OPoptimisticedits·Aug 30, 2026
X11 support is incoming https://github.com/zackb/tether/issues/65
In Tether: iMessage, SMS, etc. on Linuxzackb
tether
C++2026–2026
zackb / tether
tether
Linux + iPhone Continuity / iMessage / SMS
2Distinct people
3Mentions
0Explicit recommenders
1.5KGitHub stars
What to know before exploring
What it is
Linux + iPhone Continuity / iMessage / SMS
GitHub
Where it is used
No documented product use was verified in the last source check.
What people are saying
No recommendation phrase was found in the indexed comments.
No classified warning is attached to this page. Read the discussions before treating silence as approval.
Also in these discussions
No other repository is repeatedly linked in the same discussions.
This week on Hacker News
Nov 7–Nov 14 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/14/2026, 1:49:46 PM UTC.
No direct repository links were found in the indexed HN discussions over the past seven days. Older discussions are available below.
Mentions over time
HN mentions by week3 dated mentions
Observed mentions: 2026-05-10 05:37:10 UTC to 2026-08-30 15:52:15 UTC. Weeks start Monday, UTC.
Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.
View mention counts and date ranges
| Period | Start (UTC) | End (exclusive, UTC) | Mentions | Submissions | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 4 | 2026-05-04 00:00:00 UTC | 2026-05-11 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| May 11 | 2026-05-11 00:00:00 UTC | 2026-05-18 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| May 18 | 2026-05-18 00:00:00 UTC | 2026-05-25 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| May 25 | 2026-05-25 00:00:00 UTC | 2026-06-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jun 1 | 2026-06-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2026-06-08 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jun 8 | 2026-06-08 00:00:00 UTC | 2026-06-15 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jun 15 | 2026-06-15 00:00:00 UTC | 2026-06-22 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jun 22 | 2026-06-22 00:00:00 UTC | 2026-06-29 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jun 29 | 2026-06-29 00:00:00 UTC | 2026-07-06 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jul 6 | 2026-07-06 00:00:00 UTC | 2026-07-13 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jul 13 | 2026-07-13 00:00:00 UTC | 2026-07-20 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jul 20 | 2026-07-20 00:00:00 UTC | 2026-07-27 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jul 27 | 2026-07-27 00:00:00 UTC | 2026-08-03 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aug 3 | 2026-08-03 00:00:00 UTC | 2026-08-10 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aug 10 | 2026-08-10 00:00:00 UTC | 2026-08-17 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aug 17 | 2026-08-17 00:00:00 UTC | 2026-08-24 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Aug 24 | 2026-08-24 00:00:00 UTC | 2026-08-31 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
What Hacker News says
3 sourcesShow HN: Linux and iPhone Continuity (iMessage / SMS)
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!
10 points · Open discussionThis was perhaps the biggest reason I moved to Linux full-time about a year ago. I just got sick of not being able to write software and have people use it. The solution might be an "I trust this author" VS Code style dialog and that's it, but even that misses the mark a bit. I've been having a blast building on Linux and miss almost nothing about macOS. And the things I do miss I write programs for [1][2] and give them to people. Who would have guessed that would ever be so hard.
1. https://github.com/zackb/tether
2. https://github.com/zackb/hyprwat
In Distributing Mac software is increasing my cortisol levels