Apple Change Causes Scramble Among Private Messaging App Makers
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Apple Change Causes Scramble Among Private Messaging App Makers
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Re: Apple Change Causes Scramble Among Private Messaging App Makers
#2This article is terrible. The change mentioned in the headline isn't explained until the fifth paragraph and beyond.
> Apple’s change involves an API called PushKit, which was originally designed to be used in apps that let people make online phone calls using voice over internet protocol. .... Over time, many apps began using the tool for purposes other than Internet phone calls, including encrypted messaging apps that found it was the best method for decrypting messages in the background on iPhones. .... But app developers could also use PushKit to collect information about the location of users and other sensitive data, which concerned Apple. .... With iOS 13....the company is finally cutting off developers from using PushKit for any purposes other than internet phone calls.
Re: Apple Change Causes Scramble Among Private Messaging App Makers
#3It seems like a user side configurable app permission such as "allow this application to use PushKit for non VOIP related functions" would take care of this without breaking functionality. However if the author of this article is correct it seems like this is more a jab at Facebook messenger than anything.
Re: Apple Change Causes Scramble Among Private Messaging App Makers
#4My wife and I use Life360 every day for giving us notifications whenever we leave work, arrive at home, arrive at our kid's school, etc.
We use these tracking notifications for all sorts of things. For example, my wife won't start prepping dinner until she gets the notification that I've left work.
I will be very annoyed if Apple's changes break tools like Life360. I opted into the tracking for a reason. I don't need Apple making privacy decisions for me. I'm more than capable of making the decision myself.
Re: Apple Change Causes Scramble Among Private Messaging App Makers
#5It seems like a user side configurable app permission such as "allow this application to use PushKit for non VOIP related functions" would take care of this without breaking functionality. However if the author of this article is correct it seems like this is more a jab at Facebook messenger than anything.
"allow this application to use PushKit for non VOIP related functions"
The number of users who would understand that phrase and find it useful in making a decision is roughly .000000001%. Maybe.
Re: Apple Change Causes Scramble Among Private Messaging App Makers
#6My wife and I use Life360 every day for giving us notifications whenever we leave work, arrive at home, arrive at our kid's school, etc. We use these tracking notifications for all sorts of things. For example, my wife won't start prepping dinner until she gets the notification that I've left work. I will be very annoyed if Apple's changes break tools like Life360. I opted into the tracking for a reason. I don't need…
I don't think that they are trying to make privacy decisions for you, but they are making sure that an API created for a specific reason stops being abused by many other use cases then the original one.
* edit: typo
Re: Apple Change Causes Scramble Among Private Messaging App Makers
#7It seems like a user side configurable app permission such as "allow this application to use PushKit for non VOIP related functions" would take care of this without breaking functionality. However if the author of this article is correct it seems like this is more a jab at Facebook messenger than anything.
The problem is that users can’t meaningfully make that decision. It’s especially bad when the app says “you need this for message notifications”, but then uses it for tracking.
I feel like an API that let you provide an XPC service to handle incoming messages, but restricted that service’s access to any device info, would be the best solution.
I have no idea how feasible it would be to make such an API.
Re: Apple Change Causes Scramble Among Private Messaging App Makers
#8Or Apple could make a better messaging and notification system that's similar to pushkit but without the supposed "sensitive data", or just fork pushkit to have a "low permission" version of it.
Re: Apple Change Causes Scramble Among Private Messaging App Makers
#9This article is terrible. The change mentioned in the headline isn't explained until the fifth paragraph and beyond. > Apple’s change involves an API called PushKit, which was originally designed to be used in apps that let people make online phone calls using voice over internet protocol. .... Over time, many apps began using the tool for purposes other than Internet phone calls, including encrypted messaging apps t…
Wow, and to think of all the times I've held myself back colouring within the app guidelines. Meanwhile other app developers are abusing the apis to no end.
Re: Apple Change Causes Scramble Among Private Messaging App Makers
#10My wife and I use Life360 every day for giving us notifications whenever we leave work, arrive at home, arrive at our kid's school, etc. We use these tracking notifications for all sorts of things. For example, my wife won't start prepping dinner until she gets the notification that I've left work. I will be very annoyed if Apple's changes break tools like Life360. I opted into the tracking for a reason. I don't need…
I also used Life360 to geofence my kids and get notifications when they leave school and return home. It actually caught my son running away from school one time, and when the guidance counselor couldn't find him, I was able to locate him outside the school wandering around the streets.