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iOS holding my phone number hostage = the worst bug I’ve ever experienced

blog.benjaminste.in

71–80 of 237 posts

Re: iOS holding my phone number hostage = the worst bug I’ve ever experienced

#71
post #21

This article claims resetting your apple ID password will disassociate the imessage phone number: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5538

It works -- Also, make sure if you have an iPad or you're using your Apple ID with Messages on Mac OS X that you sign out of everything beforehand. Last resort is changing your password but it works.

Re: iOS holding my phone number hostage = the worst bug I’ve ever experienced

#72
post #16

I had the same issue when switching to a Nexus 5. https://appleid.apple.com Try going here and removing the phone number from the "Phone Numbers" section. I still have friends who try to message me and their iOS assumes I'm using iMessage. The "retry as SMS" feature is the only method that works.

My wife just switched from an iPhone to a Note 3 and this concerned me, but I was surprised her cell number is not listed with her apple id.

Re: iOS holding my phone number hostage = the worst bug I’ve ever experienced

#73
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, what's an open-source alternative to iMessage that lots of people use?

The reason iMessage works well is because it's integrated tightly into the OS. So for an open-source alternative to be competitive, it would have to run on... an open mobile OS, which would in turn require open hardware.

Heh? Have you tried solutions like Whatsapp, GroupMe, or Viber? They all work absolutely fine on both big mobile OSes, regardless of hardware.

I don't see the need for absolutely open hardware for an alternative messaging system. Sure, they aren't FLOSS solutions, but they are much less closed than iMessage and are cross-platform.

Re: iOS holding my phone number hostage = the worst bug I’ve ever experienced

#74
post #17
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And it possibly costs you new business cards, and having to let everyone know that you have a new number, and changing any social profiles, etc. ...or Apple could stop making crappy software like this ;)

Unfortunately Apple has zero incentive to fix this bug. Why should they care about customers they already lost?

The fucked up thing is that is actually benefits Apple. The economic value of your subscribers it approximately the number of subscribers times the switching cost. This bug raises the switching cost and therefore makes their customers more valuable.

Re: iOS holding my phone number hostage = the worst bug I’ve ever experienced

#77
post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A data-only plan still has a carrier-provided phone number, and it will still default to that phone number when sending iMessages, happily ignorant of the fact that it can't call or text or MMS.

You're talking about invisible implementation details. My iMessage/FaceTime are set to use an email as the only ID. No one else knows or uses my data-only phone number. Just like they don't know or use my IMEI number.

No, I'm not - it will default to using that as the outbound ID even on a data-only plan, because iOS doesn't know it's a data-only plan.

The fact that you must go and manually change it to your email address for outbound iMessages is the part that's invisible.

Re: iOS holding my phone number hostage = the worst bug I’ve ever experienced

#78
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, what's an open-source alternative to iMessage that lots of people use?

The reason iMessage works well is because it's integrated tightly into the OS. So for an open-source alternative to be competitive, it would have to run on... an open mobile OS, which would in turn require open hardware.

> it would have to run on... an open mobile OS, which would in turn require open hardware.

I'm not 100% clear on this: why can't there be an open mobile OS that runs on (bootrom-exploited) iOS devices?

Re: iOS holding my phone number hostage = the worst bug I’ve ever experienced

#79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reason iMessage works well is because it's integrated tightly into the OS. So for an open-source alternative to be competitive, it would have to run on... an open mobile OS, which would in turn require open hardware.

Heh? Have you tried solutions like Whatsapp, GroupMe, or Viber? They all work absolutely fine on both big mobile OSes, regardless of hardware. I don't see the need for absolutely open hardware for an alternative messaging system. Sure, they aren't FLOSS solutions, but they are much less closed than iMessage and are cross-platform.

WhatsApp does not work on tablets. Its stupid auth system requires a device with a phone number.
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