks over time. I was hoping the reboot would be a good test, but it was not. Today I noticed that once again I was not using NextDNS. Doing the Filters & Proxies toggle dance made it work again, but it's clearly not reliable. :(

      • Mark.26
      • 1 mth ago
      • Reported - view

       Agree, this method did not work for me. I just login after a long sleep and it is disconnected from NextDNS. :( 

      • Mark.26
      • 1 mth ago
      • Reported - view

       No, I replied further down, after waking from a long sleep (>1 day), NextDNS will be off. 

    • tnpapa.1
    • 1 mth ago
    • Reported - view

    The CLI for the router still does not work properly. I deleted it and reinstalled it but NextDNs still says I am not using it if I turn on Private Relay. This used to work.

    • Andrew_Vines
    • 1 mth ago
    • Reported - view
      • tnpapa.1
      • 1 mth ago
      • Reported - view

       Only partly fixed. The profile works again but not the CLI.

Content aside

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