jparsons67
jparsons67 on Hacker News
They position it as "Apple user to business communication." They don't limit it to customer service/tech support. Bllie Eillish and the Haas F1 team just launched a fan experiences on it. Saw The Nudge is on it as well, which was a big upgrade from their old SMS experience.
Apple Messages for Business does have requirements for their partner program, and they strictly enforce it, but would you really expect otherwise? I've talked to a few of their "MSP" partners, and it is true the process isn't as simple as integrating with an API. They do want you to fully support the entire feature set, and you have to prove it. How long it takes depends on your resources and commitment. It also isn't "inbound only," and does have a lot of features that iMessage doesn't. It's branded, without users having to download a contact card. No rate limits. Lots of advantages it seems.
Saying you are "democratizing" iMessage is like saying you are "democratizing" bike lanes by selling car owners access to drive the bike lanes. That's not what it's for, you don't have the authority to do that, and it's going to get someone in trouble at some point.
RCS has most of the features of iMessage, including tapbacks and large attachments. It's even cross platform. iMessage is the channel where Apple users communicate with their friends and family. Exploiting the trust users have in iMessage by injecting unsupported business messages into it degrades the value of the channel by destroying the very trust you are relying on. This model is about as sustainable as burning coal to generate electricity.
"iMessage for Business" doesn't exist as an Apple product, since they don't support business messaging in iMessage. They have a service called "Apple Messages for Business." They didn't use the iMessage name, presumably because it's a totally different service.
https://register.apple.com/messages
Looking at their approval process, it is involved because Apple is focused on their customers, who are the end-users. They want it to be "great." Just letting any random company connect to their API and blast Apple users isn't going to fly. Users would hate it, and it would destroy their trust in the channel. Spammers and scammers ruined SMS. Nobody wants that to happen to the other channels too, especially not Apple.
Your business model is similar to setting up a lemonade stand on the railroad tracks. Nothing wrong with a lemonade stand, but putting it right in the path of oncoming trains seems unwise.
All kidding aside, your business model relies on continuously violating Apple's terms of use with impunity. Your technical foundation is built on a service that was designed to prevent what you are doing, and you will be locked into a never ending cat and mouse game with them as they try to block you, and you create new IDs to recover. Even if your use cases aren't scams, you are using the same methods as scammers. Operators of messaging channels are under pressure from EU and other government regulators to stop unsolicited messages. The path you are relying on is only going to get more difficult.
Maybe reconsider your path? If you want to be a provider of communication channel access to businesses, consider becoming a legitimate WhatsApp BSP, Apple Messages for Business MSP, etc. Work with the channel operators, not against them. That would be a much more stable foundation for your business.