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Comment by dools | Hacker News Reader

Banning sending URLs via SMS is a terrible idea, there are too many valid use cases.

Potentially disabling URLs from alphanumeric senders is a good idea, but it’s also very easy to get virtual numbers for sending SMS spam.

I think a good balance would be making URLs not clickable for any number that is not in your contacts which also makes it difficult to copy and paste for an average user.

The onus is then on providers to make sure anyone they may send links to saves the number as a contact and that they always use the same number, and have that number on their website.

So when you register for delivery notifications a message goes out saying you should save the contact number. If all Fedex notifications come from the same number the user only needs to do this once.

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Anyone can send use from fedex’s sender id and your phone will put it right in that saved contacts conversation. Both SMS and phone calls need to be upgraded to use secure identity protocols.

Yeah I never realized that a sender could spoof the number in a way that would make my phone insert it into an existing conversation. I had assumed (foolishly, it would seem!) that getting a message in a thread means it is from the same sender as the previous messages.

I guess this is one reason Apple has verified iMessages when you talk to them. The background is a different color, I think, to signify their verified status.

Blue means it was sent via iMessage, green means it's an SMS. If my wife sends me an SMS, it will be green. The colour doesn't signify verification.

He's talking about verified messages from Apple themselves. They have a grey background and a checkmark next to the sender name.

Oh I see. I don't think I've noticed one of those - are they used in the UK?

I've only seen them when you contact Apple support via chat. Like for warranty service on AppleCare.

They can only do it if they have access to an SMS service that lets them arbitrarily set the sender ID which they can’t do if they’re just connecting via a retail gateway without first authorising the number.

The problem is text messages are being abused for purposes they were never intended. I don’t need people sending me links in text messages. If I wanted that I would use some internet messenger

So what you’re saying is that if you’re communicating with someone over txt because you have an iPhone and they have an android and you want to send them a link then you’d rather ask them whether or not they have the same OTT messenger as you, then tell them you will send a link to them using that, then send the link, rather than simply sending the link to them in the existing thread?

No what I’m saying has nothing to do with Android vs iPhone vs blackberry or any other phone. I can get a link on Skype or signal or anything. I don’t need clickable links in my SMS messages on any phone. Thanks

Isn't iMessage just another OTT? (So I'm not sure what significance Apple vs non-Apple has here?)

Honestly, SMS today just exists as a legacy, because of status quo. Just like 'normal' phone calls.

Of course, both are still quite important in the real world.

SMS is the only inter operable messaging standard. If you send a message from iMessage to someone with Android it goes via SMS.

Well, it's inter-operable between mobile phones. But not between arbitrary devices in general. E-Mail is probably the closest to that ideal?

> If you send a message from iMessage to someone with Android it goes via SMS.

Interesting. I think there are some Android messaging apps that also fall back to SMS, but it's not a behaviour I would find particularly useful.

Well, emails are ubiquitous, send me your email via SMS, click, paste, send.

Oh yeah that’s heaps easier than sending a link in a txt!

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