

Apple’s secret iPhone lock-in feature? - tilt
http://www.sethlevine.com/wp/2012/03/apples-secret-iphone-lock-in-feature

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rubynerd
"Secret...lock-in feature"

iCloud doesn't poll your phone every damn minute to check if it still has that
number's SIM card inserted

The author even acknowledges it's a bug, and still calls it a "lock-in"

Secondly, iMessage and SMS messages are, with the exception for colourblind
people, very distinctive: if you can't tell the difference between blue and
green, you have an issue. The fact that it took a director to figure this out
astounds me.

Thirdly, the author's insinuation that the senders iPhone "intercepts" a text
is false: the phone knows there is an iMessage compatible device associated
with this number (consider the recievers service being cut, but they keep the
phone on WiFi), and so it sends it as an iMessage. It's not actively going "Oh
this user has swapped to an Android device, let's piss him off in every way
possible and treat this text as an iMessage, that'll get him!", it's working
with the data it has in an attempt to be helpful to the receiver: they've run
out of PAYG credit and can no longer sustain a data connection, but are in
range of WiFi, so iMessage still stays online. It is trying to be helpful to
the user, not a massive wanker

Admittedly, they should check to see if a SIM card is still in the phone on
boot, then register with iMessage

In comparison to BBM, the only reason this is considered "lock-in" is because
texts and iMessages are in the same place instead of two separate places

Disable iMessage and turn the damn iPhone off for a week, then if that fails,
run to an Apple Store

Also, don't assume the worst, you will somewhere along the line regret it, and
wonder "what if". You don't want to be on your deathbed with regrets

P.S. if someone reading this has access to Apple's fabled Bug Reporter/Radar,
file this behaviour as a "bug", or, if you're in a baiting mood, "lock-in
feature". I would if I could.

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edash
I believe the author can just turn off iMessage on the iPhone and it'll solve
the problem. In fact, simply turning off the WiFi is probably enough as well.

In other words, this issue only occurs when a user switches away from iPhone
as their primary phone but continues to use the iPhone for other purposes.

~~~
X-Istence
iMessage happily works over 3G without issues. I love iMessage. I can contact
my brothers and sister in The Netherlands using iMessage and it doesn't cost
me anything more than a data plan. I can send pictures without having to worry
about international costs for MMS.

iMessage is a lock-in for me mainly because I love the features it provides me
and the connectivity to my family. It is simpler than getting everyone set up
on WhatsApp or Skype for example (Skype is terrible for battery life on the
iPhone as well) and just works.

You can however as you stated turn off iMessage on the iPhone entirely, at
which point the Apple iMessage server will simply tell your friends you are
not available on iMessage and send it over standard text.

~~~
dfc
So imessage is blackberry messenger for iphone?

(I'm not a iphone guy, I have never heard of imessage before. This is not
trollfood.)

~~~
dpitkin
Except I don't think BBM ever made text messages look like BBM messages. Does
iMessage show you a "read" mark like bbm or what's app?

I would agree that any device only messaging system (BBM/iMessage) are
probably things to stay away from if you value an easy future choice without
telling everyone to stop using the old method.

~~~
zxoq
Read marks are an option for the receiver, and is turned off by default.

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X-Istence
You can turn off iMessage in Settings -> Messages -> iMessage (turn slider to
off).

At that point you will no longer be able to send iMessage's and you will no
longer be able to receive them. The thing is that the iPhone when first
activated reads the number from the SIM card/carrier and sets that up as an
iMessage address. Apple is never pinged when you move your number away from
your carrier unless you re-activate your phone with a different SIM card (I
still am not happy you can't activate the phone without having a carrier plan
... yay Jailbreaks!).

In the article he mentions unregistering his devices/phone from Apple's
website, that will work until the next time that his phone pings the iMessage
server and re-registers itself (disable iMessage first ... it unregisters the
device). I personally would say that is working as designed, if I unregister
all of my devices, if I turn one on to use for texting it should re-register
itself automatically.

~~~
spicyj
> I still am not happy you can't activate the phone without having a carrier
> plan

You can if you buy it at full price.

~~~
X-Istence
I forgot about that. I was more referring to my old iPhone 3GS that I can no
longer activate because I don't have a SIM that fits in it ...

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Karunamon
"Secret iPhone lock-in feature"?

Now that's a linkbait headline if I ever saw one..

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brown9-2
I think it's a stretch to call a bug a "lock-in feature".

~~~
mooism2
A "lock-in bug"?

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curiousjake
The entire post is muddled, to say the least.

The author lost me when contemplating the switch. Nearly a grand invested in a
device after "upgrading" at a cost of $450? If they purchased a 64GB model,
the cost would be around that, but they could have had their "IT Director"
sell that phone for more than $450. They probably would have gotten into a new
Verizon contract with a net iPhone investment of just a few hundred bucks.

Sounds like a pile of excuses leading into some Android-related promotion, and
coming from a "VC" it does not surprise.

~~~
huggyface
_Sounds like a pile of excuses leading into some Android-related promotion,
and coming from a "VC" it does not surprise._

Android-related promotion? Where? In fact, I would wager right now that the
threat that "I’ll drop a full post on my iPhone to Android experience in the
near future." will turn into yet another lambasting of Android because it
isn't just like iOS. We've seen about four dozen of them, but each new one
mysteriously still is treated like the words of a seer.

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mcritz
I like iMessage, but it can be confusing. I send a message from my Mac or iPad
and replies show up in my iPhone, iPad, and Mac. If I left the sound on for
all my devices it becomes caucauphonus.

~~~
X-Istence
Any device that you have set to respond to certain addresses will indeed be
receiving the message. The whole point is to have some fluidity between
devices, so you can start a conversation on the couch with your iPad, and then
move to your phone when you are walking down the aisle at the grocery store.

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spullara
TL;DR - If you don't want to use iMessage, turn it off.

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millzlane
One more reason to purchased an unlockable device from a HW manufacturer like
htc or samsung. These limitations are bad for consumers and bad for
innovation.

~~~
batista
Yes, I can totally see how paying for SMS is better than using iMessage for
consumers and innovation.

Not to mention that the whole "iMessages go the the old iPhone device" which
he mentions is a bug that will addressed, and also happens when moving from
older to newer iPhones.

