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Comment by TZubiri

17 hours ago

But iMessage is already open? You can send an SMS to any number and it shows in iMessage, completely interoperable through that standard protocol.

Whatsapp on the other hand does not show SMS messages (Which is a design choice that makes sense from a security perspective I guess, not saying it's wrong.)

9 comments

TZubiri

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kelnos  16 hours ago

You're confusing two different things, though I don't blame you for it, as it is confusing. "iMessage" is the OTT E2E-encrypted chat protocol. "Messages" note the lack of the leading "i" and trailing "s") is an iOS app that lets you send and receive messages using both the iMessage and SMS/MMS/RCS protocols.

iMessage is not open, and Apple fights efforts by other companies (e.g. Beeper) to interoperate with it.

  • TZubiri  12 hours ago

    Ok then, Apple's Messages is interoperable, as you can communicate via SMS with its users.

cheema33  14 hours ago

> But iMessage is already open?

How do you send/receive messages from a Windows system? My guess is that you think iMessage is SMS-only.

  • TZubiri  12 hours ago

    >How do you send/receive messages from a Windows system?

    You can send an SMS.

    >My guess is that you think iMessage is SMS-only

    No, there's Apple's proprietary protocol, that you can only use on Apple devices. But from non Apple devices you can use the standard SMS.

    • cheema33  3 hours ago

      >> My guess is that you think iMessage is SMS-only

      > No, there's Apple's proprietary protocol...

      Earlier you asked: "But iMessage is already open?"

      Now you are saying that iMessage uses "Apple's proprietary protocol". I hope now you understand that when people say that Apple iMessage is not open, they are not talking about the SMS protocol that Apple does not own.