The IT Nerd

It seems that Beeper Mini’s victory over Apple in terms of getting their iMessage on Android app back online was short lived. Last night, this was posted to Twitter:

This doesn’t come as a shock. When Beeper found away around whatever Apple did to shut them down, I fully expected Apple to retaliate. And so they have. But there is a workaround apparently. How long that workaround continues to work is anybody’s guess. And I also fully expect the “-5%” of users affected by this to grow.

At this point, I expect this cat and mouse game between Beeper and Apple to continue for some time until, Beeper taps out. The only thing that is at question here is how long it will take for Beeper to tap out.

I’ll be watching this story as I expect there will be more developments.

The Apple versus Beeper Mini fight has attracted the attention of Capitol Hill. But first, some background to get you up to speed:

• First we got Beeper Mini which promised Android users the iMessage experience.
• Apple shut them down very quickly, and admitted to it. But not before the company said that they were trying to bring the service back online. 
• The service came back online yesterday and so far, it’s still live.

And this back and forth between Apple and Beeper Mini has now gotten the attention of US Senator Elizabeth Warren who is known for taking stands on anti-trust issues:

iMessage is a closed platform because Apple deems it to be so. That much is true. But Beeper Mini has literally broken into that platform. They didn’t ask Apple if they could do this. Likely because Apple would have said no. So she can’t be surprised that Apple took a dim view of what Beeper Mini did and are trying to take them out as a result. For Apple, this is a security issue first and foremost. Any suggestion that this is a competition or antitrust issue is a #fail.

The fact is Warren is on the wrong side of this issue. If I were her, I’d reconsider her position.

First we got Beeper Mini which promised Android users the iMessage experience. But that didn’t last long because it appears that Apple shut them down very quickly, and admitted to it. But not before the company said that they were trying to bring the service back online. And it appears that they have done so with a twist. First according to this, you need to install this app via Sideloading. Meaning at present this app is outside the Play Store. Though they are working on getting it approved which will make installing this app less sketchy. However, even before installing the app, you should read their blog post on the subject as it contains some interesting info. But here’s the TL:DR: This update removes phone number support and leaves users to continue with iMessage via their Apple ID. Though that may return later.

The thing is, that this is going to last as long as Apple allows it to last. Which one suspects won’t be long. And I reiterate what I said here about this situation:

Here’s the question. How long will this fix last? I honestly think that this has become a game of cat and mouse between Beeper and Apple. And assuming that this fix is real and works, it will be in Apple’s court in terms of what the next move in this drama is. Will it be another technical solution as Apple implied that they would do in their statement, or will Apple send in the iLawyers and take them out in court.

The ball’s in Apple’s court now. Let’s see what they do.

First we got Beeper Mini which promised Android users the iMessage experience. But that didn’t last long because it appears that Apple shut them down very quickly. And what surprised me is that Apple actually admitted to doing so:

At Apple, we build our products and services with industry-leading privacy and security technologies designed to give users control of their data and keep personal information safe. We took steps to protect our users by blocking techniques that exploit fake credentials in order to gain access to iMessage. These techniques posed significant risks to user security and privacy, including the potential for metadata exposure and enabling unwanted messages, spam, and phishing attacks. We will continue to make updates in the future to protect our users. 

But it appears that this shut down might be short lived based on this Tweet:

Here’s the question. How long will this fix last? I honestly think that this has become a game of cat and mouse between Beeper and Apple. And assuming that this fix is real and works, it will be in Apple’s court in terms of what the next move in this drama is. Will it be another technical solution as Apple implied that they would do in their statement, or will Apple send in the iLawyers and take them out in court.

Stay tuned.

Remember I brought you a story about an Android app called Beeper Mini that brought the blue bubble, aka iMessage, experience to Android phones? At the time I said this:

Now while the video does point out that it would be difficult for Apple to kill this, you can bet that Apple will try to find a way to kill this. Be it via changing something in iMessage, or by suing the company out of existence. Apple has demonstrated that the blue bubble/green bubble thing is something that they are perfectly fine with. And anything that threatens that is something that Apple will try to dispatch with extreme prejudice. Thus while it appears that this app is fully functional, it may not stay that way for long. 

Well, the news is out that Beeper Mini no longer works. Via TechCrunch:

 Beeper, the startup that reverse-engineered iMessage to bring blue bubble texts to Android users, is experiencing an outage, the company reported via a post on X on Friday. And Apple is to blame, it seems. Users, including those of us at TechCrunch with access to the app, began seeing error messages when trying to send texts via the newly released Beeper Mini and messages are not going through.

The error message reads: “failed to lookup on server: lookup request timed out” spelled out in red letters.

In a response to a question on Reddit as to whether or not the app was broken, a Beeper team member had earlier replied, “Report a problem from the app, give us a chance to look into it.”

However, Beeper CEO Eric Migicovsky responded to TechCrunch’s inquiry about Beeper Mini’s status by pointing us to the X post acknowledging the outage, and providing more detail. Asked if possibly Apple found a way to cut off Beeper Mini’s ability to function, he replied, “Yes, all data indicates that.”

Honestly I’m not surprised by this as I fully expected Apple to to find a way to take them out. But I have to admit that this happened pretty quickly. But the real question is will Beeper Mini make a return and start playing cat and mouse with Apple as the company figures out a new way to operate, and Apple then cuts them off again? Or are they down for the count? Your guess is as good as mine.

Let’s see what happens in the coming days. But for now, it seems that once again the only way to get iMessage is with an iPhone.

After the security disaster that was Sunbird, another iMessage on Android app has appeared. Called Beeper Mini, this app gives Android users most of the blue bubble experience because the people behind this have reversed engineered how iMessage works. And another plus is that unlike Sunbird, you don’t have to hand over your Apple ID to some sketchy service. Though you can do that if you chose to do so.

YouTube channel Snazzy Labs did do a deep dive into this. Here’s the video:

Now while the video does point out that it would be difficult for Apple to kill this, you can bet that Apple will try to find a way to kill this. Be it via changing something in iMessage, or by suing the company out of existence. Apple has demonstrated that the blue bubble/green bubble thing is something that they are perfectly fine with. And anything that threatens that is something that Apple will try to dispatch with extreme prejudice. Thus while it appears that this app is fully functional, it may not stay that way for long. On top of that, there’s got to be some security concerns of some sort. Apparently the company behind Beeper Mini is willing to have security experts poke around to see what they can find, but what happens if they find something that the company can’t fix, or exposes uses to some degree of risk? That’s a bit of an open question.

Beeper Mini is available for download starting today with a 7-day free trial before the app costs $2/month. But before you rush out and get it, I would suggest waiting for security researchers to poke at this app just in case it turns out that it’s some degree of a security nightmare like Sunbird was. Assuming that Apple doesn’t find some way to kill it first.

Some warnings have recently appeared that claim that Apple’s NameDrop feature that appeared in iOS 17 and allows you to share information when you bring two iPhones or Apple Watches together isn’t safe. Specifically, police departments in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Oklahoma (these are Facebook links) and other places posted similar Facebook messages warning about the privacy risk of NameDrop. Specifically, that any miscreant can bring their phone next to yours and get your contact info.

The fact is, this is completely inaccurate. Here’s why:

1. NameDrop only works if your Apple device is within a few centimetres/a couple of inches of another one.
2. Both iPhones need to be unlocked for NameDrop to work, and you have to pick which pieces of contact information you want to share.

In other words, you would not only know that someone is trying to get your contact info, but you would have to authorize the sharing of contact info. The ability to share contact info without your knowledge simply doesn’t exist. And that shouldn’t be a shock to anyone given how Apple tends to roll when it comes to security and privacy.

Having said that, if you really want to turn off NameDrop because you’re concerned about this feature, here’s how you do it:

• Tap on the Settings app on your iPhone
• Tap on General
• Tap on AirDrop
• Turn off the button for “Bringing Devices Together.”

But honestly, this who NameDrop is a risk thing is overblown and inaccurate. NameDrop is safe and the police departments who are freaking out about it are doing so for no reason. Until someone shows up with some actual evidence based on demonstrable facts, you should move on to paying attention to something that actually matters.