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Posted by zackb 6 days ago

Tether: iMessage, SMS, etc. on Linux(zackbartel.com)
410 points | 165 commentspage 3
mcswell 9 hours ago|
Dependencies: ...wayland-client...

Nuts, I'm on xfce, and don't intend to switch over until it's necessary.

Why is Wayland necessary for this?

inigyou 8 hours ago||
We really need a WaylandX, don't we? It shouldn't be that hard to make, since Wayland is a very limited protocol...

I can't think of an ideological reason that apps shouldn't require Wayland that wouldn't apply to anything else. Isn't it just as bad for an app to require X11 or to require Linux or to require Windows or to require Android? You are free to port it to X11 or any other platform.

weikju 7 hours ago||
It exists:

https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/wayback/wayback

inigyou 6 hours ago||
Isn't that the opposite? A version of Xwayland?
snazz 6 hours ago||
Yes, but (if I understand correctly) it would allow you to use your same X window manager (transparently under Xwayland) and run the odd Wayland application when needed.
pkulak 9 hours ago||
I mean... if you wanna keep using xorg, more power to you. But you can't expect developers to keep supporting it. Isn't XFCE moving to Wayland soon anyway?
rafram 9 hours ago||
Does clipboard sync work when the iOS app is in the background?

Pretty cool stuff either way!

zackb 4 hours ago|
No, unfortunately. This is one Apple limitation I haven't found a way around yet. I am close though.
kvemkon 12 hours ago||
Is there an easy way to share iOS clipboard to Linux directly using local WiFi without going through any cloud?

Edit: clarification in my reply later in this thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49492003

cpuguy83 12 hours ago||
"Easy" is subjective, but tether seems like it would do this? There is also kdeconnect (don't let the "KDE" fool you).
kvemkon 11 hours ago||
That's what I thought at first but then discovered:

> universal clipboard is synchronized over internet, it is not done trough cable connection. it uses apple continuity service, what you put into UC is uploaded into apple cloud,..

https://github.com/libimobiledevice/libimobiledevice/issues/...

That's why I'm a bit confused now.

> don't let the "KDE" fool you

Being GNOME2-then-MATE user, it really would.

inigyou 8 hours ago||
It's a project by KDE, but it doesn't require you to use the KDE desktop environment. I'm sure it integrates with that but it doesn't require it.
bestnameever 11 hours ago|||
You can use the app that is the subject of this thread:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tether-linux-companion/id67620...

cassianoleal 12 hours ago||
Literally OP does this. It doesn't share it automatically like iOS-to-macOS integration but you open the app, click a button - job done.
aeon_ai 7 hours ago||
Doesn't Tether lack end-to-end encryption, making it less secure for private communications?
zackb 3 hours ago|
No, Tether is end-to-end encrypted on all fronts. mTLS on WiFi and Bluetooth encryption on that side.
porridgeraisin 12 hours ago||
I use whatsapp primarily, so no tethering needed, but SMS of course for one-time passwords and the like. I didn't want to open my phone for that. So I had a coding agent write an android background app for me that listens for SMS and forwards it to a discord server, and side loaded it. So now I get a discord notif on my laptop with the OTP.
dwedge 7 hours ago||
WhatsApp has started hiding otps sent to linked devices
Marsymars 6 hours ago||
Google Messages also does that, though it seems to be some opt-in setting for the sender, probably related to RCS?
internet_points 11 hours ago||
there is also kde connect (or valent for the gnome UI)
desireco42 11 hours ago||
I have Google Fi, we always had messages.google.com to even get calls, which I never did. Convenient especially because I write longer messages.

Never felt superiour over others for it.

andrew4336 6 hours ago||
[flagged]
select1 13 hours ago||
[dead]
2Gkashmiri 13 hours ago||
I don't know.

What's a feature not in KDE connect that the writer wanted and it didn't have?

They could always submit a pr.

Beeper exists you know....

I have a question. It's fine to build for your own self but is it okay to release something in public when the environment is a moving target and you are just a one-man team keeping it afloat?

Wouldn't it be better to go behind established FOSS products and not reinvent the wheel when you don't have to?

I understand no one can tell you how to or why to do certain things but there comes a time, when youw want to help, not build the next temple os and instead help manjaro or whatever is cool these days?

cassianoleal 13 hours ago||
I find KDE Connect severely lacking. It's great that it exists, and maybe it's really excellent with Android, but for iOS it's really not there yet.

Even features that do exist don't always work reliably. I can't send files between devices, most of the time clipboard sharing doesn't work either, and there's loads not implemented.

> What's a feature not in KDE connect that the writer wanted and it didn't have?

From TFA:

"And Tether now supports: iMessage, SMS, Notifications, Contact sync on Linux. In addition to its previous: File Transfer, Clipboard Sync, OTP handling."

> Wouldn't it be better to go behind established FOSS products and not reinvent the wheel when you don't have to?

From TFA:

"Before you ask, I know KDE Connect exists. It's great! If you're on Android you should definitely use it. The problem is that it didn't do what I wanted and it's roadmap indicated it never would."

Maybe next time read the article before commenting?

foresto 11 hours ago|||
Let's be fair: At least some of the features you quoted do work in KDE connect in my experience, so I had the same question as GP. Even after reading the article.
cassianoleal 10 hours ago||
Like I mentioned, I found KDE Connect to be lacking but mostly even the feature that it does have, don't always work.

So far (really only a couple hours), Tether seems a lot more polished.

2Gkashmiri 4 hours ago|||
"What" features. Imessage? Thats it?
zackb 7 hours ago|||
This is a very good point and I'm not sure why you're being downvoted. I considered contributing to KDE Connect but decided against it for many reasons:

1. This would be a major subsystem added to KDE Connect and I have no history with the project.

2. The KDE Connect roadmap explicitly lists iMessage / SMS support as "Won't Implement"

3. My project requires a browser extension and mail extension, I can't imagine I have much of a chance of getting a "KDE Connect" extension approved.

4. Time: it would have taken much longer to jump through all the (appropriate) hoops.

5. Choice. While I'm not a fan of Omarchy, I LOVE what it is doing. Having an alternative to the Big Two and embracing "custom" desktops is very appealing to me, and I think it is a good thing for Linux and FOSS.

6. I was going to do this no matter what, it worked better than I expected, I wanted everyone to have it.

2Gkashmiri 4 hours ago||
There "is" already a kde connect browser extension.

Just add to it

Gualdrapo 12 hours ago|||
One of the not cool things about KDE Connect is that its "plugins" system doesn't seem like it.

Where are more plugins for it? How you add them? Where are docs for creating them?

I haven't had a great feeling when asking its dev about stuff but hope that situation has changed. Having a proper plugin system would let people like OP extend KDEConnect and potentially benefit more people, instead of being subjected to the will of its devs and the roadmap.

inigyou 11 hours ago||
I suspect this is the wrong way to think about it. Since it's FOSS, you don't even need a plugin system to extend it. Likely the plugins are just an internal organisation structure.
alex7o 12 hours ago|||
I would argue that if you have the same setup as the author then use it. Yes a moving target but won't you fix something you use for yourself? Also point an agent at it get it back working in a few hours of waiting :P
utopiah 13 hours ago|||
Glad you brought that up, I was actually going to suggest not to replace KDE Connect but rather to become interoperable with it because AFAIR (but didn't touch an iPhone for few years now) there is no iOS client for it.
cpuguy83 12 hours ago||
kdeconnect has an iOS client.
unethical_ban 10 hours ago|||
I can't get KDE connect to work for the life of me. So I guess something that works would be an improvement!

Could be GrapheneOS/arch interop or something.

jrm4 11 hours ago|||
A genuine question, does anyone here actually use KDE Connect as a daily driver to actually keep in touch with people? I would love to but, for example, when I'm on a university campus the possibility of keeping those two devices connected appears difficult if not impossible. I keep looking into both Bluetooth and/or the VPN route every once in a while, but it ends up not working and I give up. Something I'm missing, perhaps?
tamimio 13 hours ago||
Personally, few years ago I wanted to use kde connect with my iPhone, and I don’t remember the distro now but it’s when I had to install kde connect later it wasn’t part of it, and after almost a whole day of googling around and trying to compile and solve whatever missing libraries or drivers, it never connected.. so yeah I welcome the fact that there are alternatives, always!
BatchJob 11 hours ago|
You cant really complain about the ecosystem if you insist on using an iPhone. What you think is interop is viewed by Apple as hostile and if they could find a way to sue you for it they would.
binkHN 11 hours ago||
Fair, but the only other major player here, Google, has not done much better; RCS is still locked up with no API in sight.