Beeper Mini is back again, but this time it needs a Mac

Beeper Mini is back again, but with a significant blow to its ease of use. In short, to get iMessage through Beeper Mini, you’ll need a Mac or access to one (preferably a trusted Mac).

Beeper published a breakdown on Reddit, which you can check out here. In short, the main issue plaguing Beeper Mini is that iMessage requires ‘registration data’ from an Apple device.

So far, Beeper has used a fleet of Mac servers to provide registration data, but the company says that made it an easy target for Apple since thousands of Beeper users had the same registration data.

However, Beeper has a plan to address this in an update coming to Beeper Cloud for Mac, another Beeper app for accessing multiple chat apps, including iMessage, on Wednesday. The update will allow Beeper Cloud on Mac to create “unique” registration data.

Beeper says that the 1:1 mapping of registration data to an individual user in its testing makes the “connection very reliable.” This registration data will also work on Beeper Mini, but Beeper says it will need to regularly regenerate registration data “roughly once per week or month,” which means users will need to regularly turn on their Mac to refresh it.

Interestingly, Beeper claims people with Beeper and a Mac can share registration data with 10-20 iMessage users “safely.” The company plans to open source its iMessage bridge and the tool for Mac that creates the registration data.

While this all seems like good news for Beeper users, the changes are ultimately a major step back for Beeper Mini. Part of the allure and promise of Mini compared to Beeper Cloud is that Mini only required an Android phone and a phone number to register users for iMessage. It was simple and seamless, no need to futz about with a Mac.

But as we know now, that system wasn’t long for this world. Apple quickly killed Beeper Mini, and it came back briefly with a requirement to use an Apple ID, but then Beeper ran into issues again. Now here we are, with another attempt from Beeper to realize the iMessage on Android dream that, frankly, isn’t as appealing as it once was.

The ongoing saga also spurred some U.S. senators to look into Apple’s possible anti-competitive practices regarding Beeper, but as I noted recently, there are plenty of good reasons to go after Apple for anti-competitive practices, and this isn’t one of them. There are plenty of free chat apps that work on both iPhone and Android, and support many of the same features as iMessage (if not more!). Maybe it’s time for iPhone users to move on from iMessage.

Source: Beeper (Reddit) Via: The Verge