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Key Takeaways
- Apple blocked the Beeper Mini app but it is now back in business after Beeper resurrected its service within 24 hours.
- Beeper Mini no longer allows users to sign up with just their phone numbers, requiring them to sign in with their Apple ID instead.
- Beeper is proposing to mark messages sent through Beeper Mini with a pager emoji and is open to third-party security analysis.
Android users have been able to send and receive blue bubble iMessages using the Beeper Mini app for a few days. After the app (and the Beeper Cloud service) suddenly stopped working on Friday afternoon, Apple confirmed what everyone suspected: it had basically blocked Beeper from working. Well, Beeper says it’s back in business and, as of Monday, is up and running again, setting up what we expect to be a volley of switch flips to come.
What is Beeper Mini?
The Beeper Mini app allows Android users to send and receive text and media through the Messages app on iPhones (otherwise known as iMessage) without the need for complex workarounds. According to Beeper, using Beeper Mini will enable you to have end-to-end encrypted chats between iPhone and Android devices, something that isn’t possible through SMS.
Why did Apple block Beeper Mini?
In a statement over the weekend from Apple PR manager Nadine Haija, the iPhone maker stated that:
At Apple, we build our products and services with industry-leading privacy and security technologies designed to give users control of their data and keep personal information safe. We took steps to protect our users by blocking techniques that exploit fake credentials in order to gain access to iMessage. These techniques posed significant risks to user security and privacy, including the potential for metadata exposure and enabling unwanted messages, spam, and phishing attacks. We will continue to make updates in the future to protect our users.
While Beeper Mini isn’t named directly, it’s pretty clear that Apple is referring to the new app that reverse-engineered Apple’s proprietary messaging protocol and allowed Android users to register an Android phone to the iMessage service, and send encrypted blue bubble messages as if they were using an iPhone.
Is Beeper Mini working again?
Beeper said it was able to get its backbone Beeper Cloud service back up and running within 24 hours of the initial stoppage reports.
Midday Monday, the company then posted to its blog it had revived Beeper Mini’s ability to send and receive encrypted messages. An update to the app – which includes other improvements such as to the video player and when opening a thread to the last seen message – was initially distributed on Beeper’s site before it came around to the Play Store shortly afterward.
Beeper Mini is no longer allowing users onto the service with just their phone numbers. They will need to sign in with their Apple ID.
Importantly, Beeper Mini is no longer allowing users onto the service with just their phone numbers. They will need to sign in with their Apple ID and settle for having their linked email address show up as the contact name. The company also removed the $2 per month fee to use Beeper Mini, saying that it is “not comfortable” with subjecting users to a service in flux. The fee may return once its situation stabilizes.
What’s next for Beeper Mini?
In the blog post penned by Beeper cofounders Eric Migicovsky and Brad Murray, the company accuses Apple of valuing iPhone lock-in over securing the wider ecosystem of messaging while, at the same time, offering a couple of olive branches.
Beeper is proposing to indicate messages sent through Beeper Mini with a pager emoji (📟️) tagged in the metadata. It is also willing to have its entire codebase analyzed by a third-party security research firm that the two sides have agreed upon.
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