iOS 26 and the anger of the Unknown Senders

Wesley Hilliard at Apple Insider covers a story that has certain political fundraising groups up in arms: Apple's upcoming iOS 26 release will start automatically sorting messages from unknown numbers into a new "Unknown Senders" category. That means no notification ding, no badge on the Messages app. Just a quiet little folder of messages that most people will never look at.

Political committees say this could cost them hundreds of millions in lost donations. They're treating it as if Apple is unfairly blocking their right to reach donors. The National Republican Senatorial Committee even fired off a letter claiming as much.

But here's the thing: this isn't really about Apple, or about iOS. It's about permission.

If your organization doesn't already have a trusted, ongoing relationship with the recipient, your messages are going to land in the "Unknown" bucket, because to the recipient, you are unknown. Apple isn't calling it spam, but for most users, it feels like spam. And if you're blasting texts to people who never opted in, that's exactly what it is.

I think we might be in something of a transitional time, perhaps, where aggressive political fundraising, whether it be by text or by email, is starting to get frowned upon. Sometimes not spam, but definitely sometimes spam. Often misleading, often unwanted. The law allows for it, even unsolicited, but everywhere I turn, I hear how people are fed up with it. 

Because being legal is definitely not the same as being welcome. A better approach might be to build actual connections with people who want to hear from you. Give them a reason to stay engaged. Let them sign up for updates. Remind them why they supported you in the first place. Actually engage, ongoing.

This is the same lesson email marketers have had to learn, again and again: success depends on permission and relationship. Without those, you're just another unwanted interruption. And, well, spam sucks. So forgive me if I don't seem to have much sympathy for a certain type of aggrieved party here.