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EU will require Apple to open up iMessage (2022)

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Re: EU will require Apple to open up iMessage (2022)

#31

The main benefit of iMessage over all the other messaging platforms is there's a lot less spam. I hope this decision doesn't threaten that.

Anecdotally I never received any spam on the other proprietary messaging platforms, except SMS.

To add my own: I've received one, maybe two spam SMS messages in my entire life, none at all in the last few years. I have received one or two spam messages in WhatsApp.

Re: EU will require Apple to open up iMessage (2022)

#32

The source article [1] claims that " the largest messaging services (such as Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger or iMessage) will have to open up and interoperate with smaller messaging platforms" I am very intrigued to see how the various platforms will enable such features in software terms - WhatsApp recently allowed the usage of proxies via their platform, and there is talk of Apple maintaining the Made for iPhone prog…

The actual law does say they have to keep E2EE enabled.

>The level of security, including the end-to-end encryption, where applicable, that the gatekeeper provides to its own end users shall be preserved across the interoperable services. [0]

As for forcing them to open up, I think Matrix has a good response to it [1]. As well as their follow-up technical implementation article [2].

[0] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A...

[1] https://matrix.org/blog/2022/03/25/interoperability-without-...

[2] https://matrix.org/blog/2022/03/29/how-do-you-implement-inte...

Re: EU will require Apple to open up iMessage (2022)

#33
post #24
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being locked into Facebooks app vs. Apple's app isn't such a great positive now, is it?

Definitely not, we got lured into it by the original WA owners under (later) false pretenses. Back when we would just pay a euro one time, or every year with a big focus on privacy. Now it's just everywhere, helpdesks, schools, classes, parents, sportsclubs. All WA groups sadly. We even have this: [0], like it's some government sanctioned platform. Disgusting. I am getting more and more people into Signal though. Som…

I don't understand what this sign is supposed to mean, can you give some deeper context?

Re: EU will require Apple to open up iMessage (2022)

#34
Misleading headline. This affects many apps and is much broader.

In fact, this line from the article is far more serious: “Apple, for instance, will also need to contend with a reported requirement to allow side-loading of apps outside of its App Store, something it's spent years fighting internationally”.

Re: EU will require Apple to open up iMessage (2022)

#35

The source article [1] claims that " the largest messaging services (such as Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger or iMessage) will have to open up and interoperate with smaller messaging platforms" I am very intrigued to see how the various platforms will enable such features in software terms - WhatsApp recently allowed the usage of proxies via their platform, and there is talk of Apple maintaining the Made for iPhone prog…

> they'll "open up" without the E2EE aspect and basically enable a "compatibility" mode

Isn't that exactly what the Messages app does now? SMS is that compatibility mode.

Re: EU will require Apple to open up iMessage (2022)

#36
post #12

The article is from March 24, 2022. Has anything changed?

The Digital Markets Act [0] was voted, published, and parts of it will be applicable as of beginning of May 2023.

Some technical workshops [1] are being organized with interested stakeholders to receive their views on specific issues and questions that may arise in relation to the specific implementing measures by gatekeepers that are to ensure effective compliance with that legislation.

[0]: https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-...

[1]: https://competition-policy.ec.europa.eu/dma/dma-workshops_en

Re: EU will require Apple to open up iMessage (2022)

#37
post #5

A 40 billion dollar fine if you don’t do as the EU says… at some point tech companies are just going to pull out of the EU, right? For most (but not all!), GDPR was worth complying with (and had benefits for citizens). This is likely to also be worth complying with (and also has benefits for citizens), but I imagine the EU is going to run out of ideas that legitimately benefit users long before it runs out of desire…

The EU is a 17 trillion dollar economy. It's the second largest market in the world for most of these companies, they'll never pull out. It is simply hot air. They'd never even leave China unless the US gov. forces them at gunpoint.

Re: EU will require Apple to open up iMessage (2022)

#38
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Definitely not, we got lured into it by the original WA owners under (later) false pretenses. Back when we would just pay a euro one time, or every year with a big focus on privacy. Now it's just everywhere, helpdesks, schools, classes, parents, sportsclubs. All WA groups sadly. We even have this: [0], like it's some government sanctioned platform. Disgusting. I am getting more and more people into Signal though. Som…

I don't understand what this sign is supposed to mean, can you give some deeper context?

Neighborhood watch using Whatsapp.

Re: EU will require Apple to open up iMessage (2022)

#39

If stars align right for Apple, this can at least with some probability that they can kill WhatsApp in a few countries. If they implement a few features.

I don't see how they could, iMessage is severely lacking in features compared to WhatsApp and users don't like change, iMessage doesn't need to have feature parity but it has to be massively better - and so far it's not

Re: EU will require Apple to open up iMessage (2022)

#40
post #19

The main benefit of iMessage over all the other messaging platforms is there's a lot less spam. I hope this decision doesn't threaten that.

Is that a problem worldwide or more localized to the US? I am using Signal, Threema, and WhatsApp and never received spam on any messanger, only occasionally via SMS.

I receive more spam than legitimate messages on WhatsApp. But I also don't use it a whole lot.

I suspect that, a bit like email addresses, being very selective about who you give your "address" to is the most important bit.

Sadly, phone numbers, unlike email addresses, are such a small address space that it's possible to just message all of them.

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