Is iCloud silent filtering still a thing?

Apple isn’t going to discuss details of their spam filtering.

More generally, SMTP mail is far from reliable, and is getting less reliable.

For the access you are seeking, you’ll want a hosting provider that allows access to Spamassassin or similar.

To send Apple your feedback: Product Feedback - Apple

Hi - I started one of the threads you quoted from 2016. Funny enough, I came across this while searching to see if this was still thought an issue in 2025.

As best as I can tell from all anecdotal evidence of questionable veracity, it seems to be better than before, but I don't think anyone really knows if iCloud Mail is on par with the current email giants in terms of reliability.

I completely agree with your spam/quarantine comment. I still use Fastmail, as I've never worried about its deliverability nor its reliability in receiving messages, and also because of its use of APNS to sync message status in the background which iCloud still doesn't do as of present, as far as I know.

"Is iCloud silent filtering still a thing?: [...]Is there anyway to send this suggestion as a feature request to Apple? Is there anyway to send this suggestion as a feature request to Apple?"

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iCloud Mail Silent Filtering:

If Apple is blocking something out, then that's on them --nothing you are blocking out. So, you might want to export all of your iCloud email, and then import it to a new non-Apple account.

"Thanks, yeah I’m aware that’s on Apple. I don’t use iCloud+ as my default email but I’d like to, hence the question. I want to make the switch only if they’re no longer blocking emails silently. I don’t have any issues with Apple holding them in quarantine, as I said above, as long as they tell me about it."

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Use an eMail Provider:

As for a primary eMail address, I recommend you stick with the eMail provider(not Apple), and avoid using iCloud Mail.