Re: iOS 18 and RCS

Andy Burns wrote on Sat, 21 Sep 2024 10:54:26 +0100 :

As far as I know iPhones all upgrade to the latest iOS as soon as it's released.

Based on the atrociously primitive and horrendously inept update mechanism,
almost everyone who uses iOS holds off on updating the operating system.
I have more Apple devices than Android so, not surprisingly, I know how it
works, where you've already been told wrong things - but they're not far
off. To be clear, Dave Royal was correct but Chris was slightly wrong.
In iOS Settings > General is an option for "Automatic Updates" which can be
set to On/Off and if set to on, it can be further set to just "Download iOS
Updates" or to "Install iOS Updates" and since iOS 16, there's a further
option to install RSR's (which moved iOS, finally, into the modern world).
One of the main reasons an iPhone is the most exploited mobile device is
because up until iOS 16, Apple had to build an entire iOS release every
single time any change was made (even a single line or letter of code!).
This idiotic release mechanism was absurd it caused Apple to delay releases
to the point that even today, no mobile device is more exploited than iOS.
 <https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog>
In addition, historically the iPhone slows down to the point of
unusability, sometimes for days, after a typical iOS release.
Worse, a lot of iOS releases are rushed affairs (see above reason why), so
most iOS owners have learned to hold off for as long as possible on
updates.
It gets worse (way worse, such as Apple is the only common operating system
supplier who only fully supports a single release, which is iOS 18 now),
which means that iOS 17 is definitely no longer fully supported by Apple.

So should they all have v18 now, and be capable of RCS chats (minus encryption)?  None of my contacts who I know use Apple are showing up as   RCS capable in Google Messages ...

As you must be aware, Apple does the least it possibly can do to support
RCS (where their own executives were deposed in the Epic case when their
emails showed that to be the case) - but the EU forced Apple's hand.
Even so, Apple didn't really implement the full RCS feature set, as you are
likely well aware - but did they implement enough for your free MMS use?
*Apple's Update Decision-Bad News Confirmed For Millions Of iPhone Users*
<https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2024/09/17/apples-ios-18-update-new-warning-for-millions-of-iphone-15-iphone-16-users/
  'As hundreds of millions of iPhone users update their devices
   to iOS 18, tinting their home screens and navigating their    new Photos app, the reality is that this update is more    about what's missing than what has been released.    No Apple Intelligence-at least not yet, and another gaping    omission that has also been confirmed.
   This bad news impacts RCS-the biggest non-AI update coming
   with iOS 18, that brings rich messaging features to stock    iPhone-to-Android messaging for the first time, but which
   The Washington Post warns, leaves "chats with Android friends    still [with] security and other compromises that Apple    could have avoided."
   But the more serious issue is hidden from sight.
   "In some important ways," The Post says, "Apple's messaging app    remains stuck in the flip-phone era, which undermines everyone's    message security." The version of RCS Apple is using is not encrypted.'
Notice above how little of RCS Apple implemented, but I wonder, Andy, if
Apple implemented "enough" of RCS to get you the free MMS that you seek?