Lawmakers Express Concern Over Apple's 'Anticompetitive Treatment' of iMessage for Android App

[DFZD]

This is not true at all.

Apple created iMessage as a way to extend SMS's limited capabilities for iPhone users.

RCS was created by GSM Association to replace SMS. Like Apple before it, Google extended RCS on their own Google Messages app with missing features, such as end to end encryption. To date, Google has not submitted their own end-to-end encryption to RCS standard.

You are right. Thanks for correcting me. But still Google has made RCS very popular by adopting it, even if not whole heartedly initially.

 

[kc9hzn]

It's anti-competitive for Apple to fix security issues? I think there are better things for these senators and representatives to do than talk about things they don't understand.

Well, when have senators or representatives ever hesitated to speak about things they don’t understand before? If they were limited to legislating on things they actually understood, I reckon the only legislation they could actually vote on is what color their chambers and filing cabinets would be!

 

[tranceme]

Apple's Messages doesn't have half the features these services rely on. It would take a massive development leap for Messages to be able to handle them. I think it's just time for people to admit that Messages is a thing of the past. If Apple wants to die on the hill of proprietary apps, just let them.

Really good points.

No one is complaining about the UI, it's the lack of features and lower quality experience. Group messages are worse when non-iOS devices are involved. Images are compressed. Video is garbage. Nothing is encrypted. If you don't care about any of those things, that's fine, but let's not pretend that it's just people whining because the interface is bad. It's a bad experience for me as an iOS user to message people not on iOS because of the choices Apple is making.

I have both Android and iOS devices. Works for me. For encryption, yeah that part kind of sucks. Video...could care less.

 

[djphat2000]

I can give you three very recent examples.
1. Apple’s fight against USB C, which is far superior than lightning.
2. Apple’s fight against side loading.. which gives users and publishers a choice.
3. Apple’s fight against open communication standards like RCS.

Wasn't a fight so much as it was the ability to choose for "the product they (Apple) makes". Or for anyone else for that matter. If you wanted to create a new interconnect, you now can't. It must adhere to this specific connector. Which if you're trying to innovate, how can you? Not to mention, the ability to actually provide USB-C "speed" didn't exist in the iPhone until the 15.

Apple never allowed side-loading. Wasn't something they had any interest in doing and for the first example. They made this at a time when you could side-load on other devices. Windows CE comes to mind, and any device that ran that OS. People (you me and ohters) picked Apple iPhone or Google Android. One open, and one closed.

They stopped buying Blackberry which had a proprietary messenger (BBM). No one complained it was an issue. People that had no business (literally and figuratively) buying a BB just for BBM. We now live in a world where you have so many other options for messengers. Not to mention, SMS still works. And soon to come, RCS. There is zero reason for Apple or any messenger service to be "Open" to another service other than to support a common text messaging method. Such as SMS. You can get a message across. Nothing stopping anyone from doing this. RCS is another open standard that some have pushed to replace SMS. Apple is now going to support it. Everyone should be pretty happy.

And for those complaining about encryption. Remember, these government folks all want full unfettered access to your devices when it suits them. So this isn't about encryption, it's about the appearance of having "choice". When it's just going to make all your favorite apps operate the exact same. Which they will have to in order to communicate with each other. There wouldn't be any good reason to use WhatsApp over iMessage over Telegram over FB Messenger, etc. etc. It's nice to have different products. That's real choice. You buy a PlayStation for Spiderman and SONY exclusive games. Otherwise you become SEGA and sell to everyone cause you have no console. You have nothing special.

 

[boss.king]

I have both Android and iOS devices. Works for me. For encryption, yeah that part kind of sucks. Video...could care less.

I mean, yeah, it works perfectly as long as you wilfully ignore or don't care about the parts that are bad or broken.

Do me a favour and try leave a group chat where one of the participants is on Android — you can't.
Or send/receive images with an Android device — they'll be compressed to hell and back.
And the video thing, I get that you don't care, but that doesn't make the experience good.

The problems still exist even if you don't want to acknowledge them.

 

[Sorinut]

I feel like Apple was too nice here… instead of claiming it was about security, they should’ve come straight out and said this company was illegally using our servers/ service and we shut them out.

Beeper isn't breaking the law. The Protocols were reverse engineered, which isn't illegal. Nothing they did violated the CFAA.

 

[coolfactor]

Not very long ago, Apple used to be a company that innovated and contributed to new technology standards.. now it just fights them in court and market to ensure the users are still using decade old proprietary technologies.

This is unfortunately going to be Tim Cook’s Legacy.

Oh, stop already. This fixation on that "Apple isn't innovating because each iteration looks physically similar" is just bogus. Technology is getting more and more advanced, while Apple works tirelessly to keep that technology easy to use for end-users. Where they are innovating is deep in the technology stack, not some fancy new exterior phone design.

Since OS X was released, Apple has embraced open standards at its core. Being built on a UNIX core, this makes sense. Its Mail service uses standard IMAP protocols, not the proprietary versions that Microsoft (MAPI) and Google push for their services. Its Contact syncing uses standard vCard format, not the proprietary half-baked support that Microsoft and Google employed in their contact setups. Those are just 2 examples of where macOS has excelled for the past 24 years.

Anyone can fire up Terminal and install an endless range of open-source software. See MacPorts and Homebrew for two popular package managers used on Macs.

The Mac is more open-source than Windows, and iOS is built on the same core system, just not as "open" as a Mac is.

USB-C, which has been a hot topic, was directly inspired by Lightning's reversible connector. Until Type-C, every version of USB used a non-reversible connector because the larger industry was so fixed on their old ways of thinking. Apple showed them a better way.

Is Apple doing everything perfectly? Absolutely not. Nobody does, but you can't dismiss the tremendous contributions that they make across industries. They are the envy of computer and phone manufacturers across the globe because of these contributions. Just think back 30 years ago about how convoluted and archaic the computer industry was, and yet now we live in an age where Windows itself is trying to emulate the simplicity of macOS, which Apple mastered back in 1984.

Back on topic — Why would Beeper Mini be making headlines trying to break into the iMessage world? Because — iMessage is an excellent standard of messaging — developed by Apple. Go figure.

 

[kc9hzn]

Beeper isn't breaking the law. The Protocols were reverse engineered, which isn't illegal. Nothing they did violated the CFAA.

Could be a DMCA violation, though.

 

[sir1963nz]

Apple isn't a monopoly. It is an Apple product. If you don't like it use an alternative.

Facebooks Messenger is on the IOS devices.... Heck my wife uses that more than Apples products for txting the kids.
I send and receive SMS messages on my IOS devices

 

[truthsteve]

I can give you three very recent examples.
1. Apple’s fight against USB C, which is far superior than lightning.
2. Apple’s fight against side loading.. which gives users and publishers a choice.
3. Apple’s fight against open communication standards like RCS.

1. Apple literally had a hand in creating USB-C. LOL
2. Many users are fine with a single App Store and don't want to search Epic, Steam, Microsoft, Google Play, Ubisoft, Samsung, Amazon, GOG, Adobe, and etc... stores to find their apps. Also many indie developers are happy with one App Store receiving half a billion visitors a week and receiving free services from Apple.
3. RCS is terrible.

 

[Sorinut]

Could be a DMCA violation, though.

It doesn't appear to be, based on the original Beeper implementation.

You're using a legally created Apple account, since you don't need an iOS device to create one, or any Apple device. Then the App just says "hey, I'm a Mac", and Apple says "ok".

It wasn't more complicated than that.

 

[kc9hzn]

It doesn't appear to be, based on the original Beeper implementation.

You're using a legally created Apple account, since you don't need an iOS device to create one, or any Apple device. Then the App just says "hey, I'm a Mac", and Apple says "ok".

It wasn't more complicated than that.

The second implementation might’ve, though. If they did anything to reverse engineer the iMessage platform, it would be on dodgy ground (as the DMCA has a contentious relationship with reverse engineering). The use of it for commercial purposes is also potentially a DMCA issue, too, possibly a bigger one.

 

[canadianreader]

People celebrated Beeper shutdown too early. I hope Lawmakers investigate macOS too maybe opening it up to other SoC and platforms.

 

[RSmith2023]

iMessage is a product. If there was any legal leg to stand on, the folks behind beeper mini would have filed suit already. They were trying to backdoor through apple’s systems. If that is legal then maybe I should be able to fly on a plane for free, or go to a concert for free. (Keeping me out is anti-competitive right?) Don’t they see that they are basically backing a group of hackers?

 

[kc9hzn]

People celebrated Beeper shutdown too early. I hope Lawmakers investigate macOS too maybe opening it up to other SoC and platforms.

Why do you want macOS on different SoCs? That would actively make macOS worse because of increased development time and the inability to take advantage of specific features of Apple’s SoCs. It would also destroy Apple’s primary competitive advantage, thus reducing consumer choice in the computer industry.

 

[canadianreader]

Why do you want macOS on different SoCs? That would actively make macOS worse because of increased development time and the inability to take advantage of specific features of Apple’s SoCs. It would also destroy Apple’s primary competitive advantage, thus reducing consumer choice in the computer industry.

Because you get to build a great machine for less much less than what Apple is charging now. You get to upgrade parts like RAM, SSD, GPU etc versus replacing the whole machine just because you need a little more RAM or a faster CPU. It’s better for the consumer and better for the environment.

 

[DFZD]

Oh, stop already. This fixation on that "Apple isn't innovating because each iteration looks physically similar" is just bogus. Technology is getting more and more advanced, while Apple works tirelessly to keep that technology easy to use for end-users. Where they are innovating is deep in the technology stack, not some fancy new exterior phone design.

Since OS X was released, Apple has embraced open standards at its core. Being built on a UNIX core, this makes sense. Its Mail service uses standard IMAP protocols, not the proprietary versions that Microsoft (MAPI) and Google push for their services. Its Contact syncing uses standard vCard format, not the proprietary half-baked support that Microsoft and Google employed in their contact setups. Those are just 2 examples of where macOS has excelled for the past 24 years.

Anyone can fire up Terminal and install an endless range of open-source software. See MacPorts and Homebrew for two popular package managers used on Macs.

The Mac is more open-source than Windows, and iOS is built on the same core system, just not as "open" as a Mac is.

USB-C, which has been a hot topic, was directly inspired by Lightning's reversible connector. Until Type-C, every version of USB used a non-reversible connector because the larger industry was so fixed on their old ways of thinking. Apple showed them a better way.

Is Apple doing everything perfectly? Absolutely not. Nobody does, but you can't dismiss the tremendous contributions that they make across industries. They are the envy of computer and phone manufacturers across the globe because of these contributions. Just think back 30 years ago about how convoluted and archaic the computer industry was, and yet now we live in an age where Windows itself is trying to emulate the simplicity of macOS, which Apple mastered back in 1984.

Back on topic — Why would Beeper Mini be making headlines trying to break into the iMessage world? Because — iMessage is an excellent standard of messaging — developed by Apple. Go figure.

My point was not about Bleeper Mini but in general about Apple’s tilt to protectionism in the last few years. Every few weeks we are getting to learn about some new corporation or government dragging Apple or being dragged by Apple to the courts.
And yes Apple is contributing more now but only to its own ecosystem. You can’t name 5 things that they contributed to the industry in the last 5 years. Hate MS all you want but its giving users a lot of Open Source and partially closed source stuff in the last few years. Apple used to be like this too.
As a primarily Apple user I am quite satisfied by their products but being directly effected by their role in the tech and IT industry.. I think they need to open up a bit more and embrace the innovations from non Apple world as well.

 

[duffman9000]

That heavily depends on how it's implemented and rolled out.

Apple will probably just follow the standard and people will complain that Apple didn’t implement Google RCS.

 

[kc9hzn]

My point was not about Bleeper Mini but in general about Apple’s tilt to protectionism in the last few years. Every few weeks we are getting to learn about some new corporation or government dragging Apple or being dragged by Apple to the courts.
And yes Apple is contributing more now but only to its own ecosystem. You can’t name 5 things that they contributed to the industry in the last 5 years. Hate MS all you want but its giving users a lot of Open Source and partially closed source stuff in the last few years. Apple used to be like this too.
As a primarily Apple user I am quite satisfied by their products but being directly effected by their role in the tech and IT industry.. I think they need to open up a bit more and embrace the innovations from non Apple world as well.

Apple is contributing to the larger ecosystem, still. MagSafe is the basis of Qi 2, for instance. And Apple’s work on Apple Silicon primarily benefits Apple, but it validates ARM as a platform. And this is a slightly older example, but it also seems like Apple was probably one of the primary instigators for the existence of USB-C. Apple is also, as usual, an early adopter of technologies like eSIM.

 

[iGeneo]

Can WhatsApp send iMessage messages? No. Why aren't WhatsApp changing their software to enable this? Why aren't WhatsApp contributing their code to a new interoperable messaging standard?!!!11!!1!! Waaaaaaaaaah.

Apple created iMessage. WhatsApp created WhatsApp. Facebook created FB Messenger. They are different apps. Why must they all have to interconnect? What's the point?

I agree with you completely, but you have to admit,.. it would be nice to have a single messaging app. I'm watching badges all over the place these days

 

[toobravetosave]

Why do commenters pretend to value privacy and security and then tell me to use Facebook products if I don't like apple's lack of iMessage features?

 

[gaximus]

The question is whether or not Apple broke or is breaking anti-trust laws. Which is pretty likely given how other companies have been punished in the past. It was a trap and Apple fell for it.

It’s Apple’s servers, how could it be a trap? It’s like if someone found an u locked window in your house so you locked it, then they were like “they aren’t letting me in” then other people were like ”it’s cold outside, you should let them in, you fell for that trap”. See how absurd this all sounds?

 

[derek4484]

Apple's well-publicized decision to shut down iMessage for Android app Beeper Mini has attracted attention from U.S. lawmakers concerned that the Cupertino company is suppressing competition.

Senators Amy Klobuchar and Mike Lee along with Representatives Jerry Nadler and Ken Buck on Sunday penned a letter to Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter calling for an investigation into the Beeper Mini dispute. The letter suggests that Beeper Mini reduced Apple's iMessage "leverage" over iPhone users, leading Apple to shut it down.
Though Beeper Mini's developers have tried to push the privacy angle by pointing out the encryption its app offered for Android to iPhone communications, Beeper Mini launched using a reverse engineered version of iMessage that surreptitiously registered Android phone numbers as Apple device owners. It took advantage of Apple's own iMessage servers with fake credentials, so it is not surprising that Apple viewed Beeper Mini as a security risk.

Apple said that it shut Beeper Mini down because the app "posed significant risks to user security and privacy, including the potential for metadata exposure and enabling unwanted messages, spam, and phishing attacks."

Apple put a stop to Beeper Mini's full functionality just days after it launched, but the Beeper Mini team was able to come up with a workaround shortly after. The updated version of the app requires an Apple ID unlike the first version, and it only works with email addresses, not phone numbers.

In a CBS News interview, Beeper CEO Eric Migicovsky said that he is simply trying to provide a secure service for Android users, and he decried Apple's iMessage monopoly.

As of now, Beeper Mini continues to experience outages as Apple tweaks the iMessage service. Beeper Mini engineers are aiming to keep the app up and running, and for now, it is free to use.

Apple may be facing scrutiny over Beeper Mini, but the pressure may ease after the company adopts Rich Communication Services, or RCS in 2024. RCS will be used for chats between ‌iPhone‌ and Android users, and it includes support for high quality video and images, emoji reactions, typing indicators, read receipts, and more, providing Android users with many of the same features available to iMessage users.

Encryption for iPhone to Android chats will be missing until Apple is able to work with the GSM Association that developed the RCS protocol to add end-to-end encryption. Google's version of RCS, Google Messages, supports end-to-end encryption on Android devices, but Apple is adopting the RCS Universal Profile and not the version of RCS that was modified by Google.

It is worth noting that there are many cross-platform apps that iPhone and Android users can download to communicate privately, including WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, and more.

Article Link: Lawmakers Express Concern Over Apple's 'Anticompetitive Treatment' of iMessage for Android App

This is ridiculous. Apple isn’t squashing competition. Any competitor is free to create their own messaging app. But Beeper was selling their app, while piggybacking on and using Apple’s own servers for free. Apple has every right to boot them off their servers.

 

[dsemf]

My understanding is that end to end encryption is enabled by exchanging public keys using a SSL connection. The private key is used to encrypt the message and the public key can decrypt the message.

I suspect that Apple has a secret key in the secure enclave that protects the private/public key pair for each contact.

Does Android have a secure enclave? Does Beeper make use of any such security on the client. If not, then any app on the client could decrypt messages.

 

[DDustiNN]

It can be confusing so let me explain my point.
Apple created iMessage and locked it up for everyone else.
Google helped created RCS and opened it up for others.
Now iPhone users can communicate well with each other but for iPhone and Android users to communicate with each other they need to use a third option like Messenger or Whatsapp. Neither of them is known for user privacy or encryption.

So you think Google cares about your privacy? 😂 Their entire business model consists of collecting your data.