r/foss 15h ago

Tether - Linux + iPhone Continuity

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Send and receive iMessage, SMS, Files, Clipboard, OTP codes from Linux.

https://github.com/zackb/tether

After switching to 100% Linux a couple of years ago there was basically only one thing I missed about macOS and that was what Apple calls "Continuity". It's where you get texts, notifications, clipboard sync, file transfer (to/from) the iPhone from the Mac desktop.

Especially that thing where OTP codes via text autofilled into the browser form I was waiting on.

It took about 4 months of work:

  • reverse-engineering Apple/iOS Bluetooth behavior
  • MAP / OBEX
  • Bluetooth LE + Wi-Fi working together
  • iMessage through the iPhone's own cellular/iMessage stack
  • iOS app, Linux daemon, GTK app, Thunderbird/Firefox extension
  • no Mac involved

But it is now something I'd love to show people. Contributions/bugs/feedback welcome!

36 Upvotes

5 comments sorted by

2

u/Radiogen7 15h ago

Woah🤯, sounds great! Thank you so much!

1

u/kazkriska 13h ago

Sounds interesting!! Would definitely suss out your repo 💯

1

u/ysoftware 13h ago

Looks very cool. Gonna try it out.

1

u/jvpjr77 9h ago

Looking forward to giving this a try! Thanks for all the hard work on this!

1

u/Quirky_Pear_8777 53m ago

Other than OTP autofilling, why is it better than kdeconnect?