“No Chat” Is Not a Safe Way to Use IMessage on Android
There is a problem with the chat bubble in the US. For a number of reasons, namely because Apple doesn’t want to do a good job with RCS on Android, text messaging between iPhone and Android is frustrating. The “green bubble,” as many of us iPhone users call it, is a sign that group chats will be a tedious experience and that things like photos and videos will be sent in low quality.
The fact is that in other parts of the world this is simply not an issue. Non-Americans tend to be surprised by the fuss we make about what type of phone you have. It doesn’t matter if you have an iPhone, Galaxy, Pixel or OnePlus, everyone still uses WhatsApp.
While third-party messaging apps obviously exist in the States, text messaging is still king, meaning the iPhone vs Android war will rage on for the foreseeable future. Some, however, saw an opportunity in this situation: what if you could find a way to make iMessage compatible with Android?
Nothing , a London telephone company, is the latest attempt at such a solution. On Tuesday, the company announced a new app for Nothing Phone (2), Nothing Chats , which allows Phone (2) users to connect their Apple IDs and access iMessage on their device. This is not a gimmick or a scam: it really works. But that doesn’t mean you should use it.
How iMessage integration works in Nothing Chat
Nothing Chats is powered by Sunbird , a unified messaging platform in development that aims to bring all your messaging needs into one app. While Sunbird is in closed beta, requiring interested parties to join a waitlist, Nothing will give all Nothing Phone (2) users access to the Nothing Chats beta starting Friday. Of course, you’ll need a phone (2) to try Nothing Chats, so that in itself is a hurdle.
Although Nothing Chats will still be closed for the next few days, Nothing has given Marques Brownlee an early look at the new app . To set it up, you first launch the Nothing Chats app, create an account in the app, and connect your Apple ID in the options menu. As soon as you start a chat on iPhone, Nothing Chats sends a virtual contact card to sync everything, and once synced, your Android-based Nothing Phone(2) appears as a blue bubble to your friends on iPhone.
Some iMessage features, such as typing indicators and high-quality images, already work. There’s nothing to suggest that they’re still working on adding iMessage features like Reactions, while other features like editing and unsending messages are missing. However, at first glance, it seems surprising that an Android phone can be compatible with iMessage.
It is not safe
Look, I want to bridge the gap between iPhone and Android as much as the next person. I think it would be great if we had a unified messaging system that didn’t divide us into blue and green bubbles. But Nothing Chats and other similar apps are not the solution at the moment.
The reason is that these apps are simply not secure. They say they are: Nothing Chats and then Sunbird tout the service’s end-to-end encryption . They say that your messages, as well as your user data, cannot be read by the company and are not stored on their servers. Instead, your messages are stored only on your device and the devices of the people you send them to. So far, so good.
However, these platforms are inherently insecure because they require you to sign in to a third-party Mac using your Apple ID . When you connect to Nothing Chats with your Apple ID, you’re actually logging into a Mac Mini on Sunbird’s server farm in the US or Europe. This Mac Mini redirects your messages from Android to iOS. As a general security rule, you should never give a remote device access to something like your Apple ID. There are too many security vulnerabilities to justify the risk. This is the same problem that prevents me from recommending other all-in-one chat services like Beeper : when you hand over control of an important digital account like your Apple ID to someone else on a device you don’t have access to, you are exposing yourself to potential disaster. .
To Sunbird’s credit, the company stores your login credentials as an encrypted token, so you don’t have to worry about your username and password. Additionally, the company will delete account information after two weeks of inactivity, so abandoned accounts won’t remain open forever. However, all it takes is one successful hack into the Sunbirds servers to gain access to your Apple ID login token, putting your account and all your connected devices and data at risk. I admire what Sunbird and Nothing are doing here, but I can’t recommend anyone give their Apple ID to third parties, even those with the best intentions (and encryption).
Counterpoints
Don’t worry: I’ve heard arguments that this security trade-off isn’t that bad. First, SMS itself is a fairly insecure messaging standard because it is not encrypted, so text messages from Android to iPhone are already vulnerable. Additionally, some Android users may not have any interest in the Apple ecosystem, creating only an Apple ID for that specific purpose. If this were compromised in a hack, hackers could gain access to the message stream, but it’s not the same as the user relying on the Apple ID for all of their digital needs.
Both valid points! But I think the security risks outweigh the benefits here. Sure, SMS isn’t end-to-end encrypted, but that doesn’t mean you should hand over the security of your Apple ID to someone else, even if you don’t have multiple devices and a lot of data connected to them.
If you understand the risks and still want to try this app, nothing will make it easier for you. Regardless, I’ll be here, still using SMS when I have to, and begging Apple to make sending messages to an Android user from my iPhone easier and more secure.