It seems like the effort Apple is putting in stopping this is an indicator of how many people buy iPhones just for being in their iMessage circles. Which is only possible as long as Apple keeps snubbing RCS and making messaging painful to non-iPhone users.
If, say, a random cheap Motorola with Beeper could keep them in the same groups as before, Apple would probably lose a (small) chunks of its clients.
The thing that bothers me is that Apple’s actions hurt iPhone owners. Making it harder for them to communicate with non-iPhones is a bad experience. Intentionally making their product worse to encourage lock-in is anti-user.
I’m oddly surprised that iPhone owners are ok with this.
Most iPhone owners are unaware that it's intentional on Apple's part, and are lead to believe that other devices just aren't sophisticated enough to make the bubbles blue.
> how many people buy iPhones just for being in their iMessage circles
This is news only in the US. Literally everywhere else in the world (where iPhones don't have a supermajority market share), third-party apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, Line, WeChat, Facebook Messenger, etc have been used for the past decade, with no problems whatsoever. My own WhatsApp account has been active for a decade, with chats going back exactly that far.
My experience is that third party applications are the norm in the US, too. Everyone I know uses Facebook Messenger or Discord, and that situation has been the norm for at least a decade (and Discord itself is nearing a decade of existence now). Facebook Messenger is easily the default multi-platform option.
90% of my Messages app is SMS threads, and the vast majority of my messaging activity is Slack, Discord and Facebook Messenger.
I would probably go as far as saying that this is only the "norm" on HN or in crowds where they think people spend $1200+ on a device just for the color of text bubbles.
My teenager and his friends don't even use iMessage, they use Snapchat almost exclusively to communicate. Someone messages them on iMessage they read it and then respond on Snapchat.
Which ones? I have friends (young and old) all over Europe and everyone uses WhatsApp. Everywhere I've been in Europe defaults to WhatsApp, even for business communication.
Like, it's n=1, but still, my experience is quite broad.
EU: I'm trying to get everyone i know onto signal. Hard fight.
I tried whatsapp for a month and it was so facebooky (that I also got rid of yeeaaars ago, after trying for a month) that I deleted it.
Whatsapp is very common, though and I am gradually being pushed out of various communications (my doctor, for example, pharmacies).
At least I don't have to bugger about with Teams which is the requirement for my kids' schools. Amicable divorce, but I don't have that on my phone, unlike my ex (who hates it).
If any company with a restricted service exposed to the internet found someone illegally gaining access by spoofing device IDs or API keys, the engineers who noticed would immediately shut down access and inform management, so they can run it up the chain to legal. There need be no other motivation beyond preventing illegal access to a computer system.
I doubt Beeper Mini is on the radar of anyone high up at Apple. Some engineering team responsible for the services that back iMessage is just spotting and dealing with one of probably many malicious actors.
RCS support has also already been announced by Apple for 2024.
This is simply not true. Frankly, my first instinct would be to let it go if they're not causing issues. I certainly wouldn't start swinging the ban hammer around without knowing that the hell the traffic is.
It could be a bug in our client code, and I could be cutting off paying customers. It could be some weird and/or poorly written software by a customer. It could be some bizarre WAN accelerator issue at some giant company with real devices.
I would presume that at least someone at Apple knows that the traffic is from Beeper, and what Beeper is. I would expect that it hit the desk of a mid-tier Director at least (would you or your manager be comfortable implementing heuristic blocking without telling a director?).
It still may not be a strategic decision, but I wouldn't assume that decision makers aren't aware of what's going on.
If, say, a random cheap Motorola with Beeper could keep them in the same groups as before, Apple would probably lose a (small) chunks of its clients.