iMessage on Android platform Beeper Mini claims to be operational again thanks to it fixing a “critical issue” with the service. At this time, it’s unclear what has been changed about Beeper to get the service running again.
The updated app is available in the Play Store and directly from Beeper’s website. The platform allows Android users to communicate with iPhones with the same feature set, effectively removing iMessage’s lock-in, including support for high-quality photos and videos, typing indicators, read receipts tapback reactions and more.
Last week, shortly after Beeper Mini’s launch, the app suddenly stopped working, with many assuming Apple had blocked its method of reverse-engineering Apple’s iMessage protocol. Apple then confirmed that it is indeed blocking the service “to protect” users because it says Beeper mini poses “significant risks to security and privacy.”
Based on a blog post written by Beeper co-founders, Canadian Eric Migicovsky and Brad Murray, the company has found yet another way to trick Apple’s iMessage platform. Beeper claims that the “security and privacy of Beeper Mini is unchanged” and that it’s still “end-to-end encrypted.”
However, the platforms’ phone number registration isn’t working yet, forcing all users to sign in with an Apple ID. This means that messages are sent and received via email rather than via a phone number (Beeper says it’s working on a fix for this limitation).
The platform is also now entirely free, with Beeper stating the following:
“Things have been a bit chaotic, and we’re not comfortable subjecting paying users to this. As soon as things stabilize (we hope they will), we’ll look at turning on subscriptions again. If you want to keep supporting us, feel free to leave the subscription on 🙂.”
Beeper previously charged $1.99/month (roughly $2.70/month) for the service.
Other notable information from the blog post includes the claim that Beeper Mini is the fastest-growing paid Android app in history and that in its first 48 hours in the Play Store, it was downloaded more than 100,000 times.
The company also says Apple’s allegation that Beeper Mini poses a security threat is “completely untrue.” The company says it’s willing to share its entire Beeper Mini codebase with a mutually agreed upon third-party security firm to confirm this claim. Moreover, Beeper’s underlying connection method is open source, allowing anyone to review it.
You can read the full blog post here.
Are you using Beeper Mini again and is the platform working? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: Beeper
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