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It's all about using the right tool for the job. iMessage is best if you don't feel like getting ads and having Facebook know everything you're talking about. It is not secure in the sense that governments won't know what you're talking about.

I would even hesitate to say signal is as well. Yes I know it's end end encrypted but the problem is governments know that app is being used for communications they don't agree with so it's a small target. At least with a iMessage there are so many people using it that your conversation may not get noticed.
Well, the next step is, good old school, setup a private encrypted IRC server and invite your friends. :D But that’s probably a bit too nerdy.
 
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iCloud backup and Messages in the iCloud IS encrypted, but a such encryption is worthless, just like unencrypted, when the key is available to third-eyes like in this case, Apple.
That's not exactly true. The encryption has value because it will keep people who Apple deems don't need access from accessing your data. Of course the problem is the people Apple gives your access to your data. I agree it's not good but I think it's Apple complying with government pressure.

I would say just turn off iCloud but even that won't stop remote access to your device by Apple. If you're in that situation there's not a whole lot of good answers. Clearly WhatsApp isn't the answer.
 
He's right - with iMessage dropping you into SMS for most of your contacts, it's more secure to go to an app that can end-to-end encrypt.

Question is, convincing all your friends and family to use WhatsApp? Not happening in the States. We all are used to our default texting apps.

Speak for yourself. Most of my contacts use iPhones.
 
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Meta has a deep and philosophical competition with Apple. Philosophically they want all the money Apple makes, and it's a very deep pool of money.

Apple on the other hand is not competing with Meta. Apple just continues to do its own thing and the resulting beatdown of Meta is just icing on the cake.
 
He's right - with iMessage dropping you into SMS for most of your contacts, it's more secure to go to an app that can end-to-end encrypt.

Question is, convincing all your friends and family to use WhatsApp? Not happening in the States. We all are used to our default texting apps.

I never have iMessage drop me into SMS. Everyone I contact via iMessage uses... iMessage. And I turn off the fallback to SMS. Zuck fails to mention SMS fallback is a feature so users have the ability to do so if they so choose. For the vast majority of Apple users the SMS fallback isn't an issue. The average consumer isn't worried about this.

You are correct about convincing family and friends to use WhatsApp in the U.S. Isn't going to happen. Unless they already chat with people in other countries in which case they probably already have it installed.

I use iMessage to communicate with friends and family that have iPhones and WhatsApp for those that don't and for groups. The vast majority of the people I chat with have iPhone's so most of my conversations with them take place via iMessage. WhatsApp for me is for groups and non-close acquaintances.

The security concerns that Zuck raises are trivial and are either things that are actually settings related or could easily be tightened up with app updates. Would love if Apple said F*** it and created a cross-platform iMessage app with WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal style groups functionality.

Zuck seems oblivious to the fact that people don't see him as a trustworthy spokesman. Meta's biggest weakness is the fact that Zuck is still CEO and the baggage associated with his reputation is like an albatross around it's neck. If he truly cares about the future of Meta he'd hand over the reigns to a new CEO and fade into the background.
 
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I recently attempted to restore an icloud backup to a new device from an old device. It mostly worked but I could not restore the messages because the I needed to know the passcode of the old device, but I did not know it. It did not matter that I had the correct Apple ID and password. Any thoughts on this?
It sounds like a feature to prevent access to people who shouldn't have access to it. For example if you don't have the passcode you could just restore it to a new device with a new passcode and get access to all the data. That would be an easy workaround for a jealous spouse or other person. I'm sure Apple has thought of these things to protect them from legal liability.
 
Yes, it's more secure. You can completely trust that your metadata about who you talk with and how long (no pun intended) will be used for marketing purposes. You can completely trust that any private info you provide, will be sold to every comer.

And absolutely there's deep differences on the view of the metaverse. He believes in a sad lonely place, where people don't go (or so say current news reports), and the few that do have their data and information shared and exploited, and are bombarded with ads. We don't yet know Apple's view, but I suspect it's a lot different.

Put it simply: Meta are the Sixers. Apple's for Gunters. :cool:
 
It sounds like a feature to prevent access to people who shouldn't have access to it. For example if you don't have the passcode you could just restore it to a new device with a new passcode and get access to all the data. That would be an easy workaround for a jealous spouse or other person. I'm sure Apple has thought of these things to protect them from legal liability.
iCloud backups are encrypted with the passcode of the device, not the apple ID. I've always thought that was an odd security practice because device PINs are less secure than most apple passwords.
 
I use neither WhatsApp nor iMessage.
What is your messaging service of choice? In the USA everything is based on phone numbers so it's either SMS or iMessage because t's just easy.

It's very difficult to convince people they need to download a special app because it's more private. Most people don't care about their messages being private unless they're cheating on their spouse or doing something that they don't want to get into legal trouble for. Messages are like hey what's up are we going out tonight or Hey the boss says you need to come in early today to work on a project. Sure it's possible if someone intercepted those messages they could use social engineering to get something from you but most people aren't that high value of a target.

I know someone is going to misinterpret what I'm saying as privacy doesn't matter but that's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is most people don't take it seriously to the point they want to encrypt their messages. At least that's from my personal experience from talking to people of all age groups. Younger people are more knowledgeable but just as careless
 
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This is a zinger across the bow of iMessage.

A point made in other threads -- iMessage defaults to plain SMS when communicating to Android devices, when it has the option to use RCS. So it's not encrypted fully across all endpoints. It's a true and fair statement and equivocation.

iMessage needs to use RCS to have security across all of its potential endpoints.
 
He’s not wrong . iMessage still relies on sms whereas WhatsApp is end to end encrypted
While I 100% agree with you and am continually disappointed with iMessage and its not playing nice with other SMS platforms and having a host of issues, I'd still — overall — trust sending something in iMessage for not having prying eyes or nefarious shenanigans going on in the background than WhatApp or ANYTHING on or from the Meta platform. Only a fool would think to trust Meta/Zuck at this point @0089294.

I long for the day when it's just Google, Microsoft, Apple, and some smaller platforms and people will in the future bring up Meta and have a good chuckle with a shake of their heads like, "damn, do not miss that blight on the digital landscape at all."
 
iCloud backups are encrypted with the passcode of the device, not the apple ID. I've always thought that was an odd security practice because device PINs are less secure than most apple passwords.
From my little understanding of encryption, the strength of the encryption is relative to the password used to encrypt it. If it's just a six digit number that could easily be brute forced.

What about people with multiple devices. The passcode on my iPad is different but it has access to the same messages. My Mac doesn't have a passcode and it also has access to those messages. It just feels like that's an artificial limitation so people don't try to get around the phone passcode.
 
WhatsApp iPhone app keeps trying to justify why you should allow it to copy your contact list and send it to Meta. It disables part of the functionality of the app when you do give it a permission to do so.

With the track Meta (and its leadership) has on exploiting private information, there is no way I would send my address book to them.
 
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It's all about using the right tool for the job. iMessage is best if you don't feel like getting ads and having Facebook know everything you're talking about. It is not secure in the sense that governments won't know what you're talking about.

I would even hesitate to say signal is as well. Yes I know it's end end encrypted but the problem is governments know that app is being used for communications they don't agree with so it's a small target. At least with a iMessage there are so many people using it that your conversation may not get noticed.
Signal is actively working to circumvent those attempts to block it, like currently in Iran. https://signal.org/blog/run-a-proxy/
 
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This is a zinger across the bow of iMessage.

A point made in other threads -- iMessage defaults to plain SMS when communicating to Android devices, when it has the option to use RCS. So it's not encrypted fully across all endpoints. It's a true and fair statement and equivocation.

iMessage needs to use RCS to have security across all of its potential endpoints.
No you're playing with words here. SMS is not iMessage. Just because you can SMS and iMessage on the same app doesn't mean iMessage is less secure. SMS is not secure. iMessage is secure. You can clearly see which one you are using so you clearly know if it's a secure iMessage with another iPhone or an SMS with an insecure android phone.

No Apple doesn't need to adopt some standard Google has
 
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