Can Android OEMs really hack into Apple’s iMessage? That’s an incredible plan by upstart phone maker Nothing.don’t chat anything” allows users to use “iMessage on Android” and sends a blue bubble to all of their iPhone friends.
Nothing Chat is brought to you by Sunbird, an app developer that has been claiming for about a year that you can send iMessage chats, but it’s never been made publicly available.according to washington post Nothing plans to “begin” rolling out an “initial version” of Nothing Chats, which is compatible with iMessage, on Friday, according to an article quoting Nothing and Sunbird’s CEO. Perhaps the only catch is that you need Nothing Phone 2.
Is this true or just propaganda? Apple is on record saying that iMessage on Android only weakens Apple, and they don’t want that to happen. Indeed, any Android OEM that offers “iMessage” support will have their project shut down immediately by Apple.
The quote from Nothing and Sunbird in the Post article sounds like this: Dare More than anything. Nothing CEO Karl Pei told the newspaper: I think everything we do will be communicated within Cupertino, but we’re so small that it would be very bad if Apple did something. ” Sunbird CEO Danny Mizrahi added, “I can’t imagine a scenario where Apple would try or be able to block these messages. Apple is openly focused on providing the best experience for end users. Nothing Chat and Sunbird are both here to help.”
It’s hard to believe that a service like this will last long, and it seems destined to shut down soon.
Sunbird’s many red flags
sunbird has long claimed that you can send iMessages on Android, but it’s past its release deadline and generally doesn’t seem like a serious company. The company announced to the world at a press conference in December 2022 that it would bring iMessage to Android. I attended this conference but did not write about it because Sunbird’s questionable presentation did not meet my standards for an article. To me, the purpose of a press conference like this is to overcome skepticism about claims that iMessage can be completely and permanently hacked. It would have helped if he had been honest with the press, but Sunbird refused to take public questions in his major league debut. A Sunbird spokesperson acknowledged and fielded all questions, but the Zoom chat was turned off and the company did not answer any basic technical questions.
How does Sunbird work? Why do people need to entrust Sunbird with their all-important Apple account credentials, which includes some people’s entire online lives and, in some cases, their literal bank accounts? Are there? How are these credentials protected? Are they stored somewhere on Sunbird’s servers? Hacking iMessage using a third-party client is not safe from Apple. Wouldn’t that violate the terms of service and lead to an account ban? Wouldn’t Apple shut this down the moment you start it? These are all important and obvious questions. was Several questions were asked to me at the meeting, but I could not answer them all. Instead, the folks at Sunbird focused on how great it would be if the whole world joined hands and shared access to blue-colored chat bubbles. It wasn’t just ridiculous. The company had completely failed to convince a skeptical audience that it was true or to admit that there were doubts to overcome.
Almost a year later, the company still hasn’t answered these questions. FAQ. Sunbird has “Privacy and security“This page doesn’t answer anything about the privacy or security of your Apple credentials. This company just wants to ignore your concerns. For me, the company provides a public and comprehensive explanation of Apple ID security. It seems hard to do that unless you take it seriously.
The Nothing Chats FAQ at least manages to ask the all-important question of where your Apple ID is, but quickly changes the subject to Message. “Are my messages or Apple ID credentials saved?” “No, nothing powered by Sunbird. Provides a system for delivering to another user. Messages are not stored on Sunbird’s servers and only exist on the user’s device. Once a message is delivered, it can only be restored locally from a personal device. .”
When Sunbird announced itself in December 2022, it granted access to the app to some selected members of the press, and there were reports that the app worked. The Washington Post article claims that the service also works, but doesn’t go into technical details. how. One Android permissions This article was the closest I’ve come to explaining even the slightest bit of what’s going on.
Sunbird has no plans to open source the technology to bring iMessage to Android. So I haven’t heard any detailed reports about how this app works (or at least is supposed to work).
But from what the company has said, it sounds like it’s taking the Beeper method of connecting Android smartphones to Apple-based systems and taking it a few steps further. First, each user does not need their own connection hardware. Sunbird has figured out a way to allow thousands of users to connect to his one machine. Second, the company has also found a way to maintain end-to-end encryption through this method, something a company like Beeper cannot offer (at least not yet). Again, Sunbird did not reveal how it would do these things.
‘Beeper’ is an open source app that connects to iMessage by transferring it through your Mac (there are already several similar services). Beeper allows you to host this on your own Mac or via his Mac in Beeper’s datacenter. While it’s natural to raise security concerns about Beeper’s use of Apple IDs, Beeper is a great example of how to do things in a way that doesn’t feel like a phishing scam.There is clear explanation How it works, specifically: “We operate a fleet of Mac servers that are used to relay messages between iMessage and Beeper. Each Beeper user has a Mac OS user on a single Mac server. An account will be granted to you.” This sentence is impressive. It sounds like a terrible business with no scalability, but at least there’s a monetization plan, and “Beeper Plus” will eventually cost between $5 and $10 per month. So while Beeper is a one-to-one datacenter Mac-to-iMessage transfer service, Android Authority says Sunbird somehow provides a way to set up “thousands” of iMessage accounts on a single Mac. That means I found it.
Sunbird is already well past its release date. In December 2022, Sunbird began accepting “waitlist” reservations to access the app. and promised“Sunbird will gradually roll out invitations to join closed beta user groups starting in the second half of 2022, or later that month.” I don’t think there’s any way to know if beta testers actually accessed it ( I have never heard of anyone accessing it). by April, the company boasted that it had 100,000 people on its waiting list. The company also said its additional daily sign-up rate is “more than 2,500 people per day” and that it is “offering Sunbird to 200 Android app alpha testers at a time.” Things like waiting list growth reaching 2,500 people per day for him even though he can only add 200 accounts “at a time” and “beta” testing becoming “alpha” testing. , a lot doesn’t add up. There’s also this eyebrow-raising line: “Sunbird boasts a 93% iMessage success rate.” Does this mean that 7% of messages end up in a black hole?
How the company invites people to participate in beta (alpha?) testing is up to the company itself, but its April press release also promised a “summer 2023 launch,” which never materialized. Ta. Today, the waiting list still exists and continues to grow. It’s currently unclear whether these people will have access, with Sunbird’s CEO telling the Washington Post that “for the next several months, the only way to get Sunbird is to own a Nothing Phone (2).” he said.
Let’s see on Friday, assuming something happens on Friday. Given Sunbird’s lack of explanation, Apple has a strong case for shutting down the entire project in the name of security. So don’t give your Apple username and password to random companies. Be especially wary of companies that don’t seem to understand or respect the security version of the Pandora’s box they’re trying to open.