US Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is throwing her weight behind it WhistleIt is the app that allowed Android users to message iPhone users via iMessage, until Apple shut it down. Warren, an advocate for stricter antitrust enforcement, to publish She supported Beeper on X (formerly Twitter) and questioned why Apple would restrict a competitor. The publication notes that Apple’s move has now caught the attention of lawmakers, who are in a position to regulate big tech companies through policy making.
“Green bubble texts are less secure. So why is Apple blocking a new app that allows Android users to chat with iPhone users on iMessage? The Verge reports Noting that Apple has banned Beeper from working, as TechCrunch also reported. “Executives at big tech companies are protecting profits by crushing competitors. Chat between different platforms should be easy and secure,” she said.
Apple on Friday took action against Beeper, a startup that reverse-engineered the iMessage protocol to allow Android users to have blue bubble conversations with Apple device owners on iMessage.
Explaining its decision to cut off Beeper’s access to its servers, Apple said it had taken “steps to protect our users by blocking technologies that exploit fake credentials in order to access iMessage.” It also noted that Beeper’s technologies “pose significant risks to user security and privacy, including the potential for metadata disclosure and enabling spam, spam, and phishing attacks.”
Additionally, the Cupertino-based tech giant took issue with Beeper’s security, saying it was unable to verify that messages sent via unauthorized means were able to maintain iMessage’s offerings of end-to-end encryption.
However, Beeper claims that it was able to offer the same level of encryption as iMessage, but did not put its app through a third-party security audit before launching, which would have strengthened its argument.
Over the weekend, the Beeper team worked to enable its Beeper Mini app to continue working. As of the most recent to update On Sunday, the startup posted that work was continuing on the outage and it hoped to “have good news to share soon.”
It was founded a few years ago by the founder of the Pebble smartwatch, who is now the CEO of Beeper Eric Migicowski, Beeper used a technical solution discovered by a teenager that involved reverse engineering the iMessage protocol. Before that, Beeper was developing a broader solution that would bring all of its users’ chat applications into a single interface — a software solution that has since been renamed Beeper Cloud. Beeper Mini then became an app focused solely on bringing iMessage to Android for $1.99 per month, with the goal of expanding its capabilities over time.
But before the Beeper Mini had a chance to take off, Apple shut it down. It’s unclear what, if anything, the Beeper Mini might contain in the future, since Apple has figured out how to recognize Beeper users.