Apple has delivered iOS 17.2 to all users and with it comes a brand new security feature for iMessage. Called Contact Key Verification (CKV), the capability gives users more certainty they’re messaging with the people they think they are. Follow along for what this feature is, how it works, and how to turn on Contact Key Verification on for iMessage.
Contact Key Verification background
When enabled, the opt-in Contact Key Verification gives automatic alerts if the iMessage key distribution services return device keys that have not been verified (e.g. if an unrecognized device has been added to an iMessage account).
And even more security is available by using CKV in person, on FaceTime, or via another secure method. You can read more on the details of how CKV works in our full coverage here.
Apple has not seen an attack like this – which would be quite advanced – but CKV arriving with iOS 17.2 means Apple is staying a step ahead of hackers and giving users more peace of mind.
Even though a very small percentage of iPhone users may need security of this level, the neat part is turning it on doesn’t reduce the functionality of your iPhone or iMessage – so it could end up being more widely used than something like Lockdown Mode.
How to turn on iMessage Contact Key Verification
Important: All devices signed into your iCloud account need to be running iOS 17.2, macOS 14.2, or watchOS 10.2 before enabling this(or you can sign out of iMessage on those devices that you don’t want to enable the feature).
Running iOS 17.2, open Settings on your iPhone
At the top, tap your name
Swipe to the very bottom
Choose Contact Key Verification
Tap the toggle next to Verification in iMessage
Follow the prompts to enable Contact Key Verification
No blue or green bubbles… iMessage on Windows brings with it gray bubbles.
People never thought it would happen. People didn’t think it was possible. But in an update to Windows 11, you will be able to send and receive iMessages and manage your notifications through a PC.
This update comes through the Windows Insider program, which offers users prerelease versions of the desktop operating system for beta testing and software development. Microsoft ships updates to Windows annually in the fall, so this feature may arrive for everyone later this year.
When you pair it with your phone, you can only see the messages that you’ve sent and received with Phone Link active, not the entire message history.
You also won’t be able to send pictures, videos or files.
You can only send and receive messages to one person; you can’t participate in group chats.
The app makes no distinction between regular text messages and iMessages.
These restrictions are unlikely to change soon; it appears to be a technical limitation of how the feature was implemented. Phone Link with an Android phone is no different.
So how does this work?
Phone Link will guide you through the process of pairing your iPhone.
Microsoft did not seem to get Apple’s blessing to create an iMessage client for Windows. Instead, the company implemented a workaround through Bluetooth pairing.
If your PC has Bluetooth, the Phone Link app on Windows will create a Bluetooth signal that you must connect to from your iPhone. You’ll be inundated with a bunch of permissions you need to accept, but if it all works, your phone will relay notifications and texts to your computer.
This has long been a supported feature through Bluetooth on iOS — it’s how early smartwatches like the Pebble were able to relay incoming notifications, too.
Can you get it right now if you’re on the Windows Insider Program?
If you’re thinking about joining the Windows Insider Program just to get this feature (like I did last year to get tabs in File Explorer), slow down just a minute. According to the Windows Insider blog, it will only be available to “a small percentage of Insiders at first throughout this week, which means not all Insiders will see the preview right away.”
The company said it plans to ramp up the release of this build “to more Insiders over time and based on feedback we receive.” Microsoft may ship it as part of the 2023 feature update to everyone running Windows 11 later this fall.
Other Apple services coming to Windows 11
Apple Music for Windows replaces the aging iTunes.
If you’re rocking the iPhone + Windows combo, you’re not left cold by the two tech giants. Instead, you get first-class support for many other Apple services on your PC.
Microsoft is rolling out a new version of its Phone Link app for Windows, and it finally brings support for iPhone. Most notably, this includes support for iMessage on Windows for the first time… but there are some limitations on how exactly this works.
Microsoft somehow brings iMessage to Windows, will it last?
As reported by The Verge, the Phone Link app for Windows is meant to mirror your phone on your PC for things like notifications, phone calls, and messages. The app has historically only supported Android devices, but that’s changing today with the addition of iPhone support.
The new version of Phone Link for Windows uses Bluetooth to link a user’s iPhone to their Windows PC. It then “passes commands and messages” to the Messages app on that paired iPhone. This means you can send and receive all iPhone messages — text messages and iMessages — through the Phone Link app on your PC.
“We send the messages back and forth via Bluetooth, Apple I think in turn sends those as iMessage once it gets onto their system,” Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s head of consumer marketing, explained to The Verge.
This is clearly a workaround since Apple doesn’t natively support Messages via any platforms other than its own. With that in mind, there are a couple of limitations.
For instance, you can’t see the full message history in conversations via the Phone Link app. Instead, you’ll only see messages that “have been sent or received using Phone Link.” Microsoft also isn’t able to differentiate between text messages and iMessages, so there are no blue or green bubbles.
The biggest limitation, however, is that you won’t be able to send pictures in messages nor will you be able to participate in group messages.
After choosing iPhone, the guided installation will kick off to pair your iPhone. You will be directed to follow a set of steps that will guide you to pair your iPhone and PC over Bluetooth. This will initiate after you scan a QR code shown on your screen, and then move on to the confirmation steps that helps us confirm the phone and PC are in range.
During this step, you will be asked to confirm the code in Phone Link matches the code shown on your iPhone. Once you complete pairing, you’ll be asked to grant a set of permissions that allow us to get all your favorite content sync’d over to Phone Link.
iPhone integration into the Phone Link app is available starting today for a “small percentage” of Windows Insiders enrolled in the Dev, Beta, and Release Preview channels. It will roll out to more users over time.
Despite these limitations, however, Microsoft believes this is a worthwhile feature addition for Phone Link users. The app didn’t support iPhone in any capacity before, so this at least brings basic functionality. There’s the possibility more features could be added in the future.
What’s interesting to me is whether this is an Apple-sanctioned approach. It certainly doesn’t seem like it is. There’s a possibility Apple could roll out a change to iOS that completely breaks this Bluetooth-based workaround that Microsoft is using.
The Messages screen in iOS 11 is busier than ever before, displaying a row of colorful icons and iMessage apps on the bottom of every conversation in Messages on iPhone and iPad. While some users will love the quick access to their gifs, message stickers and apps, not everyone is satisfied with having a row of brightly colored app icons and the app drawer showing up with their Message conversations, and many professional users have sought out a way to disable or remove the Messages app icons from the iOS communication client.
If you’d like to hide the Message app icons in iOS 11 on an iPhone or iPad, you can do so with a little trick that hides the app drawer.
How to Hide the Messages App Icons in iOS 11
Open Messages app in iOS 11 if you have not done so already and open a message conversation thread
Tap the gray App Store icon button to hide the Messages app drawer *
The Messages app drawer and row of icons will stay hidden until it is revealed again by tapping the App Store icon again. Additionally, if you use an iMessage app or sticker, the Message dock row of icons will appear again, meaning you’ll have to tap the icon to hide it again.
How to Show the Messages App Icon Drawer in iOS 11
If you’d like to see and access the Message app drawer of icons, simply open a message thread then tap on the App Store icon to reveal the iMessage apps and stickers again.
* Note that some users have reported that tapping and then swiping down on the App Store icon is necessary to hide the iMessage app drawer. Whether or not the behavior is different per device is not entirely clear, but should you have problems hiding the iMessage apps row with the tap method try the press and swipe gesture instead.
This is a less than obvious method of hiding the feature, but like some other parts of modern iOS it’s often a discovery process to learn how to perform a particular function that is discretely implemented. Many users have wandered around searching for an option to disable the app icon drawer in the Messages section of Settings, but there is no app drawer toggle available there, and instead the ability to hide and show the iMessage app drawer is entirely contained within the Messages app itself.
Thanks to the various readers who emailed or left comments, like Lisa, who asked “How do I get the apps off the bottom of my text screen. Who had that bright idea?” for the question and tip idea!
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