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The Android APKs have been decompiled which confirmed this was completely intentional: http://www.androidpolice.com/2015/12/01/whatsapp-is-blocking-telegram-li

by tshtf 11y ago

The Android APKs have been decompiled which confirmed this was completely intentional: http://www.androidpolice.com/2015/12/01/whatsapp-is-blocking-telegram-links-in-the-android-app/ http://www.androidpolice.com/2015/12/01/whatsapp-is-blocking... > The smoking gun is a pattern match performed on any URL string that begins with the word 'telegram.' In the most recent version of the app, these strings are classified as a "bad host," so that no hyperlink is generated and it becomes impossible to copy or forward any message with that URL. No other strings trigger the match, so this block is purposefully targeted at Telegram.

fabian2k 11y ago
Thanks, that looks like really solid evidence for intentionally blocking them. I see no way to explain this than anything but an attempt to block their competitor. I still think this will result in more publicity for Telegram than all the messages that are blocked.
JosephRedfern 11y ago
Maybe times have changed and these things are now included in the dex file, but that doesn't seem to be a verbatim decompiler output to me. Local variable names aren't normally stored in an APK, they're just refereed to by register numbers. For instance, I wouldn't expect to see "for(Pattern badHost : BAD_HOSTS)" (specifically the badHost) - last time I checked, this information would be lost during compilation. I'm not suggesting that the code is falsified - the person that decompiled it probably just guessed at some variable names and re-factored to make it more readable. It just stood out to me, so I thought it was worth mentioning.
- bathory 11y ago
  That's only true if you choose to obfuscate your code on android. I recently decompiled an apk and all variables/function names were perfectly readable
  - JosephRedfern 11y ago
    Even variable names? I know that class/method/field names are visible, but I didn't think that local variable names were. I can't see a reason for them to be, aside from debugging... and presumably they're not shipping a debug build.
    - mmebane 11y ago
      It used to be incredibly common for production APKs to contain Java debug info (line numbers and variable names). IIRC, Android Studio now sets up the Release builds to strip this out and do basic ProGuard optimizations, but if WhatsApp was migrated from an old build system or something, it could easily be missing this step.
      - JosephRedfern 11y ago
        Those were the days ;) I was under the impression that it's now no longer possible to upload an APK that has been built in Debug Mode to Google Play. I don't know if other app stores (i.e. Amazon App store) are enforcing this.
        Nutomic 11y ago
        Debug mode and obfuscation are completely seperate concepts. You can have a debug build with obfuscation or a release build without. Google Play doesn't care if an apk is obfuscated or not.
    - toyg 11y ago
      I don't work with Android, but java code is usually visible after decompilation. Unless there is specific obfuscation tech being used, you should assume all your java code can be seen by others.
      - JosephRedfern 11y ago
        Yes, the "code" is - it has to be in order for it to be executed. My point is that method variable names are not normally visible.
- sk5t 11y ago
  Local variables no, but a method name like isBadHost, and the field BAD_HOSTS, would be preserved in the absence of an obfuscator (and then, its job would not be trivial as isBadHost is scoped public).
orliesaurus 11y ago
Im lolling at the guy that tested "hitler.com" wtf? hahahaha

by tshtf 11y ago

fabian2k 11y ago

Thanks, that looks like really solid evidence for intentionally blocking them. I see no way to explain this than anything but an attempt to block their competitor. I still think this will result in more publicity for Telegram than all the messages that are blocked.

JosephRedfern 11y ago

Maybe times have changed and these things are now included in the dex file, but that doesn't seem to be a verbatim decompiler output to me. Local variable names aren't normally stored in an APK, they're just refereed to by register numbers. For instance, I wouldn't expect to see "for(Pattern badHost : BAD_HOSTS)" (specifically the badHost) - last time I checked, this information would be lost during compilation. I'm not suggesting that the code is falsified - the person that decompiled it probably just guessed at some variable names and re-factored to make it more readable. It just stood out to me, so I thought it was worth mentioning.

bathory 11y ago
That's only true if you choose to obfuscate your code on android. I recently decompiled an apk and all variables/function names were perfectly readable
- JosephRedfern 11y ago
  Even variable names? I know that class/method/field names are visible, but I didn't think that local variable names were. I can't see a reason for them to be, aside from debugging... and presumably they're not shipping a debug build.
  - mmebane 11y ago
    It used to be incredibly common for production APKs to contain Java debug info (line numbers and variable names). IIRC, Android Studio now sets up the Release builds to strip this out and do basic ProGuard optimizations, but if WhatsApp was migrated from an old build system or something, it could easily be missing this step.
    - JosephRedfern 11y ago
      Those were the days ;) I was under the impression that it's now no longer possible to upload an APK that has been built in Debug Mode to Google Play. I don't know if other app stores (i.e. Amazon App store) are enforcing this.
      - Nutomic 11y ago
        Debug mode and obfuscation are completely seperate concepts. You can have a debug build with obfuscation or a release build without. Google Play doesn't care if an apk is obfuscated or not.
  - toyg 11y ago
    I don't work with Android, but java code is usually visible after decompilation. Unless there is specific obfuscation tech being used, you should assume all your java code can be seen by others.
    - JosephRedfern 11y ago
      Yes, the "code" is - it has to be in order for it to be executed. My point is that method variable names are not normally visible.
sk5t 11y ago
Local variables no, but a method name like isBadHost, and the field BAD_HOSTS, would be preserved in the absence of an obfuscator (and then, its job would not be trivial as isBadHost is scoped public).

orliesaurus 11y ago

Im lolling at the guy that tested "hitler.com" wtf? hahahaha