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Apple will soon support encrypted RCS messaging with Android users

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Re: Apple will soon support encrypted RCS messaging with Android users

#192
post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You admit that you’re getting older, and I think that’s part of the disconnect with emojis. OK does not convey the same thing. You’re talking about having to zoom in to see the emoji, and the younger crowd already has every one memorized. The reactions may not help you but I’d say for most of us, they do help.

> OK does not convey the same thing. Fine. Is "10-4" or "copy that" or "Roger" acceptable? Because the whole point of that text, in a work context (and this is always a work conversation; I like my partners but I'm not personal friends with them), is to convey "I have received your message". And a reaction generates an SMS that is, until you realize what it is, kind of incomprehensible. "Loved '[my comment]'" makes n…

> Fine. Is "10-4" or "copy that" or "Roger" acceptable?

Or, since we're on a technical forum: "Ack" / ACK.

Re: Apple will soon support encrypted RCS messaging with Android users

#193
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> who they'd happily supply with details to get rid of the green bubble problem I would be surprised if this eliminates green bubbles. iMessage supports many features unavailable over RCS on Android devices. These would still be disabled and Apple needs a way to indicate a degraded feature set to iMessage users.

Yep. They’re never going away. Blue = iMessage Green = Other It doesn’t matter if both support 100% identical feature sets, it’s gonna stay like that.

Really shows how apple is only into privacy when it's self-serving.

Re: Apple will soon support encrypted RCS messaging with Android users

#194

It is good that commercial messengers forced GSM association to finally create E2EE standards. The reason why telcos want you to use RCS becomes obvious if you calculate how much 1Gb of data costs if sent as SMS (I guess that one could buy a car with this money).

Does any carrier still charge for SMS messages?

Mine either provides 120 SMS/minutes or unlimited text and call. I used to use the 120 minutes version and almost exclusively used it for phone calls. These days I'm on unlimited because of a combo discount on my phone.

Most of the world isn't using SMS/MMS so lots of places have carriers that still charge for the feature.

Re: Apple will soon support encrypted RCS messaging with Android users

#195
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What false pretense? They dictate two different ways of sending messages with different capabilities.

If they were functionally equivalent, why signal a difference? What's the benefit, you think? I'm not saying that they definitely would signal a difference, but in this hypothetical, if the color difference remained, it would be obvious why.

there's two doors through which the message can leave your phone... the blue door and the green door. (Ignoring the SMS tiny door)

If the feature sets of the blue and green door happen to be the same for a time, that doesn't mean a message sent through the green door is "actually" leaving through the blue... The doors are actually different (even if the feature sets are the same (for a time))

Re: Apple will soon support encrypted RCS messaging with Android users

#196
post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does any carrier still charge for SMS messages?

I'd say it's the norm rather than the exception outside of the US. US operators do things quite a bit differently from the rest of the world; for example, prepaid cards without a monthly fee are not really a thing, i.e. essentially every plan has a monthly fee, but that then almost always includes texting. Outside the US, it's usually possible to receive calls and SMS on a prepaid SIM without paying anything other th…

I believe the distinction that separated the US from the rest of the world is that US carriers charged the recipient of a message, while the rest of the world charged the sender. I don't know if that's true for evrryer carrier or if it's still true today, but it made a major difference.

It's also the reason apps threaten you with fees ("this service may cost you money") when all they do is send a verification SMS. Receiving messages is free in most places but because of a handful of shitty carriers apps now have this warning embedded in them.

Re: Apple will soon support encrypted RCS messaging with Android users

#197
post #68

Does anybody know how the trust model for this looks like? Is it trust on first use together with a notification if a contact's key changes, a centralized key server (if so, who runs it, and is there key transparency), or just opportunistic encryption not protected against active attackers in the middle?

It's using MLS for encryption and key exchange, which is based in part in Signal's encryption.

I believe they'll probably be using TOFU like all the other popular encrypted messenger apps. Google's messenger (the encryption of which already uses MLS) has a verification feature where you can match key fingerprints by comparing numbers, but who knows how Apple will implement this.

Re: Apple will soon support encrypted RCS messaging with Android users

#198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It definitely sounds like a technical one if you can't make two groups, one for banter and one for serious talk so you can mute banter when it's not appropriate. How are other people supposed to know that it's not okay for you right now because you are at dinner?

We all live in the same metro area. You might eat as early as five, you might finish as late as nine. But if you're going to use the business group, it should be about business. Banter is fine during working hours. People get lazy and just use the "whole group" message rather than send it to those who are working today. And it's much like my problems with Android vs iOS: there are twelve people in this group, eleven…

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Re: Apple will soon support encrypted RCS messaging with Android users

#199
post #190
post #186

I've disabled RCS. RCS groups are used for spam. Unknown numbers in random countries add me and many other numbers to said groups, send spam and then quit the groups. And there is no recourse.

Same here. Disabled it on Android. Too bad. I would use it if I could enable it only for selected users.

Or, you know, Bayesian spam filtering, which Google figured out for Gmail in 2007 or so.

Re: Apple will soon support encrypted RCS messaging with Android users

#200

I’ve been reading about RCS for maybe 10 years now, yet it’s not really available/usable for everyone? It feels like Vaporware at this point.

About a billion people use it every day, but they're concentrated in specific countries. I believe India is a major RCS user for instance.

Like Signal, it works fine, but you need your contacts to also use it. That's easy on Android (Google hosts an RCS server for people whose carriers don't) but carrier dependent on iOS.

RCS video calls and payments seem to be left unimplemented by Google.

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