this post was submitted on 12 Oct 2023
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Pressure grows on Apple to open up iMessage::Samsung has joined Google’s campaign to force Apple to make iMessage RCS-compatible—but European regulators are more likely to get that job done.

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[–] msbeta1421 13 points 1 year ago (8 children)

I would love if they would just roll out an iMessage app to android. Ideally free.

I could realistically see them roll out an apple subscription pack to android eventually. Give users a way to access Apple Music, Fitness, etc. May even allow android users make use of Apple Watch.

I’m not an Apple fan boy, but this seems like a decent compromise from a business perspective. This meets a need and I don’t think there’s a decent enough argument that it would cannibalize iPhone sales (flagship models anyway)

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I'll just carry on using whatapps and people on iPhones can either download it or put up with my different coloured bubbles if they don't want too. Luckily people in the UK are all mostly on WhatsApp anyway, this who text message colours is a very yank centric problem.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Signal or at least Telegram or Viber. Fuck WhatsApp, I'd like at least my messenger app to not belong to Facebook of all companies.

[–] Neon -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Whatsapp is actually better than Telegram lol. You fell for Telegrams marketing lol

[–] uis 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

At least Telegram doesn't show your fucking phone number

[–] Neon 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

They can literally read your messages by default lol

[–] TAG 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

For now. Facebook has said that they plan to disable end-to-end encryption in WhatsApp at some point, so that you can receive messages from people using Facebook Messenger.

[–] uis 1 points 1 year ago

This gets even better: WA listened to Putin and did not enable channels because it is popular among 40+ and teachers.

[–] uis -3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Any FSB agent can connect any whatsapp message to person who wrote it.

[–] Neon 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That's just plain wrong.

Whatsapp is using the Signal Protocol.

To read your messages they need to get your phone. And now even your Backups are encrypted, so they can't read your Messages from there.

[–] uis -2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What encryption will do against someone who is in same group chat?

[–] [email protected] -3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

While it's all still E2E encrypted I don't really care what servers it goes though. If the UK/EU manage to get encryption blocked then I'll worry.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

they still collect the messages' metadata and create a profile based on that.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Do you use E2EE for all your chats? I think nearly nobody does.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

It's on by default with every convo in WA.

[–] machinin 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

I tried to use it a few months ago. It would not let me use it unless I gave it access to all my contacts' information. I denied the permission request and it wouldn't work.

How in the hell are you okay with that?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm pretty sure the stock SMS app that comes with your phone also needs access to the contacts permissions, but is enabled by default, so the app doesn't even ask for it.

[–] machinin 3 points 1 year ago

So in addition to that, why give the information to Facebook too?

Remember, Zuckerberg thinks people are dumbfucks for giving information to him.

Why do they go out of their way to disable the app if I deny access to contacts? Surely it would be less work to just add a couple of warnings telling me it may not work properly. But to disable the whole app? That is absolutely ridiculous.

[–] jose1324 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

How do you think phone number based chat apps works bro?

[–] machinin 2 points 1 year ago

Give me the option to add contacts individually?

That app is cancer, better just to nope out of the installation.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Because that's how phones work, it links your account to your phone number and uses your contacts to tell you who's on the app too using their numbers.

[–] machinin 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Because that's how -phones- Whatsapp works,

Yeah, that is also how computer viruses work. I was very thankful for permission control. That app is cancer.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Meh, I think some people are just paranoid on Lemmy when it comes to stuff like this. There's plenty of laws in the UK around storage and use of information that protect users of apps like this.

[–] machinin 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If it's so benign, why make it necessary to give all the information about all your contacts to the app?

To paraphrase Zuckerberg, "people are dumbfucks for giving me so much information."

[–] [email protected] -2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

How else do you think a messaging app that replaces your phones messaging functionality is supposed to work if not on phone numbers?

[–] machinin 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

So you're saying that the only way a messaging app can work is to access all the information from all your contacts? If it doesn't have all that information, it can't work? If Whatsapp can't have all that information, it would be impossible to function?

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

No, it's fully possible to have its own account and log in system, but that adds a layer of abstraction that makes it harder to sell to people as a replacement for their inbuilt messaging apps which just require a phone number.

[–] machinin 3 points 1 year ago

If you give Facebook any benefit of the doubt in relation to privacy concerns, I guess I can only believe Zuckerberg to be correct.

[–] timetraveller 2 points 1 year ago

And all thieves pay close attention to laws, and make sure their apps have "nothing" hidden in the folds.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago

That would make the problem worse, it would be just another centralized chat app you need to install. We would get from "what about people not using iOS" to "what about people not using iOS or Google Android".

[–] cyberpunk007 3 points 1 year ago

I ain't paying a one time or subscription to get fucking blue or green bubbles. Hell with that.

[–] Pieisawesome 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You can use Apple Music and an Apple Watch from android.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

You can't use an Apple watch on Android because it requires the Apple watch app to sync with the phone and that won't work on Android.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Yes because iPhones have ✨magic chips✨ inside which only Apple has... I'm pretty sure the apple watch communicates with Bluetooth. Apple just deliberately shuts Android out.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Apple originally looked into it but decided not to because they wanted to maintain their ecosystem. Same story as usual.

I have no idea why the above guy seems to think that Apple watches work on androids

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

It doesn't work on Android, I know that. But I'll bet you 1000€ that Apple could enabled cross-platform compatibility with an OTA update.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

That's pretty stupid. I doubt many Android users would switch to Iphone you for a smartwatch, but a few would absolutely buy apple watches if they could.

I guess the point is that they don't want iphone users to switch to android since that would make their watch practically useless.

[–] AA5B 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I don’t think that works, since why would people want yet another chat app to deal with. I tried several but usually gave them up because iMessage does what I need it to and I don’t want to check many

Having everyone support RCS, as an update from SMS, gives that interoperability, along with improving the SMS experience

I was a huge fan of what Pigeon tried to do, but I’m Apple-centric these days and have no idea what the state of that is

[–] MrMcGasion 2 points 1 year ago

FaceTime would be nice to have on Android as well, I know it technically works via a browser, if you get an invite from an iPhone user, but it's such a bad experience for everyone. And I'm sure they do that because it's easy peer pressure "advertising" from Apple users who want to video call with Android users, but can't be bothered to put any work into using a compatible app, and instead blame Android users for the incompatibility.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You can do apple music on android

[–] xxferf 0 points 1 year ago

Apple Music on android is shit