On: The walls of Apple's garden are tumbling down

[sonofhans]

I’m struggling to see what’s wrong with Federighi’s argument. Why should he not want to protect Apple’s position? Apple has no monopoly on mobile messaging or hardware, and they didn’t 8 years ago either, so they can do what they like here.

What is Apple supposed to do? Spend time and money on interop to better the lives of Android users? There’s nothing wrong with them doing so if they like, but I fail to see any obligation they have.

[Teever → sonofhans]

You're right. They obviously have no motivation to do the correct thing, so the solution is government regulation.

We live in a world where every landline telephone can dial another with no trickery or fuckery from your phone manufacturer.

That is a good thing. We should extend that functionally to smartphones.

[sonofhans → Teever]

You’re going to have to be much more specific if you want to make any sense. All cell phones can already call other cell phones. All cell phones can already message other cell phones.

[FireBeyond → sonofhans]

You ignore that for a while that actually wasn't the case. If you left the Apple ecosystem, for multiple years the steps to get your number/account disassociated from iMessage so your contacts could reach you by SMS again were not default, not obvious, and not disclosed.

[Teever → sonofhans]

Yeah, exactly, and we should continue to see the regulated implementation of these kinds of interoperability at all levels of the stack.

[INGSOCIALITE → Teever]

what "correct thing"? i can text people who use android phones just fine. TBH this all boils down to the ridiculous blue / green bubble thing. that's the ONLY difference in texting between devices. i honestly have no clue why apple would be regulated in any way over this!

[robocat → INGSOCIALITE]

Costs me $0.5 to send an image or other MMS locally to Android. Even a txt costs me if the Android is overseas. I have a cheap plan in New Zealand.

Blue/green might be irrelevant to you, but it is definitely not irrelevant to many people.

[gretch → robocat]

> Costs me $0.5 to send an image or other MMS

> Even a txt costs me if the Android is overseas

Sounds like your telecom sucks. Why are you demanding something of Apple. Why don’t you get your government to regulate your own telecoms?

[Teever → gretch]

You say that as if we can't and shouldn't do both?

[robocat → gretch]

> Why are you demanding something of Apple

Not me. I object to you making up bullshit about me. I just stated facts - no opinions given.

[icehawk → robocat]

Ok so what is your point? That's the carrier.

[simonh → robocat]

Sorry, you think Apple is charging you these carrier fees? Hilarious.

[robocat → simonh]

Whats with the false accusation?

[stuartd → INGSOCIALITE]

It's not the only difference, at least where I live - I have to significantly reduce image sizes to send them to Android users..

[simonh → stuartd]

Which is a limitation of the messaging protocol. Apple has announced they will add support for RCS this year, which should address these issues.

[Teever → simonh]

And why are they adding RCS?

Because the EU is starting to regulate them so theyve stopped dragging their ass on this.

[throw0101c → Teever]

> Because the EU is starting to regulate them so theyve stopped dragging their ass on this.

Or it's China mandating RCS to be able to acquire '5G certification':

* CN: https://www.miit.gov.cn/gzcy/yjzj/art/2023/art_2d5a7969581b4...

* EN: https://old.reddit.com/r/UniversalProfile/comments/153rrwl/c...

> China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom yesterday (8 April) released a 5G messaging white paper outlining their commitment to mandate all compatible handsets sold in the country support Rich Communication Services (RCS).

* https://www.gsma.com/futurenetworks/latest-news/china-operat...

[zer00eyz → Teever]

Because RCS has reached the point where it should be taken seriously.

The bulk of apples iPhone business is on US carriers. Who, on a good day, are in the Stone Age.

[bigstrat2003 → zer00eyz]

If you think that Apple supporting RCS has to do with the tech and not with regulatory pressure, I have a bridge in Arizona to sell you.

[alternatex → zer00eyz]

RCS reached that point by being dragged there by Google.

[selectodude → Teever]

It was actually China.

[Teever → INGSOCIALITE]

Because theyre soon going to be deemed an illegal monopoly and regulated as such.

This is probably one of the things the government will be regulating.

But like you said, if it's a minor thing then Apple will have no problem complying and it's no big deal.

[CharlesW → Teever]

> They obviously have no motivation to do the correct thing, so the solution is government regulation.

The solution to what? Apple supports SMS/MMS. They've pre-announced (something they rarely do) RCS support. They support VoLTE for HD voice calls.

Let's say the federal government eminent-domains iMessage protocols. Then what? Do you really think Apple's just going to carry traffic from untrusted devices, and for free?

[barryrandall → sonofhans]

Lots of Apple customers wanted the ability to send and receive rich media messages with their friends and family on Android devices. What they got instead was a monopolist who insisted on being able to monetize both sides of every human interaction.