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Was it too good to be true?Beeper , the inauguration thatreverse - orchestrate iMessageto bring blue bubble texts to Android drug user , is experiencing an outage , the companyreported via a post on disco biscuit on Friday . And Apple is to blame , it seems . Users , include those of us at TechCrunch with memory access to the app , began seeing error substance when assay to transmit textual matter via the newly released Beeper Mini and messages are not going through .
The warning notice translate : “ fail to lookup on server : lookup postulation time out ” spelled out in scarlet letter .
In a reply to a question onRedditas to whether or not the app was broken , a Beeper team appendage had earlier replied , “ describe a problem from the app , give us a chance to appear into it . ”
However , Beeper CEOEric Migicovskyresponded to TechCrunch ’s enquiry about Beeper Mini ’s position by pointing us tothe X spot acknowledging the outage , and providing more detail . Asked if perchance Apple found a path to cut off Beeper Mini ’s ability to go , he answer , “ Yes , all data indicates that . ”
Investigating news report that sending / receiving isn’t functioning in Beeper Mini 🔎
— Beeper ( @beeper)December 8 , 2023
Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
Migicovsky , who previously base the smartwatch Pebble , has argued that Beeper Mini was n’t just beneficial for Android exploiter who wanted to ultimately join their iMessage friends ’ group chats , but that it increase security for iPhone users , too .
In an audience ahead of Beeper Mini ’s launch , the founder explained that green bubble textual matter were unencrypted .
“ That means that anytime you text your Android friends , anyone can read the subject matter . Apple can read the message . Your phone carrier can read the message . Google … literally , it ’s just like a postcard . Anyone can learn it . So Beeper Mini actually increases the security of iPhones , ” he had told TechCrunch .
Apple , on the other hand , sees iMessage as one of the key tools for locking in drug user to its ecosystem , which is why it wo n’t launch an iMessage app for Android . While there was some promise that EU regularisation would force it to make iMessage more interoperable , news program this week indicate thatiMessage will get a reprieve from those rulesbecause the servicing is not popular enough with line of work user . That intend Apple has no cause not to endeavor to shut down Beeper Mini , if it could .
Migicovsky is none too pleased with that turn of upshot .
“ I would be very concerned to hear why they think that bring in surety worse for iPhone users makes sense , ” he said .
“ If it ’s Apple , then I remember the self-aggrandising question is — if Apple truly care about the privacy and security measures of their own iPhone users , why would they seek to kill a service that enable iPhones to send encrypted chat to Android users ? With their announcement of RCS financial support , it ’s clear that Apple knows they have a gaping fix here . Beeper Mini is here today and work great . Why impel iPhone users back to broadcast unencrypted SMS when they gossip with friends on Android ? , ” he expect .
Founded in 2020 , Beeper ’s team had originally beenworking on a multi - platform message collector , which was renamed Beeper Cloud this calendar week asBeeper Mini went to found . The latter uses newtechnologythat let Android substance abuser to text iMessage users as if they were also texting from an iPhone for just $ 1.99 per calendar month . That means drear bubbles in the group Old World chat , not immature one . Because the startup was no longer using a middleman — like a Mac server relaying subject matter , as other iMessage - to - Android apps employ — it would basically appear to Apple ’s host that Beeper Mini ’s messages were coming from a twist that runs iMessage natively . It ’s unreadable , then , how Apple was able to switch off off Beeper Mini ’s access .
What this means for Beeper Mini ’s future is uncertain .
“ We ’ll evaluate options , ” Migicovsky said .
In a command shared with military press , Apple said :
“ At Apple , we make our product and service with diligence - leading privacy and certificate engineering design to give exploiter ascendance of their datum and keep personal entropy safe . We take step to protect our drug user by stuff techniques that exploit fake credentials to realize admission to iMessage . These techniques posed meaning risks to exploiter security and privacy , include the voltage for metadata exposure and enable unwanted messages , spam , and phishing attacks . We will continue to make updates in the future to protect our exploiter . ”
The society said that it ’s ineffective to avow that message sent through unauthorised maintain end - to - ending encryption .
update from Beeper :
Stay close to your phoneshttps://t.co/WjwNRvkzW5
— Eric Migicovsky ( @ericmigi)December 9 , 2023
And … we might have spoken a turn too presently . It ’s not working for all accounts yet . More work to do , we ’re going to log Z’s now but back at it tomorrow .
— Beeper ( @onbeeper)December 9 , 2023
📟 ☁ ️ iMessage for Beeper Cloud is back in business — for genuine this sentence . You should be able to send + welcome iMessages .
💬 If you get a notice about a new " Mac " added to your write up , it ’s because Apple does n’t know how to say that " Beeper " has re - shew its connection.pic.twitter.com/VxQiZmvT9e
Updated , 12/9/23 , 9:40 post-mortem examination et with Apple ’s financial statement .
pager reverse - engineered iMessage to bring blue house of cards texts to Android users
