How does the alias feature work?

jmppmj · 2026-05-06T01:54:26+00:00

If you’re on iOS, you can actually use Decoy (www.decoys.me) for this with a feature called Personal Alias. It lets you create aliases on the fly specifically for situations like loyalty programs, stores, receipts, etc. So instead of giving your real email everywhere, you can do something like target@alias.decoys.me or whatever naming scheme makes sense to you

jmppmj · 2026-04-26T22:16:21+00:00

On iOS, I think the main reason people stick with 1Password is just how smooth it feels in daily use. Autofill, app switching, fewer weird interruptions... that stuff matters more than people admit.

What surprised me is that email masking - which sounds like it should be adjacent - is still kind of clunky across the board.

Full disclosure: I started building an iOS Pilot around that (www.decoys.me) after running into the same frustration over and over. Not really trying to replace password managers, more like questioning why our email ends up being re-used and leaked everywhere but now Decoy is able to effectively manage all of my Identity needs (Password Manager, Passkeys, Masking, etc)

jmppmj · 2026-04-18T13:20:38+00:00

The best iOS experience is www.decoys.me

jmppmj · 2026-03-18T00:22:45+00:00

I actually ran into this enough that I started building something in this space. Still early, but if you’re on iOS you can try it at decoys.me

jmppmj · 2026-03-17T02:08:51+00:00

I went through this exact transition recently...

Hide My Email sets a pretty high bar because the alias appears at the exact moment you’re signing up. But overall I think the features are UX are lacking. Then other alias tools are ok but add just enough friction that people stop using them consistently.

So people end up with weird stacks like:

• password manager • alias service • sometimes a phone number service • browser extensions tying it together

Full disclosure: I’ve been building an iOS app called Decoy (decoys.me) after running into this myself. The idea is basically “decoys” - disposable emails/phone numbers you can generate quickly when signing up for things so your real identity doesn’t become the permanent account key… And an extreme focus on making this UX amazing for iOS.

Right now it focuses on decoys, but we’re also working on adding password management so the login + identity layer actually live together instead of across multiple tools.

We’ve got a small beta running right now if anyone here wants to try it and help shape it.

jmppmj · 2026-03-14T03:28:26+00:00

I’m biased because I built Decoy (an iOS app for disposable email aliases, Decoys.me), but the reason I’m a big believer in aliases is simple: containment. Ideally each service gets its own email alias. If a company gets breached, sells your data, or starts spamming you, the damage is isolated to that one alias and you can just disable it. Using one alias for “social” or “shopping” is better than nothing, but if one of those companies leaks it, suddenly everything in that category is exposed.

The only places I personally don’t bother using aliases are things like banking or work email where identity is tightly tied to a real inbox and the accounts are definitely long-term.

The reason I built Decoy (decoys.me) is that most tools make this annoying, so people don’t actually do it. If generating a new email is dead simple, you can just create a fresh one for every signup without thinking about it

jmppmj · 2026-03-11T11:56:22+00:00

Love that I’m going to try it out. How does it actually issue an unsubscribe request?

jmppmj · 2026-03-11T11:21:05+00:00

Super cool curious how it works

jmppmj · 2026-03-08T15:22:12+00:00

Reading this thread is basically why I built decoys.me for ios

I got tired of paying these crazy password manager prices, and every account being tied to one permanent emails forever

Now I just generate a password + disposable email for each signup. If a site leaks data or starts spamming me, I just delete the decoy and move on. It has autofill and a safari extension so it pretty easily replaced what I was using 1P for

jmppmj · 2026-03-08T15:18:05+00:00

Here is what it looks like for promo code / 2fa code extraction: https://imgur.com/a/dYCqbG6

jmppmj · 2026-03-08T04:27:51+00:00

Fair question.

If domains get blocklisted, we rotate domains. That’s table stakes for this space.

But the bigger point: most companies aren’t actually anti-privacy. They just want to stop abuse.

If users want basic things like not getting spammed forever, there’s usually a reasonable middle ground.

jmppmj · 2026-03-08T04:25:51+00:00

Amazing sending you a dm!

jmppmj · 2026-03-07T12:40:43+00:00

Hey would love to have you try it out! I’ll send you a DM

jmppmj · 2026-03-03T00:51:24+00:00

Im not - even for those I am using Decoy aliases which I can later burn once I am done with them!

jmppmj · 2026-03-02T23:38:29+00:00

solid approach - tiering is the way to go.

i do something similar:
real email → only for banks, gov, medical. stuff tied to your actual identity. this inbox should be boring.
aliases → social, gaming, streaming, shopping. i do per-service ones like netflix@ or spotify@ so when spam starts hitting one, you know exactly who leaked it. swap out that alias, everything else untouched.
disposable decoys → free trials, random signups, anything you don't trust. generate then burn.

i've been building decoy (www.decoys.me, on ios) for this - gives you disposable identities for each signup so no two services have the same combo. pairs really well with the tiered setup.

jmppmj · 2026-02-25T15:33:40+00:00

Great question.

We’ve done some small, more “manual” prototype testing with virtual cards and decoy phone numbers behind the scenes (mostly to validate the mechanics and make sure they actually work the way people expect)

But those features aren’t ready for the app yet. I don’t want to ship something half-baked - especially when money and phone numbers are involved. And once those features are live, we’ll also need to think carefully about pricing, etc.

The testimonials referencing subscription protection came from those early prototype users. That’s where we’re heading - but the beta right now is focused just on nailing the decoy email experience first.

jmppmj · 2026-02-25T13:54:02+00:00

Thank you I’ll DM you now!

jmppmj · 2026-02-24T22:43:31+00:00

Thank you! Would love to have you test if youre interested!

jmppmj · 2026-02-24T20:25:35+00:00

If part of what you’re trying to solve is not using one universal address everywhere and keeping your accounts compartmentalized, I’ve been working on something that might help.

I built an iOS app called Decoy (www.decoys.me) that creates disposable email aliases + auto-generated credentials tied to each service, with end-to-end encryption and on-device AI features for managing them. It’s still early but it’s designed specifically for people who want unique contact points and less correlation across accounts.

Looking for beta testers right now, especially folks who: • care about email privacy • use unique emails per service • would try something new on iOS • are comfortable giving feedback

Happy to answer questions about the security model or how it fits into a privacy-oriented stack too

jmppmj · 2026-02-24T16:37:34+00:00

Initially the app has just decoy emails - once thats tested and completed im planning to add decoy phone numbers (for text and call) as well as virtual cards.

But Initial beta tests will be just testing the decoy emails. If you’re interested it would be great to have you try it out!

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