Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

“It’s time for Apple to fix texting”

android.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

961–970 of 1001 posts

Re: “It’s time for Apple to fix texting”

#961

Post by mlyle »

015a wrote: post #950
mlyle wrote: post #651

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're misreading the above comment. He's pointing out that Apple considered green originally the best background color for texting, and then added their own protocol with a blue background. So it's not like they deliberately relegated SMS to green because they were certain blue was better; if they believed blue was superior, they'd have used it from the beginning.

Yes, and then Time Happened, and every other part of iOS was updated; including, by the way, THE GREEN BUBBLES, to make them less readable, I feel like I'm taking crazy pills and no one else remembers that they used to be a different shade of green, with black text, which has significantly more contrast [1]. Regardless, they could improve it at any time, yet its been like this for... a decade now? Cognizant Inaction…

As I'm trying to tell you, assuming malice instead of disagreement isn't productive. It's always been green, even when it was the only option. Perhaps they feel that green is still the best choice!

As others point out, there are accessibility options for people who want more contrast (and which benefit users with trouble reading these outbound messages in far more useful places).

Re: “It’s time for Apple to fix texting”

#962

Post by vzaliva »

asdff wrote: post #325
vzaliva wrote: post #199

One way looking at it is that carrier job is only to provide data service. They should not be in the business of messaging. Users (and market) will chose to use whatever messaging service they want. This even applies to voice. I rather do Signal voice call than carrier voice call with most of my friends. Better quality, encryption, etc.

I think that is shortsighted because data service does not overlap cell service. Go into a grocery store and try and imessage a photo. If your stores are anything like mine it just won't work, until you defer to sending it via SMS, at which point it sends instantly no problem. At the end of the day I'm not paying for data service, I'm paying for data service plus cell service. I want cell service, it has benefits and…

I think this was the case in past but rapidly changed. As networks are get upgraded to newer cellular standards like LTE, 5G the data becomes pretty much standard.

Re: “It’s time for Apple to fix texting”

#964

Post by JohnFen »

ivoras wrote: post #205

This is a US thing, right? Haven't received an SMS from a real person (in other words, all SMSes I get are 2FA etc) for, at least 5 years, maybe 10. Even people who use iPhones don't send SMSes, MMSes or anything as obsolete (including RCS). Everyone just seems to use WhatsApp and Telegram (or if they don't know any better, Viber). Locale: Central Europe. So, why would anyone stick to the obsolete stuff? Are there re…

SMS is convenient because everyone has it. With those other services, I have to find out what they use, install it, register for an account, etc. Simpler just to send a text.

Re: “It’s time for Apple to fix texting”

#965

Post by [deleted] »

angio wrote: post #266
RussianCow wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US market standardized on mobile plans with unlimited texting a long, long time ago, so I think this caused people to mostly stick to SMS/MMS for communication since it was the path of least resistance. I don't know what the situation in Europe is like now, but in the past I remember it being difficult to find plans without very small SMS caps when traveling. That could be why Europeans naturally gravitated towar…

Unlimited SMS plans have been a thing in western europe for the past 15 years, at least. People switched to whatsapp because you can send pictures, not only text.

[deleted]

Re: “It’s time for Apple to fix texting”

#966

Post by JohnFen »

aembleton wrote: post #841
patja wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

does WhatsApp still require you to hand over all your contacts to them when you sign up? None of my contacts gave consent for me to share their private information.

No, you don't have to give them your contacts, but doing so makes it easier to contact people

I was recently forced to install WhatsApp, and it absolutely forced me to give it my contact list.

Re: “It’s time for Apple to fix texting”

#967

Post by [deleted] »

tommit wrote: post #839
jvolkman wrote: post #717

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apart from better media, typing indicators, etc., RCS allows richer metadata (like content types) and various side channels (AFAIK) that allow extensions like E2E to be added. SMS is just 160 characters. I believe Google will share their E2E spec with others. They published an overview a while ago [1], but presumably they'd offer more to someone wanting to actually implement it. 1: https://www.gstatic.com/messages/pa…

Better media is a valid point, but I feel like mentioning typing indicators right after totally takes away from it. It felt so out of place in the article as well. Sorry, but who gives a fuck? All you need to do is wait a couple more seconds and you will know whether the recipient got your message, because in 99/100 cases, guess what follows the typing indicator? A message. I honestly do not get the benefit. If anyth…

[deleted]

Re: “It’s time for Apple to fix texting”

#968

Post by guidoism »

kelnos wrote: post #116
altairprime wrote: post #59

Most businesses, consumers, and developers universally continue to ignore the primary reason that iMessage is a closed platform, rather than an app on every platform as iTunes is: Apple is using device serial numbers for anti-spam, supported by a fully-authenticated hardware and software stack that does not allow user modification. This permits Apple to simply “console ban” any Apple device that spams on iMessage. Th…

I'd rather live in a world with spam than a world where corporations get to decide what I run on my devices, and cripple a bunch of critical applications if I decide I want to, y'know, actually do whatever I want with the hardware I own. I'm not unsympathetic to Apple's difficulties and goals here (assuming this spam problem is actually the reason, though I'm skeptical that there aren't also self-serving reasons that…

I’m not sure this is either/or though. I have a secure/locked down device with iMessage and an open not-as-nice device for my playground as a programmer and hardware hacker.

Re: “It’s time for Apple to fix texting”

#969

Post by lern_too_spel »

sunderw wrote: post #800
yalogin wrote: post #723

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don’t need the world to change for you. Simply use android and live in that ecosystem.

And what if you care about your privacy ? Because there is ONE alternative doesn't really mean I have the freedom to choose...

If you care about privacy, you would use Android (or one of the newer open source mobile operating systems).

Re: “It’s time for Apple to fix texting”

#970

Post by zaik »

alxndr wrote: post #954
zaik wrote: post #748

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have any good source on why Google decided to shut down their XMPP service? I'd really like to read about it. Not sure about the spam thing, after all they also provide a federating email service.

How much effort/development have they put in to the spam detection on Gmail?

If you have the ability to detect spam in emails you can probably also detect spam in chat messages.
Post reply on HN