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> “standard” tied to a phone number subscription that brings along all the retrograde privacy nightmares of Big Telecom since the bell system broke up. Is ther
by InitialLastName 4y ago
> “standard” tied to a phone number subscription that brings along all the retrograde privacy nightmares of Big Telecom since the bell system broke up.
Is there a way to make an account with Apple that isn't tied to a mobile phone number? If so, I've never been able to find it.
- selectodude 4y agoYou don't need an Apple ID to use iMessage. Just an Apple device.
- Bellyache5 4y agoUsing iMessage requires an Apple ID. The Messages app on iPhones supports both SMS/MMS and iMessage because it’s a phone and needs to support SMS. But without being signed into an Apple ID on the device the Messages app only handles SMS/MMS, i.e., green chat bubbles.
- selectodude 4y agoThat isn't true. You can use iMessage without an Apple ID on a phone. It uses your phone number. I promise you of this.
- owly 4y agoPromise all you want, but in the US you can’t activate an iPhone without an Apple ID. Yes, you can set iMessage to only send/receive iMessages using your phone number. However, you cannot set it up in the first place without an Apple ID.
- Godel_unicode 4y agohttps://www.macworld.com/article/673831/how-to-use-an-iphone-without-an-apple-id.html https://www.macworld.com/article/673831/how-to-use-an-iphone...
- philliphaydon 4y agoiMessage without an appleid is just SMS…
- tsimionescu 4y agoYes, but if you don't have an Apple ID, the iMessage app will use SMS/MMS, not the proprietary encrypted Apple messaging protocol. This can be tested easily: send a message to another Apple user: it will arrive as a green SMS message, not a blue Apple messaging message.
- thayne 4y agoThe question was about phone numbers, not apple id.
- tsimionescu 4y agoYou need a phone number for Apple ID, don't you?
- efitz 4y agoUh, don't you need an Apple ID to activate an iPhone?
- 2muchcoffeeman 4y agoPhone still works without an ID. No idea if this means that you can only send SMS messages though.
- tsimionescu 4y agoIt does.
- lasson 4y agoI’m not logged in I can send iMessages and FaceTime, seems to link it to the phone number though.
- easton 4y agoNope, you can just click skip. If the device had previously been enrolled in Find My iPhone you have to log back in to turn it off, but if it’s fresh out of the box you don’t have to hook it to iCloud/iTunes at all (and that’s not uncommon to block in corporate environments).
- worthless-trash 4y agoNot on my end, no skip button.
- infotogivenm 4y agoNot sure what device you’re on but every iphone I’ve set up I’ve (at least initially) skipped signing in. It’s not hidden or subtle or anything (especially compared to latest windows OS), it’s a big Skip link. The main downside is you can’t install any apps, and in my experience iMessage does NOT work until you log in with apple ID, just SMS/MMS.
- sangnoir 4y ago> You don't need an Apple ID to use iMessage. Just an Apple device. Has Apple fixed the bug where it wasn't relinquishing your phone number and blackholing all iMessages which were supposed to be downgraded to SMS instead?
- Jtsummers 4y agoYears ago, yes: https://selfsolve.apple.com/deregister-imessage/ https://selfsolve.apple.com/deregister-imessage/
- dhritzkiv 4y agoIn the past, AppleIDs could be created with only email address, and not phone numbers. I see that the current account creation step requires a phone number for verification via SMS/phone call. That said, I don't believe you need to use that phone number for messaging – an email address is used as the contact information when messaging with iMessage. This is especially important for iPads/iPod Touches and Macs, which most don't have a cell phone number.
- sneak 4y agoOnly in US region. You can make Ukraine region Apple IDs without a phone number still.