A few days ago, the Beeper Mini mobile app was back in action after an attempt by Apple to shut down its service that brings iMessage’s blue bubble texts to Android users. Now, Apple is targeting Beeper users again, the company claims a post on X, intentionally preventing delivery of iMessages to ~5% of Beeper Mini users. But this time, Beeper says it has a fix for the problem: just uninstall and reinstall the app.
He also noted that he’s working on a broader fix for this issue, but it’s not ready yet.
Beeper Cloud users were also affected, the company’s post said, referring to the original messaging app aggregator, but said those users could also contact Beeper Help for a fix.
CEO of Beeper Eric Migikowski tells us that Beeper Cloud is now fixed and Beeper Mini is also “almost fixed”.
The startup has been locked in a heated battle with Apple since launching its iMessage-on-Android solution just last week. Using new technology that reshaped the iMessage protocol, Beeper introduced an app that allowed Android users to chat with iPhone users as if they were also on the iMessage platform. This involved registering their own phone number from their Android phone with iMessage.
But even though Beeper believed Apple couldn’t shut down its service because Beeper Mini users communicated directly with Apple’s servers, just like iPhones, Apple moved quickly on Friday to end the feature of Beeper Mini. The startup didn’t give up though. This week, a patch was released that once again allowed Android users to send iMessages, but this time only by authenticating with their Apple ID.
Apple’s move to shut down Beeper’s new app caught the attention of lawmakers, as US Senator Elizabeth Warren called on the tech giant to shut down the app, adding, “Big Tech executives are protecting profits by stifling competitors. Chatting between different platforms should be easy and secure.”
While Beeper claims its service is end-to-end encrypted, just like iMessage, Apple has suggested its techniques pose a security risk to its users. This made it necessary to take steps to protect our users by blocking techniques that exploit fake credentials to gain access to iMessage,” Apple said in a statement released to the press.
Beeper then challenged Apple to agree to a third-party security audit of its service to allay the tech giant’s fears.
Founded by the founder of the Pebble smartwatch Eric Migikowski, the startup originally worked on a multi-service messaging app aggregator, but released Beeper Mini to leverage new technology specifically focused on bringing iMessage to Android users for $1.99 a month. As a result of Apple’s intervention, which led to Beeper Mini’s instability, the startup has made its new app free for now for Android users.
Modernize: A patch for Cloud is released and the patch for Beeper Mini is in testing. (See timestamp at X.)
