Key Takeaways
- Beeper Mini, the chat app that introduced iMessage to Android, is dealing with a widespread outage, probably because of Apple closing a loophole in its messaging protocol.
- Customers began receiving error messages when attempting to ship texts by 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 may need closed no matter loophole Beeper discovered by reverse engineering the tech big’s messaging protocol. On Friday afternoon, Beeper Mini customers started seeing repeated error messages after they went to attempt to ship texts by 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 just 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 information signifies that.” Apple didn’t instantly reply to Pocket-lint’s remark request.
“If it is Apple, then I feel the most important query is — if Apple actually cares concerning the privateness and safety of their very own iPhone customers, why would they attempt to kill a service that allows 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 immediately and works nice. Why drive iPhone customers again to sending unencrypted SMS after they chat with associates on Android?”
Beeper Mini brings iMessage to Android, with some caveats
Beeper simply one-upped the competitors, by reverse-engineering iMessage so you should use it in your Android telephone.
What does this imply for Beeper Mini’s future?
At this level, it is exhausting to say. Until Beeper’s software program engineers can discover some technique to restore service, the app’s future is proscribed, to say the least. In a blog post it revealed Tuesday, Beeper mentioned it had labored with a safety researcher to reverse engineer iMessage, together with the protocol’s help for on-device encryption, and create a manner for Android telephones to connect with Apple’s servers. In comparison with competing options, together with the Sunbird backend telephone maker Nothing briefly used for its Chats app, Beeper Mini was practically seamless. It didn’t rely on 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 common 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 mentioned it will roll out help for RCS messaging sometime in 2024.
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