Apple watchOS 8.5 official version has been pushed to Apple Watch users today. According to MacRumors, security researchers have discovered that watchOS 8.5 fixes a security flaw in the Mail app that could reveal a user’s IP address when downloading remote content.
Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection, a new feature introduced in iOS 15, iPad OS 15 and macOS Monterey, hides a user’s IP address so senders can’t determine a user’s location. The feature also prevents senders from tracking whether users open emails, how many times they’ve been viewed, and whether they’ve been forwarded.
The feature works by routing through multiple proxy servers to strip the user’s IP address, and then assigning a random IP address that corresponds to the user’s general area, making it impossible for email senders to see the user’s IP address. specific information.
However, this feature does not support the Apple Watch, thus creating a security hole. Security researchers and developers Talal Haj Bakry and Tommy Mysk discovered that the Apple Watch does not hide the recipient’s IP address, using the recipient’s real IP address when receiving email notifications and opening emails.
Now, Bakry and Mysk have discovered that Apple has fixed the issue in watchOS 8.5. Beginning with watchOS 8.5, the Apple Watch automatically prevents remote content from loading, and instead offers the option to ” load content directly “.