Would not say this implementation is a step in the right direction at all. They’re logging into your Apple account through a Mac Mini.
this post was submitted on 16 Nov 2023
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Why do people care about blue bubbles?
I've never owned an Apple device or dealt with iMessage chats before but my understanding is that Android users and their blue bubbles don't have access to some of the features of iMessage and that messes with the chat for everyone or something. Also LUL Android user is too poor/not cool enough to own an iPhone. That's what I've gathered from Americans on the internet anyway.
It's american highschool bully culture. The rest of the planet solved this by using other messengers or simply not being cunts. Guess that approach is another thing that can't be done in the land of the free
The Apple corporation are dicks, so America bad?
Lemmy sure is a trip sometimes.
Wait, apple is bullying people who use android phones? Sure is a trip
It seems like you're implying that only American children are mean to each other.
I'm not. I'm implying american grownups are acting like children. Oh, and it seems apple will implement some form of compatibility with the android thing, whatever the name is
So true
It hurts the ability to send multi media. Specifically video just can't be sent over MMS if you want to do more than listen.
WTF are Blue Bubbles?
How far would you go to conform for something as mundane as chat bubble colors? How soulless will your life have to be to demand something like this?
It's not about the bubbles. It's the group chats, encryption, media size, and other rich chat features.
All these features you get much better using actual E2E-encrypted chat apps like Signal or WhatsApp like the rest of the world.
The problem is getting other people to also use those apps :(
Yea this is fucking wild and pathetic.
If you want blue bubbles so much, use Signal.
Or green bubbles, or red bubbles, pink bubbles, multicoloured bubbles
I currently use purple bubbles hee hee
I have absolutely zero confidence that Apple will allow this to exist once they get enough wind of it.
But what are they going to do about it?
Log in with your existing Apple ID username or create a new account to start sending and receiving blue bubbles.
So I need an apple ID to use this?
Pass.
If you’re a Phone (2) user in one of the select countries where Nothing Chats is available, you can download the messaging app from the Google Play Store.
So it only works in a few countries?
Pass.
And it only works on one OEM's phones?
Massive Pass.
I recommend getting beeper it's similar to sunbird although it is paid but they do open source all of their back end infrastructure. Beeper is essentially just a matrix client for a bunch of different chat service bridges.
Cheers for the heads up.
beeper does look interesting but I am weary of sign up and we will tell you when you can join type apps.
And this rings a few alarm bells for me:
if you send a message from Beeper to a friend on WhatsApp, the message is encrypted on your Beeper client, sent to the Beeper web service, which decrypts and re-encrypts the message with WhatsApp's proprietary encryption protocol.
I would love for this to work but that alone has a host of issues around third party trust.
New European legislation is coming into effect in 2024 and will force iMessage and WhatsApp to expose an interoperable end-to-end-encrypted API. Our servers are located in Europe, and we will switch to this open interface as soon as it is ready.
Sadly, not being in the EU means I will likely pass on this but is sounds great for EU residents when the above is implemented.
Fair enough. Although if you are interested all of their messaging bridges are available on their GitHub if you would like to self host them with your own matrix server. That way you don't have to worry about them decrypting and reencrypting your messages.
This is a great way to host matrix with bridges https://github.com/spantaleev/matrix-docker-ansible-deploy
I made a video about why this has to work like this and what you can do to prevent it but still have all the benefits:
I posted this in another technology fediverse but think it is relevant here also:
Ars Technica covered this much better
Basically, the company providing the service is shady and should not be trusted.
Given how aggressive Apple is in protecting their walled garden, I don't expect this to survive the litigation. Apple tends to ignore individual hackers (look at hackintoshes) but businesses making money off unauthorized use of their APIs don't last very long before the tidal wave of lawyers come.
Maybe, but seeing the recent scrutiny they have had for not allowing sideloading of apps, killing this might actually push legislation against it. As an android user, I wouldn't use this app even if I had access to it because it's not secure and because I don't give a shit about blue bubbles.
Maybe in the EU, but I would have little hope for the US market. The US has been astonishingly slow to take adverse action against companies within their own borders for the past 25 years. Believe me, I hope Apple and Google get what is coming to them, but I won't hold my breath.
This makes me roll my eyes. From the Sunbird faq:
Will the app [sunbird] be open source?
Some of the messaging community believes that software that is open source is more secure. It is our view that it is not. The more visibility there is into the infrastructure and code, the easier it is to penetrate it. By design, open source software is distributed in nature. There is no central authority to ensure quality and maintenance and by putting that responsibility on Sunbird, development would not be feasible. Open source vulnerabilities typically stem from poorly written code that leave gaps, which attackers can use to carryout malicious activities.
To help satisfy our own ambitious goals of providing total privacy and security, we are currently undergoing a third party audit that will validate our security, encryption and data policies and plan on receiving ISO 27001 certification after launch.
Sure Jan.
edit: source: https://www.sunbirdapp.com/ at the bottom
The reddest of red flags.
Open source vulnerabilities typically stem from poorly written code
Yeah, because paid programmers never write bad closed-source code…
I wonder how long they've been working on this integration and i bet they didn't see this coming: Apple says iPhones will support RCS in 2024 . I mean it's technically not the same product. RCS will replace sms/mms and "Nothing Chats" is an iMessage back door (?).
I think it's innovative if it works well
Only available for Phone (2) users in the US, Canada, UK, and EU at this time.