I think the iMessage push is a US only thing, mainly because almost everyone uses SMS/iMessage for texting, and if you don’t have an iPhone you’re stuck with the standard SMS features.
In other parts of the world they use WhatsApp, Telegram, or other multi platform messaging apps, so no one really cares about iMessage.
I’ve been on an iPhone for about 3.5 weeks now and iMessage is driving me nuts. It might be the reason I go back to Android.
- You cannot use any other apps for SMS messaging on an iPhone. iMessage is the only option.
- Unlike Google Messages, it is impossible to use a desktop app to send and receive your text messages… unless you replace all your computers with Macs. Most iPhone users don’t have a Mac, so this is just missing functionality.
This is dumb. I used that feature constantly. It’s the worst thing about the switch.
Your second point is exactly why I got on the beeper waiting list ages ago. It has been a game changer being able to text from my pc for the last 6 months or so, and I’m hoping it comes back… mine currently isn’t receiving messages.
Beeper on desktop user here for over a year! It’s still working great and I hope it never goes away. I believe it uses a different system than the android version.
I feel the same way. The tinkerer in me was interested when it was first announced, then saw they wanted me to pay for it and immediately lost interest because I didnt think the app would make it to the second billing cycle. Apple blocked them even sooner than I thought! I wish north americans could move on from sms…
The apps built around it and linked in Apple’s Messages app are the actual useful parts of it – Facetime to video chat and Find My to continuously show your friends on a map
Plus, FaceTime is redundant many times over and Find My sounds like a privacy nightmare that I wouldn’t give any permissions to anyway.
They’ll win if they file legal action. Their servers are not a public service and they offer no invitation for Beeper to use them for compute. A podcast app developer likened it to if a competing app tried to use his servers to sync podcast subscriptions. When you frame it as anything other than a big corporation stomping on a smaller company, it’s obviously stealing resources. I am not endorsing either side. Just stating a fact.
I don’t really get the big deal, it feels like a janky workaround when people could just use a different messaging platform and wait till Apple complies with the EU order
Around where I am, lots of friends have Apple devices but chats are still scattered across various messaging platforms
Its just the silliest things. I would love for these people to be strapped into a chair, forcibly made to download Signal and open account, and be like “Oh, deng it Buck, its really not such a big fucking deal that I was bitching about nothing in relation to”
Do it to everyone who refuses out of non-principle and suddenly, the bullshit excuse (“but but nobody’s on it”) evaporates
I used Signal since it was called TextSecure and I don’t think I ever successfully got another person using it.
Eventually uninstalled it because it was just largely useless, anytime I messaged a friend who seemed to be using it they were more confused than anything.
Are they simple? Like whats to be confused about? Its literally a fact its no more complicated than Whatsapp, what say you now (assuming we’re all still operating in good faith)
People who make extraordinar(ily)y silly claims like “Signal is HARD 😢”, I don’t think anyone can help them
Last I checked, Signal still hasn’t fixed their giant UX problem, which is that when you first install the app, it announces you to other Signal users on your contact list. This makes it completely unusable for anybody who actually needs, you know, a secure messenger (like a domestic abuse victim).
I mean I use Signal every day and I love it. But it irks me that they’re like “Oh we’re super secure. Unless you’re trying to get help from your abusive husband, in which case, guess what, we just snitched on you to your abusive husband! Good luck with that!”
Or, a step further, since the original Beeper is a Matrix server with various open source messaging bridges slapped on it, with a fancy client interface… Why not just fucking use a Matrix server with those bridges set up? Or even set up your own Matrix server and iMessage bridge?
Beeper is literally paying people to set up open sources services for you. I’m not against this, it’s a good business model, but Beeper has obviously put the cart before the horse here.
Its just not sustainable, any relation to closed fundamentally insecure “services” like iMessage. iMessage is dogshit, always has been, never won’t not be
Signal is just another walled garden silo with no real value over WhatsApp just owned by a different organization. I won’t use anything which is not XMPP compatible.
and wait till Apple complies with the EU order
I thought the EU had determined that iMessage will not be subject to the open messaging provisions.
iMessage will reportedly dodge EU regulations, won’t have to open up
Seems like they’re shooting themselves in the foot with that one, non-Apple users usually aren’t willing to convert to Apple products, and this is only going to widen that gap.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
It wasn’t the resulting lower-quality images, loss of encryption, and strange “Emphasized your message” reaction texts.
There was a gathering on Saturday, and she had to double-check with a couple people about the details after showing up inadvertently early at the wrong spot.
Migicovsky pointed to Epic’s victory at trial against Google’s Play Store (“big tech”) as motivation.
Citing privacy, security, and spam concerns, Apple stated it would “continue to make updates in the future” to protect users.
I asked Migicovsky by direct message if, given Apple’s stated plan to continually block it, there could ever be a point at which Beeper’s access was “settled,” or “back up and running,” as he put it in his post on X (formerly Twitter).
“Us,” he clarified, meant both Apple’s customers using iMessage and Android users trying to chat securely with iPhone friends.
The original article contains 432 words, the summary contains 140 words. Saved 68%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!