[thewebguyd]

> One of the most outlandish one being that freedom to use your phone however you want would necessarily compromise security and privacy for everyone.

I suppose in a round-a-bout way, it could, more specifically around iMessage, which is Apple's baby in the US and a big part of their lock in effect for US users.

Right now, you can reasonably assume that using iMessage with another iPhone user that both ends are reasonably secure and private. Break open the walls of the garden and now you could say that you can't trust that the other end you are communicating with hasn't installed some random crapware or malware that's scraping their messages, or recording the screen during a facetime call, thereby compromising your own privacy by interacting with a bad devices.

In that instance, Apple is correct - but what Apple doesn't tell people is that all other forms of digital communication are open to the same risks so they aren't special.

[lxgr]

> Right now, you can reasonably assume that using iMessage with another iPhone user that both ends are reasonably secure and private.

I'd disagree, given that many people have iCloud Backup enabled, which (at least without "Advanced Data Protection") uses encryption keys available to Apple and includes all iMessage and SMS messages.

[Barbing]

>reasonably secure

“These memes will be leaked to the feds if my friend causes Apple to be subpoenaed” is much more palatable than “every text I send my girlfriend is being used to train an LLM by iPhoneFolderCleanerLLCAssociates”

I know iCloud backups are not perfectly secure. I like the privacy aspect of iMessage as it stands, even if it’s not quite Cone of Silence. _Definitely_ we could have more freedom on iOS! Just without worrying about adware scrapers somehow… without worrying about grandma increasing my tech support burden when a scammer calls her… (shrug)

[keleftheriou]

Random crapware or malware is still subject to app sandboxing.

Can you give an example of what your concern is?

[mock-possum]

Is iMessage really that big a deal to people, for privacy / security particularly?

Practically speaking I can’t even tell the difference, apart from text messages sometimes failing to send, and getting the option to retry as SMS.

If I want something private / secure, I use Signal.

[rchaud]

Only in the US, where Apple has an AOL-like lock-in. The market share for iOS in Canada is similarly large but there is no iMessage lock-in here as Canada had Blackberry Messenger (also a lock-in app) way before iMessage, and shifted to FB Messenger and Whatsapp once BBM faded. Nowadays most people have both apps installed, and what you use depends on where the group chat was started.

[jandrewrogers]

Yes, people use iMessage to securely share/collaborate on many objects in iOS, like a shared Apple Note. It is used for much more than just sending text messages back and forth.

I use Signal but it leaves much to be desired relative to iMessage for a lot of uses.

[Barbing]

Folks do like renaming group chats, typing indicators, perhaps scheduled send (though too new to say without asking around).

And it feels a little better, personally, sending an innocuous iMessage—even though I won't get in trouble if a stingray happens to pick up “gm” “Happy birthday!” “Kevin forgot the biscuits again!” over SMS.

Self-destructing Signal for the most personal messages for sure. But SMS just feels dirty. Too exposed even if I’d shout the same message contents in a public square.

[saagarjha]

You could be talking to someone who has a Mac, though.