The point that Messages is the default and can't be changed is a valid argument for being anticompetitive in the iOS messaging ecosystem because it's makes it such that you can't fully switch to a different messaging app. A different messaging app that can process SMS/MMS should be able to be the one stop shop for such data but Apple forcing users to use Messages which does nothing to make the SMS/MMS experience better. Even though SMS/MMS is an outdated technology, other apps could provide better user experiences. For example, in Google Messages on Android, emoji reactions on SMS are intercepted and displayed in a more friendly way. Another example would that another SMS/MMS app would inform the user to send a video via link instead of MMS to preserve quality.
Except that Apple is going to be integrating RCS into its messaging ecosystem. SMS MMS won’t be an issue any longer once this happens.
That's true and exciting! I wonder how they'll integrate it? Like if WhatsApp or Signal add RCS integration will they be allowed to be the destination for incoming RCS messages and be allowed to send them? If so, then that would spruce up the competition in both the iOS and Android space in the US. Like Samsung Messages or Google Messages (and hopefully more) can be the default SMS/MMS/RCS app on Samsung phones.
Yes, just buy an iPhone. A mobile device monoculture will be great for society
LOL. You DO realize that given. everyone iMessage IS creatinng a monoculture, don't you? Right now, people have a choice. you want Google stuff, buy android you want iMessage, buy Apple.
Nothing stopping people from messaging right now. so it's a non argument.
What sets companies apart are differentiators. iMessage is one of Apple's. Stealing that and giving it to competitors is wrong.
Beeper Mini's approach. is traditionally called a spoof. And that's one of the oldest shady hacker tricks out there. It's. not good. thing. It's a security risk. A hack.
Funny how everyone is allowed to do their own thing - except Apple. Because, you know, winning = bad.
If people weren't jerks none of this would have gotten so far. The government is getting involved, let's see what they decide.
Yeah... let's have the politicians figure it out. They know best and always have the best motives. Big. governnment running the private sector - totally OK.... oh wait.
Government providing regulations is one thing. Micromanagement - any management - is quite another
Apple doesn't allow 3rd party apps to access SMS messages for good reason. SMS is regularly used for 2 factor authentication. If apps could access SMS, rogue apps could then send those messages off to other servers. Not cool.
Messages does a relatively good job of bridging SMS with iMessage so users could use one app to access both. Splitting SMS into its own app could be an option, but would then make iMessage its own app, incompatible with devices that don't have iMessage installed. Apple COULD write an iMessage app for Android, but gaining adoption would be challenging.
If these kiddies are pooping their jammies about green bubbles, how are they possibly going to handle actual, real, meaningful, consequential, life-altering problems, many of which our generation is blithely leaving them as a legacy to our self-centered and burn-it-down-to-the-ground attitudes around things like the environment, energy, pollution, authoritarianism, inequity, poverty, crumbling infrastructure, corrosive social media, social injustice, corruption, mass shootings, and nuclear weapons proliferation? You know, just a few of the things that may be "slightly" more concerning than blue bubbles versus green bubbles (BB vs. GB).
Perhaps the process of overcoming the horror of green bubble stigma will serve as a first step in toughening up those jellylike spines so they can move on to cleaning up the real mess that we've left for them. Sorry kids, we did it, you're screwed. Hopefully they will someday look back on the BB vs. GB days with a certain amount of fondness, longing, and desire to declare the worst of life's problems meaningless and easy-to-ignore once again. Maybe they'll even forgive us?
Okay, so let's all marshal our collective energy and resources to ensure that someday everyone, everywhere, and without exception ... will have their text messages surrounded by lovely blue bubbles. Life will be good when all text bubbles are blue, unless you have a blue color vision deficiency, in which case you'll be totally hosed and have to find something else to be aggrieved about.
Apple doesn't allow 3rd party apps to access SMS messages for good reason. SMS is regularly used for 2 factor authentication. If apps could access SMS, rogue apps could then send those messages off to other servers. Not cool.
Messages does a relatively good job of bridging SMS with iMessage so users could use one app to access both. Splitting SMS into its own app could be an option, but would then make iMessage its own app, incompatible with devices that don't have iMessage installed. Apple COULD write an iMessage app for Android, but gaining adoption would be challenging.
I see your point, but I don't think this argument is sound. For one, it presupposes that Apple is the only company that cares about their users' security. If I trust another app to handle my SMS messages, that should be up to me. Also, Apple let's you change your default mail app even though 2FA codes are sent via email and the default keyboard which is used to input the 2FA codes (usually via copy/paste).
Beeper Mini's approach. is traditionally called a spoof. And that's one of the oldest shady hacker tricks out there. It's. not good. thing. It's a security risk. A hack.
God, I hate it when people just parrot what an article says. You know the source code for the "exploit" Beeper Mini uses is public right?
You can investigate this spoof for yourself. All it does is say to Apple "yeah I'm a Mac. Here's a serial number. Yeah it's my serial number and not randomly generated, trust me bro" and Apple blindly accepts that. From there, it uses the same security, the same encryption, and the same trust as a real iPhone or Mac.
Spoofs are everywhere. You computer spoofs being an 8086 until your boot loader says it's okay to drop the act. Spoofs are not inherently bad or evil, or a security risk.
I have an iPhone. How does that help me if the people I want to communicate with don’t?
Gee, don't you think it would be more sensible if you were to use what messaging services they are using, in order to communicate with them. Rather than to have them use a hack messaging service that is not only unreliable at best, but it's also not going to be free.
You know, having an iPhone doesn't mean you have to only use iMessage or even use iMessage at all. You can use other messaging services on an iPhone and have more than one of them installed. And every mobile device in the World, can send and receive the telecom industry standard messaging service ...... SMS. It seems most of the mobile device users in World, knows this.
Apple doesn't allow 3rd party apps to access SMS messages for good reason. SMS is regularly used for 2 factor authentication. If apps could access SMS, rogue apps could then send those messages off to other servers. Not cool.
ANCS spec allows this to happen anyway, by any app on your iPhone.
This isn't an issue for android because your SMS handler is an app the user gives a special privilege. SMSs are then sent to that app without the knowledge of other apps, except for apps given the special privilege of reading push notifications (smartwatch, phone to PC sync, etc) by the user
Beeper Mini does not make iMessage to iMessage even fractionally more secure, and since it is indeed faking credentials to get on the iMessage network, it is possibly a security issue, as Apple says it is.
Except that the security issue is Apple blindly trusting things that say they are a Mac to be a Mac. Seriously. That's the whole exploit. It says its a Mac, it logs in the same way you do with iCloud apps, and that's it. There's no exploit of real security here. It's vaulting over an artificial wall.
So much misinformation and gaslighting in this article and in the comments.
First, 99% of the Android users couldn't care less about blue or green bubbles. We care about functionality. Sending cross-platform videos is atrocious. There's no E2E security. SMS lacks other basic functionality that both iPhone and Android devices are capable of. This is entirely caused by Apple's years-long refusal to adopt a universal standard or allow other platforms to access iMessage. Saying "download another app" is not helpful. Most Android users do have multiple messaging apps, but iPhone users notoriously do not download other messaging apps. We can't make you use Signal or something else secure.
Second, saying Apple adopting RCS universal profile immediately solves these concerns is also not true. RCS universal profile does not support E2E encryption. Apple has said they'll investigate partnering with carriers to improve it, but we have no idea how long that could take.
Third, discounting the impact this has on kids and teenagers in the US (and even those in the workforce at times) is very disappointing. Sure it's a US-only problem, but it's a huge problem leading to bullying, exclusion, etc.
Fourth, why do Apple users assume the only reason someone wouldn't own an iPhone is that they can't afford it? High-end Android phones can be just as expensive. I know this is crazy, but I just think my Pixel is a better phone.
Lastly, with respect to Beeper Mini, it did bring E2E encryption between iPhone and Android. Does Apple have to allow Beeper to use their servers? No, but this would have never been an issue if Apple had made a good faith effort to solve this issue without being forced by regulators.
The point that Messages is the default and can't be changed is a valid argument for being anticompetitive in the iOS messaging ecosystem because it's makes it such that you can't fully switch to a different messaging app. A different messaging app that can process SMS/MMS should be able to be the one stop shop for such data but Apple forcing users to use Messages which does nothing to make the SMS/MMS experience better. Even though SMS/MMS is an outdated technology, other apps could provide better user experiences. For example, in Google Messages on Android, emoji reactions on SMS are intercepted and displayed in a more friendly way. Another example would that another SMS/MMS app would inform the user to send a video via link instead of MMS to preserve quality.
That’s a load of bollocks. I live outside the US and enjoy using iMessage. However people from the Android world want encryption in their phones also, so are already on Signal or Telegram or What’s App. It is totally seamless for me to use whatever app they have used to send me a message whenever I reply. I am happily able to get encrypted messages to them and frankly Signal is pretty good.
The point that Messages is the default and can't be changed is a valid argument for being anticompetitive in the iOS messaging ecosystem because it's makes it such that you can't fully switch to a different messaging app. A different messaging app that can process SMS/MMS should be able to be the one stop shop for such data but Apple forcing users to use Messages which does nothing to make the SMS/MMS experience better. Even though SMS/MMS is an outdated technology, other apps could provide better user experiences. For example, in Google Messages on Android, emoji reactions on SMS are intercepted and displayed in a more friendly way. Another example would that another SMS/MMS app would inform the user to send a video via link instead of MMS to preserve quality.
So how would it help to be able to switch the default messages app that handles SMS/MMS, other than now forcing people who use Messages and who send you messages to use a less secure protocol? At least Apple's upcoming support of RCS will fix some of those security problems.
People who want to use messages can continue to use Messages. What I'm saying is, for people who want to consolidate all their messaging into one place (and don't want to use the iMessage protocol) they don't have that option. Also, if you use Message, as soon as you lose internet connectivity or text someone who doesn't use iMessage, you're falling back to a less secure protocol (SMS/MMS). My argument is not about security, it's about user choice.
Tell it to WhatsApp. You must have an account with WhatsApp to send messages to WhatsApp users, and then you must know the number they use with WhatsApp, which might not be their main number they share with their bank or other businesses. Many people out here in SE Asia have two phones and a total of four SIMs. It's cheap to buy data and texting load so they keep multiple numbers. Anyway, your bank doesn't want to have to have a separate account on each of many available messaging services in order to get in touch with you via text. They just want a number to reach you and to know an SMS will go to that number and be able to be read. So how are you going to tell iOS you want to use WhatsApp as your everything messaging service if WhatsApp doesn't accept messages from outside its service?
If these kiddies are pooping their jammies about green bubbles, how are they possibly going to handle actual, real, meaningful, consequential, life-altering problems, many of which our generation is blithely leaving them as a legacy to our self-centered and burn-it-down-to-the-ground attitudes around things like the environment, energy, pollution, authoritarianism, inequity, poverty, crumbling infrastructure, corrosive social media, social injustice, corruption, mass shootings, and nuclear weapons proliferation? You know, just a few of the things that may be "slightly" more concerning than blue bubbles versus green bubbles (BB vs. GB).
Perhaps the process of overcoming the horror of green bubble stigma will serve as a first step in toughening up those jellylike spines so they can move on to cleaning up the real mess that we've left for them. Sorry kids, we did it, you're screwed. Hopefully they will someday look back on the BB vs. GB days with a certain amount of fondness, longing, and desire to declare the worst of life's problems meaningless and easy-to-ignore once again. Maybe they'll even forgive us?
Okay, so let's all marshal our collective energy and resources to ensure that someday everyone, everywhere, and without exception ... will have their text messages surrounded by lovely blue bubbles. Life will be good when all text bubbles are blue, unless you have a blue color vision deficiency, in which case you'll be totally hosed and have to find something else to be aggrieved about.
Perfect example of Parkinson's Law of Triviality
Parkinson's Law of Triviality states that, "the time spent on any item of the agenda will be in inverse proportion to the sum involved." In other words, if you try to build a simple thing such as a public bike shed, there will be endless town hall discussions wherein people argue over trivial details such as the color of the door. But if you want to build a nuclear power plant — a project so vast and complicated that most people can't understand it — people will defer to expert opinion. -- C. Northcote Parkinson, 1957, Parkinson's Law.
All it does is say to Apple "yeah I'm a Mac. Here's a serial number. Yeah it's my serial number and not randomly generated, trust me bro" and Apple blindly accepts that. From there, it uses the same security, the same encryption, and the same trust as a real iPhone or Mac.
So… spoof then.
And yes, spoofs are bad. It’s a hack. Tricking a system to gain access is a bypass of security and therefore a risk. Not a good thing.
“Oh gee officer, I didn’t steal that persons money, I just put in credentials that matched theirs and the online shopping store blindly accepted it.”
The decline in factual, logical processing these days is staggering.
Comments
Nothing stopping people from messaging right now. so it's a non argument.
What sets companies apart are differentiators. iMessage is one of Apple's. Stealing that and giving it to competitors is wrong.
Beeper Mini's approach. is traditionally called a spoof. And that's one of the oldest shady hacker tricks out there. It's. not good. thing. It's a security risk. A hack.
Funny how everyone is allowed to do their own thing - except Apple. Because, you know, winning = bad.
Government providing regulations is one thing. Micromanagement - any management - is quite another
Perhaps the process of overcoming the horror of green bubble stigma will serve as a first step in toughening up those jellylike spines so they can move on to cleaning up the real mess that we've left for them. Sorry kids, we did it, you're screwed. Hopefully they will someday look back on the BB vs. GB days with a certain amount of fondness, longing, and desire to declare the worst of life's problems meaningless and easy-to-ignore once again. Maybe they'll even forgive us?
Okay, so let's all marshal our collective energy and resources to ensure that someday everyone, everywhere, and without exception ... will have their text messages surrounded by lovely blue bubbles. Life will be good when all text bubbles are blue, unless you have a blue color vision deficiency, in which case you'll be totally hosed and have to find something else to be aggrieved about.
You can investigate this spoof for yourself. All it does is say to Apple "yeah I'm a Mac. Here's a serial number. Yeah it's my serial number and not randomly generated, trust me bro" and Apple blindly accepts that. From there, it uses the same security, the same encryption, and the same trust as a real iPhone or Mac.
Spoofs are everywhere. You computer spoofs being an 8086 until your boot loader says it's okay to drop the act. Spoofs are not inherently bad or evil, or a security risk.
This isn't an issue for android because your SMS handler is an app the user gives a special privilege. SMSs are then sent to that app without the knowledge of other apps, except for apps given the special privilege of reading push notifications (smartwatch, phone to PC sync, etc) by the user
Except that the security issue is Apple blindly trusting things that say they are a Mac to be a Mac. Seriously. That's the whole exploit. It says its a Mac, it logs in the same way you do with iCloud apps, and that's it. There's no exploit of real security here. It's vaulting over an artificial wall.
First, 99% of the Android users couldn't care less about blue or green bubbles. We care about functionality. Sending cross-platform videos is atrocious. There's no E2E security. SMS lacks other basic functionality that both iPhone and Android devices are capable of. This is entirely caused by Apple's years-long refusal to adopt a universal standard or allow other platforms to access iMessage. Saying "download another app" is not helpful. Most Android users do have multiple messaging apps, but iPhone users notoriously do not download other messaging apps. We can't make you use Signal or something else secure.
Second, saying Apple adopting RCS universal profile immediately solves these concerns is also not true. RCS universal profile does not support E2E encryption. Apple has said they'll investigate partnering with carriers to improve it, but we have no idea how long that could take.
Third, discounting the impact this has on kids and teenagers in the US (and even those in the workforce at times) is very disappointing. Sure it's a US-only problem, but it's a huge problem leading to bullying, exclusion, etc.
Fourth, why do Apple users assume the only reason someone wouldn't own an iPhone is that they can't afford it? High-end Android phones can be just as expensive. I know this is crazy, but I just think my Pixel is a better phone.
Lastly, with respect to Beeper Mini, it did bring E2E encryption between iPhone and Android. Does Apple have to allow Beeper to use their servers? No, but this would have never been an issue if Apple had made a good faith effort to solve this issue without being forced by regulators.