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“It’s time for Apple to fix texting”

android.com

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Re: “It’s time for Apple to fix texting”

#371

Post by stetrain »

altairprime wrote: post #59

Most businesses, consumers, and developers universally continue to ignore the primary reason that iMessage is a closed platform, rather than an app on every platform as iTunes is: Apple is using device serial numbers for anti-spam, supported by a fully-authenticated hardware and software stack that does not allow user modification. This permits Apple to simply “console ban” any Apple device that spams on iMessage. Th…

That has nothing to do with allowing RCS alongside SMS and iMessage.

My iPhone gets plenty of spam SMS messages, alongside my iMessage chats. The sanctity of iMessage communications doesn't stop that.

Swapping SMS for RCS support messages doesn't increase the spam surface.

Re: “It’s time for Apple to fix texting”

#372

Post by AnthonyMouse »

Spivak wrote: post #331
AnthonyMouse wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a lawyer excuse. I've had Signal for years and the number of spam messages I've received over it is none. It's not a real problem. SMS on the other hand... but iPhones receive SMS too, don't they?

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but that’s because Signal is teeny tiny. If Signal makes it to a billion users I guarantee it will happen to them.

SMS is bigger than even iMessage, so if you can spam everyone with iMessage and more by using SMS, why would anyone bother with iMessage?

Re: “It’s time for Apple to fix texting”

#373

Post by kelnos »

ThatPlayer wrote: post #227
unethical_ban wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you elaborate? I've never heard this before.

It's illegal tying[0]. Google used to force Chrome and Google Search as part of Google Play Store requirements. And were fined a few years ago by the EU[1]. Pretty much most of this reasoning could be applied to a messaging app too. [0] https://www.ftc.gov/advice-guidance/competition-guidance/gui... [1] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_18_...

Why didn't Apple & iMessage run afoul of this same thing? Is it because Google was forcing third-party manufacturers to include things, but Apple of course just doesn't have that issue?

Re: “It’s time for Apple to fix texting”

#374

Post by JoBrad »

m-p-3 wrote: post #347
isodev wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These days it’s good marketing to blame Apple for everything. First, RCS is not a very modern or practical standard. It was created in 2008 by carriers (GSMA!!) for their SMS/MMS centric (at the time) platforms. So is it a good idea to adopt this more than a decade later? I don’t think so. Second, it’s really not Apple’s fault that Google has failed to come up with a messaging solution. Google has released 13 separat…

So Apple should stick to en even older standard (SMS/MMS)? All that Google is asking is for the fallback to be at least in the current century, is that too much to ask.

Isn’t that the safest fallback, if you know they aren’t using iMessage? The other phone could be a phone that can’t accept RCS or iMessage.

Re: “It’s time for Apple to fix texting”

#375

Post by stetrain »

pwpw wrote: post #234

This is such a weirdly US specific issue. It's hard to understand why people in this country refuse to adopt a data-based messaging service such as Signal or WhatsApp like the rest of the world has. Why are US citizens so set on having a terrible experience when messaging half of the population? How did other countries decide that using platform agnostic messaging services are better? I believe the UK has a similar s…

The problem is which one?

I don't use iMessage much, but there isn't One Alternative that everyone has conglomerated on.

Some groups use Whatsapp. Some use Facebook Messenger. Some use Discord. I jump around between all of them.

But if you have someone's phone number you can at least text them.

Re: “It’s time for Apple to fix texting”

#376

Post by trebbble »

asdff wrote: post #353
trebbble wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're not, so it isn't.

You just said 95% of your communication happens through one app, if that isn't locked in then what is it, locked in with visitation rights?

Since we can switch any time enough folks feel like moving over some of the major group threads to something else, how are we locked in? I can't really think of any time I didn't do nearly all of my communication over one or maybe two channels. In the 1990s, 95+% by landline phone. Then ICQ + Phone. Then SMS. Then WhatsApp.

I also do 95+% of my driving in a single car, and 95+% of my text editing in a single program. 95ish% of my browsing in a single browser. Not locked in to those, either—in all three cases I've switched before without difficulty, and likely will again. I have no idea where the lock-in notion's coming from.

Re: “It’s time for Apple to fix texting”

#377

Post by rodgerd »

ivoras wrote: post #205

This is a US thing, right? Haven't received an SMS from a real person (in other words, all SMSes I get are 2FA etc) for, at least 5 years, maybe 10. Even people who use iPhones don't send SMSes, MMSes or anything as obsolete (including RCS). Everyone just seems to use WhatsApp and Telegram (or if they don't know any better, Viber). Locale: Central Europe. So, why would anyone stick to the obsolete stuff? Are there re…

> This is a US thing, right?

This is the leading surveillance capitalism company trying to lay the groundwork to break the privacy of Apple's messaging system, demanding that Apple give up the privacy that it provides its paying customers, because it is intolerable to Google that there exists data that it doesn't have access to.

The rest is noise from morons who think that you don't deserve privacy unless you sysadmin your phone to an NSA standard, and people who work in adtech.

Re: “It’s time for Apple to fix texting”

#378

Post by kelnos »

simonjgreen wrote: post #333
kelnos wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a subthread about someone not from the US being surprised at the messaging habits of people in the US, so I think quoting a stat about iPhone/iMessage penetration in the US is perfectly relevant. The US "bubble" is the only one that matters in this particular conversation, as it's specifically what this conversation is about.

Nothing in the comment I've replied to quotes a stat or references the US, and nothing in the grandparent comment references stats or talks about the habits of the US specifically either. I'm also not questioning the relevance of any posted stats. I'm really confused by this comment, is it a mis post from another thread?

Not sure what you mean. The originator of this thread[0] is mostly talking about being surprised at US messaging habits.

Agreed that the person you replied to did not specifically mention the US, but their comment is consistent with a US user's experience, which makes sense since the thread is about US messaging.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32405042

Re: “It’s time for Apple to fix texting”

#379

Post by hot_gril »

pwpw wrote: post #234

This is such a weirdly US specific issue. It's hard to understand why people in this country refuse to adopt a data-based messaging service such as Signal or WhatsApp like the rest of the world has. Why are US citizens so set on having a terrible experience when messaging half of the population? How did other countries decide that using platform agnostic messaging services are better? I believe the UK has a similar s…

Cause it's not terrible. It still works ok the way it is, and people tend to use FB Messenger or something if they want a more complex group chat with Android users in it. Considering that they do this even if it's an all-Android chat, I don't think it's Apple's fault, as scummy as they act with SMS.

Also, people don't care for metric cause it's not better. Basing your system around the physical properties of water doesn't help for daily usage, just for some sciences and yes for nerds to feel better. For example, many digital thermostats have to add increments of 0.5 when you switch to Celsius since each degree is twice as coarse, and you can feel the difference. Put ˚F and ˚C weather forecasts side by side, and ask people which they prefer. It's a nice spread of 0-100˚F outdoors usually, and you basically don't go outside if it's not. Freeway speeds, 0-85MPH legally and 100 means trouble. Freeway miles, about 1 per minute. Feet/mile is weird, but that's cause nobody converts miles to feet; you don't care to compare say a trip distance to the height of a human.

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