Apple has released iOS 11.4.
iOS 11.4 is an audio-focused update, introducing support for multi-room audio through a new protocol that supports multi-room audio on all AirPlay 2 enabled devices.
[…]
The iOS 11.4 update also introduces Messages in iCloud, a feature that has been in the works for several months and was first promised as an iOS 11 feature in June of 2017. Messages in iCloud is designed to store your iMessages in iCloud rather than on each individual device, allowing for improved syncing capabilities.
watchOS 4.3.1 and tvOS 11.4 have also been released, and the software on the HomePod has been updated as well.
Messages in iCloud sounds like an awesome way for Apple, should they be so inclined, to begin collecting just a bit more data on the users. I’m not saying they’re doing this now, but that doesn’t mean future leaders won’t reverse Apple’s mostly privacy-centric approach to data–an approach I wholeheartedly approve. It’s the reason Siri’s not as capable as other digital assistants, but the increase in privacy is a trade-off I’ll happily accept. I hope this isn’t the first sign of a covert data mining campaign.
So does that feature keep only iMessages synched/archived when moving to a new device, or also plain old SMS? (AFAIK iMessage app handles also those?) Would be nice to have on Android… (or perhaps some SMS app does this already?)