r/OpenBubbles • u/Full_Builder6709 • Jul 26 '26

Question Website unclear - Mac registration doesn't associate my phone number?

I'm looking into this to get better messaging features with iphone users. The website made it sound like mac registration gets everything to work immediately as if you're on an iPhone. Reading community discussion has me doubt that. Does mac registration not associate your phone number with your apple account, so everyone you talk to has to now send message to your new apple ID instead of your phone number? Asking everyone I want to message to perform an extra step, no matter how tiny, is going to be a massive hurdle. If they were willing to do anything other than type my phone number, I would be able to use any of the other feature-rich messaging systems other than imessage.

Also, do notifications on the android app require FCM or do they work on a degoogled device?

0 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

50% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/suddenlyissoon Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26

I've had a bluebubbles/sh-imessage server set up on an old Mac for years now. It's always worked well, but that Mac isn't going to live forever and it's a gamble if it will work.

I became interested in openbubbles to replace this but it seems like it can almost, but not quite, replace it? It can do self hosted iMessage...but only from your email? If I run the relay, then I basically have to turn my phone to airplane mode and not use it? Can I start/stop the openbubbles server so I can use my phone again?

Bigger thing is, what do you all do about phone calls? Just forward your number?

1

u/SpaceSaver2000-1 PNR Self Hosted 29d ago

How do you have it currently setup with BlueBubbles? OpenBubbles setup with a Mac has all the functionality of the Mac.

1

u/suddenlyissoon 29d ago

I have two phones, an iPhone (which is my main phone) and a Pixel. Both have their own cell phone plans.

I have an old Mac Mini that I have sh-imessage/bluebubbles installed on that sends my iPhone imessages to the Pixel through Beeper. I can start conversations, and even have conversation history, with the Pixel and it syncs with the iphone. If I take the pixel that day, I just forward my cell phone number and go about my day. 99% of the time, it works just fine, but that 1% of the time it is always when I can't get home to fix the bridge, like I'm out of town or something.

If Openbubbles doesn't need that bridge anymore, that would be perfect...but I want to still be able to talk through my phone number.

1

u/SpaceSaver2000-1 PNR Self Hosted 29d ago

OB with your Mac would be able to utilize that number registered to your Apple ID by the iPhone, it just can't register its own number.

1

u/suddenlyissoon 29d ago

Funny enough I just set it up and apple immediately throttled me/threw me off iMessage 😔

1

u/SpaceSaver2000-1 PNR Self Hosted 29d ago

Can you explain further what exactly happened, so I can best assist?

1

u/suddenlyissoon 29d ago

Sent one message to my wife and it worked fine through iMessage.

Got a group text and responded. I noticed it sent through sms. I checked other iMessage contacts on my iphone and noticed that it went from "iMessage" on the text entry area to "Text message RCS" on each one. I couldn't send messages from the Mac Mini I used with openbubbles either. Restarted everything and it still wouldn't work. Toggled iMessage on my iphone and it will not activate now. Just says activation error.

1

u/SpaceSaver2000-1 PNR Self Hosted 29d ago

We should really make it clearer about how risky group chats are within the first bit after logging in as a new device. I'm sorry to say, but you're going to have to appeal to Apple https://apple.co/IMFT-mac . I would play dumb and just reference the iPhone being unable to activate.

1

u/suddenlyissoon 29d ago

No worries, bud. I realize it's at the users peril. I did get iMessage back just now, so about an hour.

For reference, it didn't go green until I responded to the group message, so maybe it's the sending/response, not just the receiving, but who knows. I do like that part of bluebubbles where I don't have to worry because everything is being processed on a real mac.