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Out of curiosity couldn't one recreate Twilio just by running an extended version of this from a Macbook? You could read all inbound messages from the Messages

Out of curiosity couldn't one recreate Twilio just by running an extended version of this from a Macbook? You could read all inbound messages from the Messages app and reply as well. You could even hook it up to a local LLM and run a small support agent. Is there ANY reason a small business owner couldn't do this and avoid paying SaaS fees?

reidjs 3y ago
It only works for iMessage texts, unfortunately.
- Solvency 3y ago
  But the Messages application can send texts to non-iPhone numbers...
  - reidjs 3y ago
    I tried sending to a non iMessage number, it failed to send, but there may be a way.
- FredPret 3y ago
  Might work in areas with huge iMessage market share like North America - I know probably two people with the "green texts"
- dimask 3y ago
  It can also work for SMSs with some changes in the applescript. We made a very similar tool that use to send automated SMSs to experiment participants 2 times per day. The setup is similar and there is a bash script that is called using cron twice per day and calls a matlab script (similar to the python script here) that calls an applescript. This is the applescript that, in practice, sends iMessage to those with iphone and SMS to those without https://github.com/earlychildcog/automate_sms_to_participants/blob/main/sendsms.scpt https://github.com/earlychildcog/automate_sms_to_participant...
anonymouse008 3y ago
Unfortunately no, Apple has usage limits on iMessage / SMS relaying. Many people hack around this, SendBlue.co being the only long running service, but it's full of the graveyard of folks trying to do this.
- Solvency 3y ago
  What does this mean in practice? I leave my Messages app on my laptop open all day and correspond entirely through it with family. Since I'm typing I send messages rapidly at volume. I've never once hit a limit. Think hundreds of responses a day. If an app running on my machine has subclassed the Messages app and is reading strings and sending hit strokes to the (Send) button on my behalf, how can Apple possibly rate limit this?
  - mrweasel 3y ago
    It's probably like those email providers that allows you some number of outbound emails per, but it's like 200 - 1000. High enough that most users won't ever notice, but low enough that there's no way to use the service commercially.
  - anonymouse008 3y ago
    It means test on prod and find out (lose your main iCloud account... 'bold move Cotton')
  - password4321 3y ago
    By number of different recipients?
marxisttemp 3y ago
“For a Linux user, you can already build such a system yourself quite trivially by getting an FTP account, mounting it locally with curlftpfs, and then using SVN or CVS on the mounted filesystem. From Windows or Mac, this FTP account could be accessed through built-in software.” People (and corporations) will pay a lot of money to have someone else manage and maintain their infrastructure.

reidjs 3y ago

It only works for iMessage texts, unfortunately.

Solvency 3y ago
But the Messages application can send texts to non-iPhone numbers...
- reidjs 3y ago
  I tried sending to a non iMessage number, it failed to send, but there may be a way.
FredPret 3y ago
Might work in areas with huge iMessage market share like North America - I know probably two people with the "green texts"
dimask 3y ago
It can also work for SMSs with some changes in the applescript. We made a very similar tool that use to send automated SMSs to experiment participants 2 times per day. The setup is similar and there is a bash script that is called using cron twice per day and calls a matlab script (similar to the python script here) that calls an applescript. This is the applescript that, in practice, sends iMessage to those with iphone and SMS to those without https://github.com/earlychildcog/automate_sms_to_participants/blob/main/sendsms.scpt https://github.com/earlychildcog/automate_sms_to_participant...

anonymouse008 3y ago

Unfortunately no, Apple has usage limits on iMessage / SMS relaying. Many people hack around this, SendBlue.co being the only long running service, but it's full of the graveyard of folks trying to do this.

Solvency 3y ago
What does this mean in practice? I leave my Messages app on my laptop open all day and correspond entirely through it with family. Since I'm typing I send messages rapidly at volume. I've never once hit a limit. Think hundreds of responses a day. If an app running on my machine has subclassed the Messages app and is reading strings and sending hit strokes to the (Send) button on my behalf, how can Apple possibly rate limit this?
- mrweasel 3y ago
  It's probably like those email providers that allows you some number of outbound emails per, but it's like 200 - 1000. High enough that most users won't ever notice, but low enough that there's no way to use the service commercially.
- anonymouse008 3y ago
  It means test on prod and find out (lose your main iCloud account... 'bold move Cotton')
- password4321 3y ago
  By number of different recipients?

marxisttemp 3y ago

“For a Linux user, you can already build such a system yourself quite trivially by getting an FTP account, mounting it locally with curlftpfs, and then using SVN or CVS on the mounted filesystem. From Windows or Mac, this FTP account could be accessed through built-in software.” People (and corporations) will pay a lot of money to have someone else manage and maintain their infrastructure.