This will change over time, but for now, it’s no wonder some people have been cheering recent efforts to make Apple’s popular iMessage service available to Android users as well. But after a week that included the launch of the long-awaited app, a tough response from Apple and a battle to rebuild, the push to bring iMessage to Android seems as risky as ever.
iMessage-on-Android solutions aren’t new, but the movement got a boost last month — British phone maker Nothing and a startup called Sunbird released an app that lets owners of specialized Android phones easily send and receive iMessages.
But the party was short-lived: After launching a beta version of Nothing Chats in late November, the app was pulled from the Google Play Store over concerns about how the service handles user data.
Fast forward to last Tuesday, when a company called Beeper launched its own app — Beeper Mini — to bring iMessage to Android. development? anyone With Android phone it can be used. All you have to do is download it from the Google Play Store, something Beeper says has been done more than 100,000 times.
It was, by many accounts, a more elegant and responsible way to send iMessages from an Android device. You didn’t even need to change your Apple ID — iMessages sent from the Beeper Mini originated from your phone number, so recipients will see them in the same text threads as your old ones.
Just a few days later, Apple shut it down. A statement issued on Saturday explains why:
“At Apple, we build our products and services with industry-leading privacy and security technologies designed to put users in control of their data and keep personal information secure. We took steps to protect our users by blocking technologies that exploit fake credentials to access iMessage. These technologies posed significant risks It affects user security and privacy, including potentially exposing metadata and enabling spam, spam, and phishing attacks. We will continue to make updates in the future to protect our users.
(It probably didn’t help that Beeper asked people to pay for the iMessage workaround — the plan was to charge users $1.99 per month after a seven-day free trial.)
Notably, the end of Apple’s statement seems to indicate that solutions like this won’t work. Unsurprisingly, Bieber believes this says more about Apple’s stance on competition than the state of our digital security.
“Make no mistake, the changes Apple made on Friday were designed to protect the iMessage lockout effect,” Beeper co-founders Eric Migicowski and Brad Murray wrote on Monday. Their argument: Apple’s customers actually are less Safe now, because standard text messages shared between iPhone and Android devices aren’t encrypted the way iMessages sent from Beeper are.
Apple’s move to cut off the Beeper Mini isn’t really surprising, but it comes amid a period of increased scrutiny around one of its most important services.
The European Commission continues to question whether iMessage is a prominent enough service to require regulation under the EU’s Digital Markets Act, which is partly designed to break down some of the walls between the big platforms.
If Apple was hoping to fly under the radar with regulators, the plan did not work. On Sunday, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D) He said on Xformerly Twitter, said that “chat between different platforms should be easy and secure.”
“Green bubble texts are less secure,” she wrote. “So why is Apple blocking a new app that allows Android users to chat with iPhone users on iMessage? Executives at big tech companies are protecting profits by crushing competitors.
A day later, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) also participated I weighed on XSaying Apple is banning an app that “increases choice and convenience.”
“We must pass bipartisan legislation to stop this anticompetitive abuse,” she added.
Where do we go from here?
On Monday, this story took a surprising turn. After a bit of hoopla, the Beeper Mini was fixed.
As of this writing, the service remains more or less functional. If you’re interested, you can install it now, sign in with your Apple ID and start sending iMessages from your Android device. (For now, while the future of the service is still up in the air, the Beeper team has suspended this subscription fee.)
However, there are some lingering caveats to keep in mind. The app doesn’t receive the text messages you normally receive, so it’s only intended for communicating with your friends on iPhone. iMessages are now sent from the email address associated with your Apple ID instead of your phone number. Some people don’t like this, but overall the system works.
The bigger question: How long will Beeper, or any other company trying to breach the walls surrounding iMessage, continue this game of cat and mouse?
For their part, Beeper’s co-founders said they would be open to proving the service’s security by sharing all of its code with an independent auditor — one chosen by them, and by Apple. (Apple did not respond when asked if it was open to this plan.) But some industry observers are not optimistic about their chances.
“I think Beeper will probably struggle to survive,” said Anshil Saag, principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, who wonders whether the company can continue to “successfully evade Apple.”
Well, what about a more systematic approach? There’s been a lot of speculation about EU intervention, but some are skeptical that using regulation to force iMessage to open is the right (or likely) move.
“The platform lock has already been fixed by providing better service elsewhere [in my opinion]“Regulators don’t necessarily have to force the platform to open up,” said Carolina Milanesi, president and principal analyst at Creative Strategies.
“Of course, regulators can certainly force companies to open up their platforms, assuming they can come up with a legislative justification for doing so,” said Avi Greengart, president of research firm Techsponential. “But unless legislation allows platform owners a fair amount of control, they will pose privacy and security issues.”
As lawmakers continue to weigh in, and Apple fixes its blind spots, it looks like the walls around iMessage aren’t going away just yet. Our advice? If you’ve used and enjoyed any of these iMessage tools on your Samsung Galaxy or Google Pixel device — or if you’re keen to try them out — cherish them while they last.
The world of messaging apps is changing rapidly, and one of the biggest battles in recent times is the fight to bring iMessage, Apple’s popular messaging platform, to Android users. As smartphone users increasingly rely on messaging apps for communication, the demand for cross-platform compatibility has grown. However, Apple has been hesitant to make iMessage available on Android, leading to a messy and contentious debate among tech giants and users alike. The battle to bring iMessage to Android users is heating up, and the stakes are high as the competition intensifies.