Beepers iMessage for Android is back

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Beeper Mini is the name of an app that allows you to communicate “natively” with iMessage users on Android. Specifically, this means that messages can be sent from Android smartphones to iOS and they are displayed there in blue. Now the app is back.

iOS vs Android is the same as blue vs green

We have already written in more detail about the meaning of blue and green chat bubbles in the most recent article on this topic, which is why we do not want to go into that again here. In short, messages that iPhone users send to each other are highlighted in blue, while SMS from Android devices are green – and that is extremely important in the US market.

Beeper Mini has found a way to make this possible, using reverse engineering. Not only did it work perfectly, it was also safe. But the calculation was initially made without the host, because Apple relatively quickly found a way to make Beeper Mini inoperable.

But after a few days, Beeper Mini is back and can be used again. To achieve this, the developers made some adjustments via an update. Users of the Android app now have to log in using Apple ID; previously this was not necessary. In one Blog post The app’s creators write that nothing has changed in terms of security and privacy, Beeper Mini is “still local, end-to-end encrypted on your device.”

Completely free

Due to the current instability, it has also been decided to pause the previous subscription model, for which $1.99 per month was or should be due after a one-week test phase. Specifically, this means that the app can be used free of charge until further notice: “The situation was a bit chaotic, and we don’t want to expose paying users to this chaos.” Beeper co-founders Eric Migicovsky and Brad Murray strongly contradicted Apple’s statements. Apple has claimed that Beeper’s techniques “pose significant risks to user security and privacy.”

The Beeper founders said: “Of course we expected an answer. What we didn’t expect was 1984-style duplicity. The statement is complete FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt). The Beeper Mini has made communication between Android and iPhone users safer. That’s a fact.”

Summary

  • Beeper Mini enables Android iMessage communication
  • Messages from Android appear blue on iOS
  • App back with update after blocking by Apple
  • Users must now sign in with Apple ID
  • Beeper Mini offers local end-to-end encryption
  • Subscription model paused, app available free of charge for the time being
  • Beeper founders contradict Apple’s security concerns

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