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Requires a Mac to relay messages: AirMessage leverages the power of your Mac computer in order to route messages to and from Apple's iMessage servers. The serv

Requires a Mac to relay messages: AirMessage leverages the power of your Mac computer in order to route messages to and from Apple's iMessage servers. The server is to be installed on a computer at home, and will pass messages to and from your smartphone to allow the usage of iMessage and other installed services. https://airmessage.org/help/ https://airmessage.org/help/

jedberg 6y ago
Haha! That’s a bit of a caveat isn’t it?
snazz 6y ago
This is a significant trade-off, of course, but it is also the only secure way to use iMessage on Android as I understand it. Otherwise, you would have to trust a third party with your Apple ID credentials and iMessage signing key. Plus, you can always run a Hackintosh or use macOS in a VM, although that can be a lot of work depending on your computer hardware.
- arkadiyt 6y ago
  > it is also the only secure way to use iMessage on Android as I understand it I'm not very familiar with the workings of iMessage but why can't an Android device copy the protocol and make the relevant API calls directly?
  - paulryanrogers 6y ago
    Might be a violation of ToS
  - no_wizard 6y ago
    IIRC, it’s more than just an API, Apple has implemented device specific signing that isn’t possible to replicate in this way, as far as I can recall. I don’t know the full details but I know this is part of the reason nobody has really even attempted to fly under the radar this way. It’s part of what’s downloaded on fresh installs of the operating system (hence why it sometimes works in a VM, though I’ve heard with each release iMessage is harder to get working in a VM)
    - derefr 6y ago
      Yes, but you could emulate that too. If a Hackintosh can validate itself as an authentic Apple computer, an app that replicates all the same calls to Apple's servers that that Hackintosh makes should be able to do just as well.
      - untog 6y ago
        I suppose it’s certainly possible. But a Hackintosh operates at a very low level, making macOS believe it is running on supported hardware. It doesn’t need to know how the OS authenticates itself to iMessage. My suspicion is that disassembling that whole process would take a lot of work (and be very brittle, because Apple would probably deliberately break it) It presumably also integrates into the OS at a deep level: the system that pushes messages to the computer is not iMessage specific, it’s OS-level. So you’d need to reverse engineer that, too.
        saagarjha 6y ago
        iMessage needs to support older versions of macOS and iOS, so I suspect someone who cracks however identityservicesd works will have the ability to make this work "permanently".
  - ttsda 6y ago
    This has been done in the past, but it's a violation of their ToS and gets shut down fast.
- berbec 6y ago
  Both the a hackintosh and VM solutions are very hard if you want full app store & I message support. Getting the OS running is fairly easy, but passing all the security checks is very hard.
  - FractalParadigm 6y ago
    It sounds like it's a been a while since you've played around with Hackintosh. I have an AMD/OpenCore system running with full App Store, iMessage, handoff, continuity, etc working flawlessly. Assuming you find a serial number that is not already in use, it should all be functional on first boot.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
    - snazz 6y ago
      Yep! There are even tools (mentioned in the OpenCore install guide) that automate finding serial numbers and board IDs and all of the other parameters required for that functionality to work. Even though I couldn't get my graphics card working at first boot on my computer, it still logged me into iMessage automatically.
  - mstolpm 6y ago
    Not true anymore for "modern" Hackintosh with OpenCore or Clover. Of course you need to set some parameters correctly, but it is way, waaay more easy and stabile than in the old days.
  - bzb5 6y ago
    Not sure about iMessage but the App Store has always worked fine in hackintosh and in virtual machines, at least in my experience.
- rsync 6y ago
  "Otherwise, you would have to trust a third party with your Apple ID credentials and iMessage signing key." Is that possible ? I'd like to be able to send/receive "imessages" (and prompt typing ellipses, etc.) from a twilio number. It's low priority, but an interesting problem ... Is imessage an open spec somewhere wherein you could use API credentials and interface with it, arbitrarily ?
beervirus 6y ago
For all those billions of people with a Mac computer and an android phone...
- nkrisc 6y ago
  Probably not the biggest market. But as someone with an Android phone, a MacBook, and a Windows/Linux dual boot desktop I'm happy this exists.
- kiliancs 6y ago
  I know many people with a Mac and Android.
- rudiv 6y ago
  Is that incredibly uncommon in your experience? In my country people still buy Mac computers for the cachet, but many Android brands are considered just as fancy/desirable, so there is a not insignificant number of people who do have Mac computers and Android phones.
  - beervirus 6y ago
    I know plenty of people who have Windows or Linux computers but still use an iPhone. I don’t know a single person who uses a Mac and an Android phone.
- caturopath 6y ago
  This isn't a particularly strange situation, lots of folks have Macs and Android phones, especially among the sort of folks who are on HN. Not every product needs to have a total addressable market of billions.
  - CMYKninja 6y ago
    I had a MBP iPhone and Pixel C. I loved my android tablet. However it showed it age and I got an iPad. This would have been perfect for me.
- cercatrova 6y ago
HenryBemis 6y ago
Can I assume that this would only work if Android phone & Mac are on the same WiFi/LAN? I cannot imagine the security nightmare to have my phone talking to my Mac (which needs to be switched on 24/7) while I am away from home..
- adenta 6y ago
  I use iMessage with a Palm companion. Keep a $100 Mac mini under my bed and connected to WiFi. Tbh, after a year of slowly fiddling with my setup, it is quite inconvenient. It’s so close to being amazing, but there are enough small things that make it annoying.
- viraptor 6y ago
  There's zerotier which is available for both Android and MacOS. Essentially a global LAN. It should be painless to make it work that way.

jedberg 6y ago

Haha! That’s a bit of a caveat isn’t it?

snazz 6y ago

This is a significant trade-off, of course, but it is also the only secure way to use iMessage on Android as I understand it. Otherwise, you would have to trust a third party with your Apple ID credentials and iMessage signing key. Plus, you can always run a Hackintosh or use macOS in a VM, although that can be a lot of work depending on your computer hardware.

arkadiyt 6y ago
> it is also the only secure way to use iMessage on Android as I understand it I'm not very familiar with the workings of iMessage but why can't an Android device copy the protocol and make the relevant API calls directly?
- paulryanrogers 6y ago
  Might be a violation of ToS
- no_wizard 6y ago
  IIRC, it’s more than just an API, Apple has implemented device specific signing that isn’t possible to replicate in this way, as far as I can recall. I don’t know the full details but I know this is part of the reason nobody has really even attempted to fly under the radar this way. It’s part of what’s downloaded on fresh installs of the operating system (hence why it sometimes works in a VM, though I’ve heard with each release iMessage is harder to get working in a VM)
  - derefr 6y ago
    Yes, but you could emulate that too. If a Hackintosh can validate itself as an authentic Apple computer, an app that replicates all the same calls to Apple's servers that that Hackintosh makes should be able to do just as well.
    - untog 6y ago
      I suppose it’s certainly possible. But a Hackintosh operates at a very low level, making macOS believe it is running on supported hardware. It doesn’t need to know how the OS authenticates itself to iMessage. My suspicion is that disassembling that whole process would take a lot of work (and be very brittle, because Apple would probably deliberately break it) It presumably also integrates into the OS at a deep level: the system that pushes messages to the computer is not iMessage specific, it’s OS-level. So you’d need to reverse engineer that, too.
      - saagarjha 6y ago
        iMessage needs to support older versions of macOS and iOS, so I suspect someone who cracks however identityservicesd works will have the ability to make this work "permanently".
- ttsda 6y ago
  This has been done in the past, but it's a violation of their ToS and gets shut down fast.
berbec 6y ago
Both the a hackintosh and VM solutions are very hard if you want full app store & I message support. Getting the OS running is fairly easy, but passing all the security checks is very hard.
- FractalParadigm 6y ago
  It sounds like it's a been a while since you've played around with Hackintosh. I have an AMD/OpenCore system running with full App Store, iMessage, handoff, continuity, etc working flawlessly. Assuming you find a serial number that is not already in use, it should all be functional on first boot.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - snazz 6y ago
    Yep! There are even tools (mentioned in the OpenCore install guide) that automate finding serial numbers and board IDs and all of the other parameters required for that functionality to work. Even though I couldn't get my graphics card working at first boot on my computer, it still logged me into iMessage automatically.
- mstolpm 6y ago
  Not true anymore for "modern" Hackintosh with OpenCore or Clover. Of course you need to set some parameters correctly, but it is way, waaay more easy and stabile than in the old days.
- bzb5 6y ago
  Not sure about iMessage but the App Store has always worked fine in hackintosh and in virtual machines, at least in my experience.
rsync 6y ago
"Otherwise, you would have to trust a third party with your Apple ID credentials and iMessage signing key." Is that possible ? I'd like to be able to send/receive "imessages" (and prompt typing ellipses, etc.) from a twilio number. It's low priority, but an interesting problem ... Is imessage an open spec somewhere wherein you could use API credentials and interface with it, arbitrarily ?

beervirus 6y ago

For all those billions of people with a Mac computer and an android phone...

nkrisc 6y ago
Probably not the biggest market. But as someone with an Android phone, a MacBook, and a Windows/Linux dual boot desktop I'm happy this exists.
kiliancs 6y ago
I know many people with a Mac and Android.
rudiv 6y ago
Is that incredibly uncommon in your experience? In my country people still buy Mac computers for the cachet, but many Android brands are considered just as fancy/desirable, so there is a not insignificant number of people who do have Mac computers and Android phones.
- beervirus 6y ago
  I know plenty of people who have Windows or Linux computers but still use an iPhone. I don’t know a single person who uses a Mac and an Android phone.
caturopath 6y ago
This isn't a particularly strange situation, lots of folks have Macs and Android phones, especially among the sort of folks who are on HN. Not every product needs to have a total addressable market of billions.
- CMYKninja 6y ago
  I had a MBP iPhone and Pixel C. I loved my android tablet. However it showed it age and I got an iPad. This would have been perfect for me.
cercatrova 6y ago

HenryBemis 6y ago

Can I assume that this would only work if Android phone & Mac are on the same WiFi/LAN? I cannot imagine the security nightmare to have my phone talking to my Mac (which needs to be switched on 24/7) while I am away from home..

adenta 6y ago
I use iMessage with a Palm companion. Keep a $100 Mac mini under my bed and connected to WiFi. Tbh, after a year of slowly fiddling with my setup, it is quite inconvenient. It’s so close to being amazing, but there are enough small things that make it annoying.
viraptor 6y ago
There's zerotier which is available for both Android and MacOS. Essentially a global LAN. It should be painless to make it work that way.