Re:Apple cuts off Beeper Mini's access
by rezonant on Saturday December 09, 2023 @01:45AM
(#38579303)
The confusion is that there is only one texting app on iPhone. Chat apps are done "over the top" and can be whatever you want. You or I can make one. There is only one texting app on iOS and most users in the US only use their phone's texting app. This is why Apple's iMessage is genius, insidious, and diabolical- because they took SMS which had universal adoption in the US and had it invisibly and transparently extended into a component of their walled garden. They didn't need to convince everyone to move from SMS to their own messaging app, because if you used SMS on an iPhone, iMessage just happened.
Re:Apple cuts off Beeper Mini's access
by withinboredom on Monday December 11, 2023 @12:23AM
(#38597907)
The point is, if someone has an iPhone and I have an iPhone, I simply cannot send them a text. For anyone who has moved from iPhone can attest to, it is quite effing annoying, especially if your workplace gives you a Mac that you are logged into.
There’s no choice not to use iMessage or their iMessage app to send a text, except if the other person is registered to iMessage, it will use that instead.
It’s really annoying. They either need to disable iMessage or open it up as a separate app you get from the App Store.
In everyday iPhone usage, you would either run an app directly, use sharing intents, or use a messaging service specific identifier (eg custom URI scheme) to converse with someone. The social graph is either in the messaging app itself or in individual contact entries. There's no expectation of a Trillian/Adium style app that consolidates all information and messaging options.