OMG I love this. Go get em! Also, this is perfect material for Hack Club. You should join! https://hackclub.com/
iMessage, explained
41–50 of 163 posts
Re: iMessage, explained
#42> In order to generate the “validation data”, pieces of information about the device such as its serial number, model, and disk UUID are used.
Sadly, this is a clear sign the project is going to stop working eventually. At some point, the Apple is simply going to pull the plug.
I remember doing similar tricks when I was a kid. Nowadays I simply won't even care trying. The problem clearly isn't supposed to be solved this way. I'm not even sure if it's a good exercise in programming either. Software development is about doing the things the right way, not exercising in futility.
A better experience would be writing your own message delivery solution, superior to iMessage.
Re: iMessage, explained
#43pypush, the open source project behind today’s developments in the iMessage reversing news, is licensed under MongoDB’s Server Side Public License and owned by Beeper (JJTech sold the rights to Beeper, per discord). Although this library is fantastic, I do think that the extremely copyleft license could have implications on where we see this used.
Re: iMessage, explained
#44This is phenomenal work. You should write a little on how you got into this whole field. There are high school and college kids all over reddit struggling how to excel at technical stuff, learn programming, get a job in tech, and I feel like they can really benefit from your perspective.
I don't disagree with what you say, but I would be surprised if it was any sort of secret sauce and not "just" an incredible amount of grinding, the seemingly zero-cost energy reservoir you can tap into as a young adult if you really like what you're doing and possibly an enlightened parent or a role model.
It's not grinding though. My highschool years were also super productive when it came to programming-related things, while I have seen most of my peers, aside from select few, really struggle despite their willingness. So maybe there is some secret sauce that can help others to get good a this. Maybe it's a mindset or attitude, etc...
Re: iMessage, explained
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
A much more major issue with Macs is planned obsolescence. It’s the only reason I am not buying any Macs.
My late-2013 MacBook Pro recently gave up the ghost. I'd used it daily in the ten years it worked. Are there other PC manufacturers who make laptops that are still useable after ten years?
I mean if we're playing anecdata, my spouse has been through 4 mac laptops in the same period, which have given up the ghost in various different ways.
Re: iMessage, explained
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
> possibly an enlightened parent or a role model This is typically the 'secret sauce'.
I was once asked how I got to where I am, where others in my situation might not have, my response was: “Parents that gave a damn”. It wasn’t about pressuring me, it was about recognising my interest in computers, and fostering that interest as much as was financially possible given our circumstances (which were often dire). My parents aren’t technical, but they did what they could, and I wouldn’t be the engineer I a…
I grew up with a foster mother that actively "suppressed" what I did on the computer, banning me for a month if I didn't get changed immediately after school.
Now I've become a senior engineer, but I'm kinda shotty at it, chaotic good in solving problems, but issues with authority and process.
Who knows, maybe I would've became a "run of the mill" engineer if she helped.
Re: iMessage, explained
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
Personally, for communication I never use a device platform specific/locked app/service. Maybe you could keep using the app(s) whatever you were.
> Maybe you could keep using the app(s) whatever you were. I was using Android Messages, which has a web app. The experience was mediocre because the web app had trouble connecting to my phone all the damn time. I text some people almost exclusively through Facebook Messenger, and I think the rest I will try to move from text to WhatsApp. Both Meta-owned, unfortunately, but those seem to be easy to use cross-device a…
If you're already using Thunderbird as mail client, you can integrate Google Messages add-on [1] into Thunderbird app which I have been using happily for over a year without much trouble (sans the incoming texts notification feature). Seemingly this add-on has all features akin to the Google Messages Android app.
[1] https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-us/thunderbird/addon/googl...
Re: iMessage, explained
#48> In order to generate the “validation data”, pieces of information about the device such as its serial number, model, and disk UUID are used. Sadly, this is a clear sign the project is going to stop working eventually. At some point, the Apple is simply going to pull the plug. I remember doing similar tricks when I was a kid. Nowadays I simply won't even care trying. The problem clearly isn't supposed to be solved t…
I get it and it may be true in this case that Apple can too easily pull the plug, adversarial interoperability has a long history: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/06/adversarial-interopera...
Re: iMessage, explained
#49> In order to generate the “validation data”, pieces of information about the device such as its serial number, model, and disk UUID are used. Sadly, this is a clear sign the project is going to stop working eventually. At some point, the Apple is simply going to pull the plug. I remember doing similar tricks when I was a kid. Nowadays I simply won't even care trying. The problem clearly isn't supposed to be solved t…
I get it and it may be true in this case that Apple can too easily pull the plug, adversarial interoperability has a long history: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/06/adversarial-interopera...
The messaging space also had the amazing Adium client during the last round of messaging wars, and less amazing Trillian as reverse engineered clients distributed or sold. I for one am excited to see this space heating back up.
Re: iMessage, explained
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't disagree with what you say, but I would be surprised if it was any sort of secret sauce and not "just" an incredible amount of grinding, the seemingly zero-cost energy reservoir you can tap into as a young adult if you really like what you're doing and possibly an enlightened parent or a role model.
It's not grinding though. My highschool years were also super productive when it came to programming-related things, while I have seen most of my peers, aside from select few, really struggle despite their willingness. So maybe there is some secret sauce that can help others to get good a this. Maybe it's a mindset or attitude, etc...
I don't know. I definitely did grind programming a lot as a teenager and for a few years as a young adult. But the grinding was effortless to me. It was as if this type of activity was replenishing my energy reserves instead of making me tired. I rarely needed to take breaks and indeed frequently forgot to eat or sleep when deep in my sessions. So it wasn't a struggle at all, but it was still a grind I would say. Or maybe I am misunderstanding the word and it would be better to say it was a lot of time spent, at the very least.
I don't think anyone can do this, I think you need to have that connection with programming where it is harder resist it than it is to do the work. But it doesn't mean people like the author of the article have a secret sauce and them recounting their experience to their peers to inspire them isn't worth much to them as a result I would expect. It's the "draw the rest of the fucking owl" type a thing I think.
BTW I don't mean to say I was a super duper genius as a teenager for whom programming was like breathing. I refused to study anything, I only enjoyed discovering things myself and I had no direction in my programming knowledge collection at all. A more disciplined person would have beaten me easily, and many have. Despite the ease with which programming came to me I didn't do that much productive stuff. I was mostly just having immense amounts of fun and joy. I do feel a bit sad sometimes about not getting a bigger edge now, but realistically, when push comes to shove, I wouldn't change it anyway.