iOS 26 Allows Cellular Calls and SMS/RCS in Third-Party Apps in EU

[surferfb]

Such burying would be in violation of EU data protection laws.

Like that’s literally stopped anyone. And even if they proudly proclaim it, then my data is being used against my permission when my friend downloads the app.

EU absolutely doesn’t understand what it’s doing. Learned absolutely nothing from Crowdstrike

 

[bzgnyc2]

Let’s say I decide not to use a 3rd party dialer. But my friend does. Now any interactions I have with my friend could be recorded by the 3rd party App that THEY installed.

Yes that's true now. Everything you do now with a friend could be recorded by that friend. Intentionally or not.

The idea that if you don’t install 3rd party Apps you’re not affected is ridiculous.

The idea that you are safe as long as Apple doesn't allow 3rd applications to send and receive SMS/MMS and/or cellular calls is ridiculous.

 

[darrenoia]

It's weird that the EU never forced Nokkia and other dumb phone makers decades ago to open up their phones so that other companies could take over the phone call making functionality. I wonder why it wasn't important then?

 

[klasma]

Let’s say I decide not to use a 3rd party dialer. But my friend does. Now any interactions I have with my friend could be recorded by the 3rd party App that THEY installed.

Third-party dialers cannot do more than VoIP apps can already do today.

 

[jakey rolling]

I get it that this is due to the EU stuff but, wouldn't it be easiest just to make this available to everyone?

It would be. Apple is going out of their way to keep you as locked in to their ecosystem as they can.

 

[nathansz]

This is absolutely insane. The privacy implications if Developers sell your Phone metadata for different purposes is real. This has been a HUGE issue on Android in the past. The EU deserves to be fought in the courts and this needs restrictions!

Why not leave it up to the end user to decide who gets their data?

 

[GrassShark]

Let’s say I decide not to use a 3rd party dialer. But my friend does. Now any interactions I have with my friend could be recorded by the 3rd party App that THEY installed.

The idea that if you don’t install 3rd party Apps you’re not affected is ridiculous.

How is this any different from how things already work? Even if you use iMessage today, there's no guarantee that the person you're messaging isn't piping your conversation into an LLM tool or using Beeper or similar to divert it to another device. And that's not to mention if it falls back to SMS, or you use a different messaging platform that just isn't set as a default.

The idea that simply having the option to default to a different messaging app is the thing that's going to shatter your digital privacy is a bit of a joke.

 

[segfaultdotorg]

Can’t wait to see how they redesign the iTalk app for the EU… Maybe soon you’ll actually be able to talk on an iPhone like it’s a phone!

 

[211]

Let’s say I decide not to use a 3rd party dialer. But my friend does. Now any interactions I have with my friend could be recorded by the 3rd party App that THEY installed.

The idea that if you don’t install 3rd party Apps you’re not affected is ridiculous.

Maybe when you get the call it will say where it is coming from, and then you decide whether to answer it or not. Apple already has a type of screen-calling in place, so I'm sure Apple will put in place a notification telling you what app the call is coming from

 

[justanotherdave]

Yes that's true now. Everything you do now with a friend could be recorded by that friend. Intentionally or not.



The idea that you are safe as long as Apple doesn't allow 3rd applications to send and receive SMS/MMS and/or cellular calls is ridiculous.

I trust my friends/family with information I send them. That’s not at all the same as an App collecting information I send my friends/family without their knowledge.

Nice try with the pathetic analogy, though. 🙄

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Calling app metadata is too important to leave to 3rd Parties. Android has the problem and no law will help once your data is sold off

Calling app metadata is already handled by the carriers. They have been selling and bartering the data for years, and there is nothing Apple can do about it.

 

[justanotherdave]

How is this any different from how things already work? Even if you use iMessage today, there's no guarantee that the person you're messaging isn't piping your conversation into an LLM tool or using Beeper or similar to divert it to another device. And that's not to mention if it falls back to SMS, or you use a different messaging platform that just isn't set as a default.

The idea that simply having the option to default to a different messaging app is the thing that's going to shatter your digital privacy is a bit of a joke.

Already answered above.

I find it quite amazing people are unable to come up with a few simple scenarios as to how this can be abused. As an iOS/Android developer I can imagine countless ways to abuse this ability. It’s what developers do—imagine scenarios bad actors may attempt and then harden your code against it.

Same as App Tracking Transparency (trivially easy to bypass with 3rd party stores).

 

[surferfb]

Calling app metadata is already handled by the carriers. They have been selling and bartering the data for years, and there is nothing Apple can do about it.

So let’s add more, sketchier actors to the mix!

 

[GrassShark]

Already answered above.

I find it quite amazing people are unable to come up with a few simple scenarios as to how this can be abused. As an iOS/Android developer I can imagine countless ways to abuse this ability. It’s what developers do—imagine scenarios bad actors may attempt and then harden your code against it.

Same as App Tracking Transparency (trivially easy to bypass with 3rd party stores).

You'll have to point the post out then because I'm not seeing it.

If you can imagine all these ways that you could abuse Apple's existing privacy and security measures then maybe those measures aren't all that good in the first place, making this a moot point. Like I already pointed out, not having this option isn't guaranteeing that your privacy is preserved anyway, so I don't see how adding it makes things so much worse that it's not worth it for people willing to take that risk.

 

[MrPiper415]

At some point Apple should be able to maintain some control of their own products without government forcing them to make iPhone the big happy socialist smart phone

Just a gentle reminder that the US government is trying to dictate where Apple can build its products. Always a lot of EU-bashing in these comments and disdain for alleged overreach, and yet…

 

[surferfb]

Just a gentle reminder that the US government is trying to dictate where Apple can build its products. Always a lot of EU-bashing in these comments and disdain for alleged overreach, and yet…

Or we think both are overreaching. Government shouldn’t be getting involved in either case.

 

[SanderEvers]

This doesn't require anyone to use the third-party capabilities, though.

As for privacy, the EU actually has a privacy law, though take the point it isn't perfect.

A Privacy law that exclude other legislation to be required to also adhere to that privacy legislation. Basically in the EU you can write legislation that would entirely destroy someone's privacy per word of of the legislation, and the GDPR wouldn't be able to do ANYTHING about it.

GDPR is therefore not a privacy legislation but a data collection legislation. There is a very important difference.

And yes, both the DMA and DSA would be in violation of the GDPR if it didn't exclude other legislation. (legislation is a legal ground for collecting data)

 

[chaseqi]

is it just me or does the title seem a little misleading? I clicked on the title thinking Apple is stripping some features for EU again

 

[piccolamela]

Thank you EU 🇪🇺 for more options

an no, the sarcasm part of this message wasn't deleted, it's was never there.

 

[justanotherdave]

Third-party dialers cannot do more than VoIP apps can already do today.

Source? You’ve examined the APIs?

 

[justanotherdave]

You'll have to point the post out then because I'm not seeing it.

If you can imagine all these ways that you could abuse Apple's existing privacy and security measures then maybe those measures aren't all that good in the first place, making this a moot point. Like I already pointed out, not having this option isn't guaranteeing that your privacy is preserved anyway, so I don't see how adding it makes things so much worse that it's not worth it for people willing to take that risk.

They were perfectly fine when Apple restricted the ability for developers to access your phone log or send/receive SMS (which is a big problem on Android that people want to pretend doesn’t exist).

Apples system WAS good until the EU decided to force them to rescue security in the name of competition.

Your premise is the same as saying E2EE is useless since the person on the other end can still share your data. If that’s the case then why not just completely abandon E2EE in Apps since apparently it doesn’t protect you at all.

 

[vantelimus]

Yes that's true now. Everything you do now with a friend could be recorded by that friend. Intentionally or not

California and many other states are two-party consent states. All participants to a conversation must give consent to record a phone conversation. If a friend records our conversation without consent, then he is breaking the law. A third-party dialer which records as part of its default operation without obtaining consent of the callee would be breaking the law.

The idea that you are safe as long as Apple doesn't allow 3rd applications to send and receive SMS/MMS and/or cellular calls is ridiculous.

It isn’t so much that one is safe, but rather that one doesn’t have to worry about Apple’s business model being built upon privacy violation, the way 3rd-party dialers will inevitably be.

 

[GrassShark]

They were perfectly fine when Apple restricted the ability for developers to access your phone log or send/receive SMS (which is a big problem on Android that people want to pretend doesn’t exist).

Apples system WAS good until the EU decided to force them to rescue security in the name of competition.

Your premise is the same as saying E2EE is useless since the person on the other end can still share your data. If that’s the case then why not just completely abandon E2EE in Apps since apparently it doesn’t protect you at all.

That's not my premise at all. My premise is that people who care about security can continue to use iMessage or whatever tool they deem secure enough for them. People who don't care that much and would like to use a different messaging app by default, like how much of the world uses Whatsapp, should be allowed to make that choice. You'll still be able to send your friend an iMessage and have it pop up in the Messages app in their phone, since I'm not seeing anything saying Apple have to open up iMessage, but if you send a text message, the already incredibly insecure communication standard that it is, another user should be able to receive that on a different platform on their phone.

You seem to be conflating setting a default messaging app with everyone getting full, unrestricted access to iMessage and Facetime content. That's not what this is saying. Just like I can't receive Whatsapp messages in the Messages app, I wouldn't receive iMessage messages in Whatsapp. I can see how you made that mistake, but it's a mistake nonetheless.

 

[vantelimus]

Why not leave it up to the end user to decide who gets their data?

I, as an end user, don’t get to decide what happens with my data when your 3rd-party dialer collects information about me during your call to me. I don’t even know you are using a 3rd-party dialer, nor what information was collected. You likely don’t know either. Most people will not know either because the details will be deep inside the EULA that most people don’t read because it is written to discourage reading.

It is all fine and good to try to make user choice a principle, but only within a framework of what is scientifically known about the limitations of choice in human cognitive behavior. Otherwise, you are making decisions based on either ignorance or intent to enable harm.

 

[justanotherdave]

That's not my premise at all. My premise is that people who care about security can continue to use iMessage or whatever tool they deem secure enough for them. People who don't care that much and would like to use a different messaging app by default, like how much of the world uses Whatsapp, should be allowed to make that choice. You'll still be able to send your friend an iMessage and have it pop up in the Messages app in their phone, since I'm not seeing anything saying Apple have to open up iMessage, but if you send a text message, the already incredibly insecure communication standard that it is, another user should be able to receive that on a different platform on their phone.

You seem to be conflating setting a default messaging app with everyone getting full, unrestricted access to iMessage and Facetime content. That's not what this is saying. Just like I can't receive Whatsapp messages in the Messages app, I wouldn't receive iMessage messages in Whatsapp. I can see how you made that mistake, but it's a mistake nonetheless.

It’s absolutely your premise. Your claim was the other person can share your data so nothing changes. That’s patently false.

Stop fabricating what you *think* I said and then trying to formulate an argument around it.

I NEVER said this gives developers access to WhatsApp or iMessage. What I said was 3rd party Apps can access the phone and send/receive SMS messages. A huge security risk.