In mid-November 2023, Nothing announced that it would make Apple’s iMessage available to users of its new Android smartphone. In order to display the blue speech bubbles on the Android device, Nothing wanted to use the third-party company Sunbird – and accepted possible data protection problems.
Ultimately, this attempt failed due to massive security problems. Just a little later, the Beeper Mini app tried to bring iMessage to Android smartphones. Unlike Nothing with Sunbird, the Beeper Mini developer relies on its own code based on iMessage, which is said to have been developed using “jailbroken” iPhones.
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This made it possible to develop the app so that it communicates directly with Apple’s servers. Beeper Mini tricks the servers into thinking that the Android smartphones are iPhones. The app is intended to offer end-to-end end-to-end encryption. Users do not have to sign in with an Apple ID. The telephone number is sufficient.
As good as the whole thing sounds, Apple is not enthusiastic about Beeper Mini. The iPhone company has deliberately decided not to implement iMessage on Android, even though this would be technically possible. As it became known a few years ago, Apple’s software boss Eddy Cue once dismissed the idea of an Android version of iMessage.
So it’s no wonder that Apple is taking measures to put obstacles in the way of providers like Beeper Mini. The app currently no longer works as Golem reports. A few days ago it was suspected that the technical problems were caused by Apple.
Now the company has confirmed this – but without mentioning Beeper Mini by name. To US media such as The Verge Apple said the company has taken steps “to protect our users by blocking techniques that exploit fake credentials to gain access to iMessage.”
According to Apple, the technologies used by Beeper Mini pose a significant risk in terms of security and data protection. This would enable “unwanted messages, spam and phishing attacks”.
However, Eric Migicovsky, founder of the company Beeper behind Beeper Mini, sees Apple’s argument as pretextual. According to Migicovsky, if Apple cared about the privacy of iPhone users, it would rather allow a service like Beeper Mini than exchanging messages via SMS.
Tech nostalgia from the 90s
Let’s see how the dispute over the offer of iMessage for Android turns out. In any case, Apple is trying to take the wind out of the issue by integrating the RCS messaging protocol into iMessage. This will allow good quality photos and read receipts to be sent between Android and Apple devices in the future.
