Apple is under pressure to open up its messaging platform. Now, Nothing says it has found a way to let people get iMessage support on its Android-based devices — but there’s a catch that seems to mean users must take a dangerous leap of trust.
The Nothing solution certainly fills a gap.
Apple has consistently refused to make iMessage completely compatible with non-Apple devices, even though it offers business messaging. Most users only notice the difference in the color of the message bubble. Some experience other problems, such as when people in group chats share really low-resolution images due to iMessage’s limited compatibility.
Nothing doing…
Nothing doesn’t want it to stay that way, saying, “Bring on the blue bubbles. We believe in windows, not walls. If messaging services are dividing phone users, then we want to break those barriers down.”
What the company promises is that with its system, Nothing device users will gain iMessage compatibility on their device. That means blue bubbles and support for many ‘Apple-only’ features (eventually). The company promises support for other iMessage features, such as group chats and read receipts “will be coming soon.” Once live, the Nothing system will be available in the US, EU, UK, and Canada.
How it works
People who want to use iMessage on their Nothing phone will have to sign up to join the beta for a service called Nothing Chat.
During the sign-up process, they’ll be asked to login with their Apple ID. If they do not have an Apple ID, they will be able to create one during sign-up.
Once logged-in using the ID, messages sent from their Nothing device using the service will appear as blue bubbles on Apple devices.
It is possible the system will be made available via other Android devices, as Nothing is working with a third-party service called Sunbird to achieve this.
What’s unclear is whether Apple will change iMessage or find some other way to prevent the service.
What about security?
The company says it is certain the system is secure.
“Nothing Chats is based on the Sunbird platform and all messages are protected by end-to-end encryption,” it wrote. “This means that neither we nor Sunbird have access to the messages you send and receive.” It claims messages are delivered without being stored at any point, meaning messages can only be recovered locally and are not available to Nothing or to Sunbird.
All the same, I have suspicions. The service means that you get to blue bubble your conversations, but it also means you’re just one hack away from having your entire Apple ID in the wild — including all your data, images, payment details, file, and everything else.
If that sounds crazy, here’s why this is the case:
Nothing’s iMessage support relies on the Sunbird messaging app. That app lets people use any messaging service, even if they don’t have the relevant device. But, in order for this to work, the user must sign in with their…
2023-11-16 02:41:03
Source from www.computerworld.com rnrn
