Key Takeaways
- Beeper Mini, the chat app that introduced iMessage to Android, is going through a widespread outage, presumably attributable to Apple closing a loophole in its messaging protocol.
- Customers began receiving error messages when making an attempt to ship texts by way of the app, and Beeper acknowledged the service disruption.
- Beeper founder Eric Migicovsky means that if Apple is concerned, it raises questions on its dedication to privateness and safety, particularly with the current announcement of RCS help. Beeper Mini’s future is unsure except service may be restored.
Beeper Mini, the chat app that efficiently introduced iMessage to Android earlier this week, is struggling a widespread service outage, fueling hypothesis Apple might need closed no matter loophole Beeper discovered by reverse engineering the tech large’s messaging protocol. On Friday afternoon, Beeper Mini customers started seeing repeated error messages once they went to attempt to ship texts by way of the app. “Did not lookup on server: lookup request timed out,” the notification reads. At 3:34pm ET, Beeper acknowledged the service disruption. “Investigating stories that sending/receiving isn’t working in Beeper Mini,” the startup tweeted.
Requested about the potential of Apple’s involvement within the outage, Beeper founder (and former Pebble CEO) Eric Migicovsky informed TechCrunch, “Sure, all knowledge signifies that.” Apple didn’t instantly reply to Pocket-lint’s remark request.
“If it is Apple, then I believe the largest query is — if Apple really cares concerning the privateness and safety of their very own iPhone customers, why would they attempt to kill a service that permits iPhones to ship encrypted chats to Android customers?” Migicovsky added. “With their announcement of RCS help, it is clear that Apple is aware of they’ve a gaping gap right here. Beeper Mini is right here at the moment and works nice. Why pressure iPhone customers again to sending unencrypted SMS once they chat with pals on Android?”
Beeper Mini brings iMessage to Android, with some caveats
Beeper simply one-upped the competitors, by reverse-engineering iMessage so you should utilize it in your Android cellphone.
What does this imply for Beeper Mini’s future?
At this level, it is laborious to say. Until Beeper’s software program engineers can discover some strategy to restore service, the app’s future is proscribed, to say the least. In a blog post it revealed Tuesday, Beeper stated it had labored with a safety researcher to reverse engineer iMessage, together with the protocol’s help for on-device encryption, and create a approach for Android telephones to hook up with Apple’s servers. In comparison with competing options, together with the Sunbird backend cellphone maker Nothing briefly used for its Chats app, Beeper Mini was almost seamless. It didn’t rely upon Mac mini server farms to relay messages to different iMessage customers.
Notably, the service disruption is available in the identical week European Fee officers tenatively found iMessage was not fashionable sufficient with enterprise customers to warrant further regulation from the EU. Forward of the deadline to file challenges to the EU’s Digital Markets Act, Apple stated it will roll out help for RCS messaging sometime in 2024.
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