XPost: misc.phone.mobile.iphone   
   From: marianjones@helpfulpeople.com   
      
   Tyrone wrote:   
   >> Is this as accurate a claim as your claim that iOS wouldn't allow an app   
   >> to provide an SMB service on standard Windows ports?   
   >>   
   >>    
   >   
   > Yes.  Just as accurate.   
      
   Hi Tyrone,   
      
   Happy New Year!   
      
   Since this thread is about the pervasive need to use an Apple ID when   
   no mothership ID is needed for almost everything every other OS does,   
   and since you brought up SMB, it is worth being clear about what SMB   
   actually is and what it is not.   
      
   SMB is a Windows networking protocol. It works over WiFi or Ethernet.   
   It is not USB, it is not plug-and-play, and it is not the baseline   
   behavior of a phone when you connect it to a PC. SMB requires network   
   configuration on both sides, credentials, and a working LAN. None of   
   that is required for industry-standard USB file transfer.   
      
   Yes, iOS can use SMB as a client, and yes, you can run an SMB server   
   app on iOS. But that is a network workaround, not native USB   
   interoperability.   
      
   It is not automatic (SMB requires manual setup, manual connection, and   
   a functioning network; USB does not), it is not guaranteed to be   
   available on every network, and it is not something an average user   
   would ever expect to set up just to move a file between two devices.   
      
   By contrast, Android does not need WiFi, does not need a LAN, does not   
   need credentials, and does not need any third-party apps. You plug it   
   in and the entire file system appears. Linux behaves the same way: you   
   plug it in and it mounts as a standard USB device with no accounts, no   
   ecosystem, and no workarounds. That is the definition of "easier."   
      
   And just to be clear, the original topic here was the requirement for   
   an Apple ID for basic functionality. The "ease of use" angle only   
   appeared when people tried to defend that requirement by pointing to   
   the Apple ecosystem. But none of those ecosystem arguments change the   
   basic fact that iOS needs an Apple ID for things that other platforms   
   do without any account at all. SMB, WiFi transfers, and other network   
   workarounds do not alter that point.   
      
   So if the question is whether SMB works: yes, it works.   
      
   If the question is whether SMB is easier than standard USB: no, it is   
   not. SMB is a network protocol. USB is a direct connection. They are   
   not even in the same category.   
      
   My original point stands unchanged: Android supports industry-standard   
   USB file transfer. Linux supports industry-standard USB file transfer.   
   iOS does not. Everything else on iOS, including SMB, is a workaround   
   layered on top of that limitation.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)