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Launch HN: Chert (YC P26) – Twilio for iMessage
201–210 of 216 posts
Re: Launch HN: Chert (YC P26) – Twilio for iMessage
#202if I can make a guess:
these guys are running a massive e-sim farm that sits on top of a rest api.
good luck - but for some of us we would rather stick to apple business
Re: Launch HN: Chert (YC P26) – Twilio for iMessage
#203Why would I use this instead of using iMessage for Business that is the official way and is more robust and doesn’t violate ToS. If you get shut down I have to redo this setup using Apple ?
iMessage for Business is very restrictive and has a really long approval process. On top of this, it also sends gray bubbles and doesn't allow any outbound, which prevents consented outbound use cases such as form fill text back.
"iMessage for Business" doesn't exist as an Apple product, since they don't support business messaging in iMessage. They have a service called "Apple Messages for Business." They didn't use the iMessage name, presumably because it's a totally different service.
https://register.apple.com/messages
Looking at their approval process, it is involved because Apple is focused on their customers, who are the end-users. They want it to be "great." Just letting any random company connect to their API and blast Apple users isn't going to fly. Users would hate it, and it would destroy their trust in the channel. Spammers and scammers ruined SMS. Nobody wants that to happen to the other channels too, especially not Apple.
Re: Launch HN: Chert (YC P26) – Twilio for iMessage
#204[dead]
Re: Launch HN: Chert (YC P26) – Twilio for iMessage
#205This finally put a nail in the coffin for my hope we'll ever get a Twilio for iMessage For me, Twilio for iMessage would mean a DX-first product, highly prototyping friendly, etc... When I was exploring options for a B2C app a while back SendBlue made me sit in a call with a sales person then wanted some 5 figure outlay to start stated... I'm finally accepting that because of the bootleg nature of programmatic iMessa…
Well, there is this now from Twilio. They announced it at SIGNAL this month.
https://www.twilio.com/en-us/messaging/channels/apple-messag...
Re: Launch HN: Chert (YC P26) – Twilio for iMessage
#206Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why is iMessage "more conversational" than RCS? and "more human"?? I don't get the distinction you're making. I'm not an expert in mobile messaging so maybe I am missing something obvious. And what about WhatsApp?
iMessage is more conversational because it's what most people are used to using and seeing. People generally associate green bubble messages with spam/transactional messaging and blue bubble with trust. Additionally, iMessage also has additional features such as typing indicators and reactions (likes and loves) that makes the interface feel more conversational. WhatsApp could also be very conversational, but most peo…
RCS has most of the features of iMessage, including tapbacks and large attachments. It's even cross platform. iMessage is the channel where Apple users communicate with their friends and family. Exploiting the trust users have in iMessage by injecting unsupported business messages into it degrades the value of the channel by destroying the very trust you are relying on. This model is about as sustainable as burning coal to generate electricity.
Re: Launch HN: Chert (YC P26) – Twilio for iMessage
#207how is it possible to build this whole thing and not know there is a very rich first party api that does the same thing and more in iMessage https://www.apple.com/ios/business-chat/
iMessage for business has a very long and restrictive registration process, gray bubbles instead of blue bubbles, and is inbound only. We're democratizing iMessage for businesses that have good intentions on helping their customers more but can't afford to go through the long approval process.
Apple Messages for Business does have requirements for their partner program, and they strictly enforce it, but would you really expect otherwise? I've talked to a few of their "MSP" partners, and it is true the process isn't as simple as integrating with an API. They do want you to fully support the entire feature set, and you have to prove it. How long it takes depends on your resources and commitment. It also isn't "inbound only," and does have a lot of features that iMessage doesn't. It's branded, without users having to download a contact card. No rate limits. Lots of advantages it seems.
Saying you are "democratizing" iMessage is like saying you are "democratizing" bike lanes by selling car owners access to drive the bike lanes. That's not what it's for, you don't have the authority to do that, and it's going to get someone in trouble at some point.
Re: Launch HN: Chert (YC P26) – Twilio for iMessage
#208This finally put a nail in the coffin for my hope we'll ever get a Twilio for iMessage For me, Twilio for iMessage would mean a DX-first product, highly prototyping friendly, etc... When I was exploring options for a B2C app a while back SendBlue made me sit in a call with a sales person then wanted some 5 figure outlay to start stated... I'm finally accepting that because of the bootleg nature of programmatic iMessa…
Well, there is this now from Twilio. They announced it at SIGNAL this month. https://www.twilio.com/en-us/messaging/channels/apple-messag...
Apple Messages for Business has been around for a while, but it's mostly for communicating with a corporation vs consumer products. And iOS presents it like a support chat instead of a normal conversation.
Re: Launch HN: Chert (YC P26) – Twilio for iMessage
#209Cart abandonment. Good grief, any company that reaches out on that premise immediately loses my business on general principle. I may indeed have forgotten, changed my mind or found it cheaper elsewhere.
Get over it. I walked out, chasing me into the parking lot is no way to get me to come back.
Re: Launch HN: Chert (YC P26) – Twilio for iMessage
#210"Chert" is a poor branding for all Russian [and Ukrainian customers - it means "crap" or "damn".
Sony had a NAS device for video storage called the “Petafile”.