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Hi all! Like many people here we wanted to reduce our monthly expenses given the time, and found Twilio to be one of the highest line items. When we dug into th
by probe 6y ago
Hi all! Like many people here we wanted to reduce our monthly expenses given the time, and found Twilio to be one of the highest line items. When we dug into the data, we found that 80% of our users were iPhone users and thus could receive iMessages.
Thus we built Balto - an API to send iMessages, and were able to transition our entire customer list successfully (as well as take advantage of iMessage features like unlimited messaging, read receipts, apple pay, etc.)
Would love HN thoughts/feedback! We also have a customer facing version if you’re not a developer (https://usebalto.com/ https://usebalto.com/) and wrote a blog documenting the journey for those interested (https://usebalto.com/blog/balto-origin-story%20 https://usebalto.com/blog/balto-origin-story%20) :)
- mehhh 6y agoHave you run into any rate limiting on iMessage? We usually see bulk messaging (eg: appointment reminders) getting silently dropped by carriers if over 100 messages are sent from that number in a day. Additionally, what stops Apple from breaking your service, like so many other unofficial chat APIs?
- probe 6y agoYup great callout, something we think a lot about. We haven’t run into any rate-limiting yet, though are aware that it’s a possibility. iMessage returns the date_delivered which has been valid and we send an SMS in those cases. As for Apple shutting us down, it is a valid concern, although right now the service looks no different than if one were to type out a message on their own device. Happy to share more details and go through any concerns you might have - maybe there's ways we can help with appointment reminders!