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iMessage

Send texts, photos, videos, and audio messages — all from the Messages app

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iMessage was announced by Scott Forstall at the WWDC keynote in 2011. When iOS 5 was released in October, it included a version of the messages app that had iMessage built-in. In early 2012, Apple announced that a new Messages app would be included in OS X Mountain Lion which was released on July 25, 2012.

By 2012, Tim Cook announced that over 300 billion messages had been sent using iMessage. In 2016, Eddie Cue announced that 200,000 iMessages were being sent every second. Apple also announced an App Store for the platform in 2016.

When Apple announced its messaging platform, mobile carriers were caught off guard as it took over SMS technology. One of the reasons it was initially so successful is that users didn’t realize they were using something new. The only visual change was that the messages went from green to blue. The box for typing message had a faint iMessage in the box before starting a message as well.

Since its release, Google has tried multiple times to create its own messaging service similar to iMessage, but it hasn’t been able to find the same success. Apple has been applauded for including end-to-end encryption in iMessage.

We use end-to-end encryption to protect your iMessage and FaceTime conversations across all your devices. With watchOS and iOS, your messages are encrypted on your device so that they can’t be accessed without your passcode. We designed iMessage and FaceTime so that there’s no way for us to decrypt your data when it’s in transit between devices. You can choose to automatically delete your messages from your device after 30 days or a year or to keep them on your device forever.

Third-party apps that use iMessage do not have access to participants’ actual contact information or conversations. iOS provides each app with a random identifier for each participant, which is reset when the app is uninstalled. iMessage and SMS messages are backed up on iCloud for your convenience, but you can turn iCloud Backup off whenever you want. And we never store the content of FaceTime calls on any servers.

In iOS 11.4, Apple released Messages in the Cloud. If you enable it, it keeps your entire message history updated and available on all your devices. If you purchase a new device, all of your conversations will be synced over as well.

Editing iMessages can easily be done in a way which protects abuse victims

Editing iMessages | A woman with dried tears on her face

Editing iMessages was one of the new features introduced by Apple in iOS 16, along with the ability to completely ‘unsend’ a message. While these are long-awaited features which will be welcomed by most, some have expressed concern about the potential for abuse.

Fortunately, it would be easy for Apple to solve this problem in a way that works for all, and I have a few suggestions for how this might be achieved …

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My favorite iMessage tips and tricks and what I hope Apple adds in iOS 16

iMessage waiting for activation? Here's how to fix it

iMessage is such a great communications tool to use across your Apple devices. I love being to communicate my messages more clearly (and fun) with the slew of features and integrations within this app. It’s more than just text messaging these days, and it’s added new innovations to our everyday discussions. Since its release over a decade ago, billions of messages have been sent by iOS users alike.

Here are some tips and tricks to up your iMessaging game.

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Security experts debate messaging interoperability encryption challenges

Messaging interoperability encryption challenges

Messaging interoperability encryption challenges are being discussed by security experts, following the European Union’s decision to make cross-platform messaging capabilities a legal requirement.

There was much debate on whether or not to include messaging interoperability in the Digital Markets Act (DMA), and the challenges of maintaining end-to-end encryption was one of the key issues …

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Messaging interoperability would be a nightmare for tech giants, but a dream for consumers

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Messaging interoperability – in which it would be possible to send a message to someone without knowing or caring which chat service they use – finally made it into the European Union’s Digital Markets Act.

It was one of the most controversial elements of the upcoming legislation, with some arguing that it would be a technological nightmare to implement, and others that it would benefit both startups and consumers …

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google messages rcs chat

Comment: iOS should support RCS, but Apple has no incentive to make iMessage work with Android

Over the past year, Google has publicly pressured Apple to support Rich Communication Services. The latest salvo this weekend was the harshest yet, but RCS on the iPhone is not the panacea to Google’s historical messaging woes, nor will support lead to a transformatively better experience for Android users when interacting with their iPhone counterparts.

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Google teasingly offers to ‘help’ Apple switch to RCS text messages

Google teasingly offers to 'help' Apple switch to RCS

Although we tend to think of text messaging and SMS as synonyms, that’s not quite the case. SMS (short messaging service) is simply the original technical standard for text messages. In recent years, there’s been a drive to switch to RCS (rich communications services, or rich communications suite), a more sophisticated text messaging standard.

Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened, mostly due to the rivalry between Apple and Google, and that’s something Google wants to change …

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London police chief uses 9/11 to attack end-to-end encrypted messaging

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London police chief Cressida Dick has used the 20th anniversary of 9/11 to attack companies like Apple, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal for offering end-to-end encrypted message services.

It follows the British Home Secretary – in charge of policing for the UK – seeking tech companies to find some way to break end-to-end encryption

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Apple can and must do more to prevent NSO attacks, says Johns Hopkins security professor

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An associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Information Security Institute has said that Apple can and must do more to prevent NSO attacks.

He argues that while it’s true that it is impossible to completely prevent exploits based on zero-day vulnerabilities, there are two steps that the iPhone maker can take to make NSO’s job much harder …

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