4 ms·

Apple has seemingly found a way to block Beeper Mini

39 points by quyleanh 3y ago

dang 3y ago
Comments moved to https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38574888 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38574888, which was posted earlier and is also on the front page.
lousken 3y ago
time for walled gardens to be killed by EU's DMA
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
ElijahLynn 3y ago
> Reached for comment, Beeper CEO Eric Migicovsky did not deny that Apple has successfully blocked Beeper Mini. “If it’s Apple, then I think the biggest question is... if Apple truly cares about the privacy and security of their own iPhone users, why would they stop a service that enables their own users to now send encrypted messages to Android users, rather than using unsecure SMS? With their announcement of RCS support, it’s clear that Apple knows they have a gaping hole here. Beeper Mini is here today and works great. Why force iPhone users back to sending unencrypted SMS when they chat with friends on Android?” Does it come down to The Law of Leaky Abstractions? >> https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2002/11/11/the-law-of-leaky-abstractions/ https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2002/11/11/the-law-of-leaky-a... Which means that if Apple wants to change something eventually, then they will possibly break downstream abstractions and then people will complain and the downstream abstraction will say "Well Apple changed their API, it is their fault". Letting someone do it from square one would be enabling that future scenario, as it isn't "if" it changes, it is "when". If it was an open source API that would be different, but Apple's is closed source, that is Apple's philosophy at the core. It is a closed API yah? Not even an open spec right?
- srgpqt 3y ago
  When Steve Jobs first announced iMessage on stage, he said it would later be open with a standard specification. Sadly, Apple never delivered on this promise.
  - justinjlynn 3y ago
    Apple rarely delivers on promises that involve allowing people out of their walled garden. Remember that, for the longest time, just disconnecting your phone number from iMessage was... very much not easily done or guaranteed to work at all. "Switch to Mac? If you did, good luck ever switching back."
mh8h 3y ago
An open source client for iMessage is going to be used for fraud and spam. Before this, a device being blocked by Apple because it was used for fraud or spam would increase the cost of business for fraudsters and spammers. But now it's a matter of picking a new phone number. Of course Apple would try hard to stop this.

39 points by quyleanh 3y ago

dang 3y ago

Comments moved to https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38574888 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38574888, which was posted earlier and is also on the front page.

lousken 3y ago

time for walled gardens to be killed by EU's DMA

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

ElijahLynn 3y ago

> Reached for comment, Beeper CEO Eric Migicovsky did not deny that Apple has successfully blocked Beeper Mini. “If it’s Apple, then I think the biggest question is... if Apple truly cares about the privacy and security of their own iPhone users, why would they stop a service that enables their own users to now send encrypted messages to Android users, rather than using unsecure SMS? With their announcement of RCS support, it’s clear that Apple knows they have a gaping hole here. Beeper Mini is here today and works great. Why force iPhone users back to sending unencrypted SMS when they chat with friends on Android?” Does it come down to The Law of Leaky Abstractions? >> https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2002/11/11/the-law-of-leaky-abstractions/ https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2002/11/11/the-law-of-leaky-a... Which means that if Apple wants to change something eventually, then they will possibly break downstream abstractions and then people will complain and the downstream abstraction will say "Well Apple changed their API, it is their fault". Letting someone do it from square one would be enabling that future scenario, as it isn't "if" it changes, it is "when". If it was an open source API that would be different, but Apple's is closed source, that is Apple's philosophy at the core. It is a closed API yah? Not even an open spec right?

srgpqt 3y ago
When Steve Jobs first announced iMessage on stage, he said it would later be open with a standard specification. Sadly, Apple never delivered on this promise.
- justinjlynn 3y ago
  Apple rarely delivers on promises that involve allowing people out of their walled garden. Remember that, for the longest time, just disconnecting your phone number from iMessage was... very much not easily done or guaranteed to work at all. "Switch to Mac? If you did, good luck ever switching back."

mh8h 3y ago

An open source client for iMessage is going to be used for fraud and spam. Before this, a device being blocked by Apple because it was used for fraud or spam would increase the cost of business for fraudsters and spammers. But now it's a matter of picking a new phone number. Of course Apple would try hard to stop this.