🤖 I’m a bot that provides automatic summaries for articles:
Click here to see the summary
Beeper, the startup that reverse-engineered iMessage to bring blue bubble texts to Android users, is experiencing an outage, the company reported via a post on X on Friday.
Asked if possibly Apple found a way to cut off Beeper Mini’s ability to function, he replied, “Yes, all data indicates that.”
Migicovsky, who previously founded the smartwatch Pebble, has argued that Beeper Mini wasn’t just beneficial for Android users who wanted to finally join their iMessage friends’ group chats, but that it increased security for iPhone users, too.
In an interview ahead of Beeper Mini’s launch, the founder explained that green bubble texts were unencrypted.
Why force iPhone users back to sending unencrypted SMS when they chat with friends on Android?,” he asked.
Because the startup was no longer using a middleman — like a Mac server relaying messages, as other iMessage-to-Android apps employ — it would essentially appear to Apple’s servers that Beeper Mini’s messages were coming from a device that runs iMessage natively.
Saved 75% of original text.
He knows the answer. It’s a rhetorical question, meant to piss off iPhone users.
This was predicted on the post about Beeper
Something something monopoly, something something gatekeepers. They don’t need a war chest big enough to sue Apple, they just need to convince the EU to do it. I’m sure they saw this coming from the start.
The status of Apple as gatekeeper in the messaging app ecosystem is not yet clear. Remember that iMessages is not really popular in Europe, and Europe wont name Apple as a gatekeeper because of imessage’s popularity in the U.S. The EU does seem to be inclined to define them as gatekeeper, but that is not yet final. and if Apple implements RCS that might get them out of the hook. see section 5.4 of this document https://ec.europa.eu/competition/digital_markets_act/cases/202344/DMA_100013_215.pdf
I am Jack’s COMPLETE lack of surprise.
With the original Beeper app you made an Apple ID through Apples website to use for setting up iMessage. This does require folks having the email in order to use iMessage, so definetly worth setting up an alias. It still works, while Beeper Mini doesn’t apparently.
It still works
Yes and allowing beeper to MaInTheMiddle your messages does not present any security issues at all.
Their Matrix bridge is open source, and (at least they claim) everything is E2E encrypted. I love Beeper, and as unstable of a service as it is, it’s still really great and I fully trust it with my messages. Waited 2 years for this service and I’m gonna use it lol.
It is end to bridge encrypted. I trust them too but I still prefer to self-host this stuff.
As they should.
Why? As the article states this actually lessens security for everyone (including iPhone users).
Imagine that! The founder of the company that was denied access to Apple for creating an app that essentially copped an app that is part of their proprietary OS, says it would have increased their security!
Well gosh!!! let them in then!
This is nothing to do with the OS.
He has a point though, you haven’t refuted that.
