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Comment by systemz | Hacker News Reader

Dumbphone and number from standard cell provider seems like a simple fix. No iOS or Android necessary.

I suspect you are misunderstanding the use case here. If I am understanding you correctly, you are proposing solution using single phone. As such, only one person can have the phone with them at any given time.

Also, a dumb phone doesn't really help with the need for SMS and MMS.

Update: I had indeed misunderstood and the proposal was to use a cloned SIM and two phones with dual SIM support. However, as discussed deeper in the thread this still seems to have flaws.

Yes, I was suggesting just that. In that case, at least in EU there is an option when one number can be used on more than one SIM card. Then using second SIM slot on both phones you have access to that number. Incoming SMS goes to both number I think. Calls can be answered by any phone but faster to answer wins.

I have not heard of such a thing in the US, but I will investigate.

So while that would work for calls, does that also behave as expected for SMS and MMS?

What I remember from my case few years ago, incoming SMS were handled to both SIMs. Outgoing SMS from my number didn't appear on second one (so shared SMS history isn't complete in that sens). I didn't use MMS. I think all those behaviors can be different, depending on provider config.

Okay, that is a problem then. If both phones cannot see all messages, how would both parties have full context on the conversation? This would inevitably lead to both of us sending a response.

It works in many providers in Canada too.

Our mobile networks just recently upgraded from two tin cans and a really long string so I feel like if we support it, it must be pretty close to universal.

No, you can multiple sims in one phone, at least in the Apple world. iPhone has supported dual sim since 13 and eSIM forever. I don’t know about Android but I’m sure you can research that with a search like “{ your partner’s device mfg + model } and dual sim support”.

I'll investigate this, but I'm kind of surprised this use case would be even allowed? How does this wind up being different than a SIM cloning attack?

I don’t understand your question. One is an authorized user and one isn’t? That is the opposite of an attack.

Okay, let me explain it a different way. Much like TCR is in principle supposed to be about blocking phone spam, wouldn't it just be a matter of time before cell providers start cracking down on cloned SIMs with the intention of preventing criminal activity? Whether you cloned the SIM for legitimate use or not.

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