Arr! The Beeper Mini be a fine treasure fer ye Android scurvy dogs to parley with iOS iMessage, savvy?
2023-12-05
Avast ye! The Beeper Mini be a treasure trove o' iMessage wonders, but whether it be destined for glory or doomed to Davy Jones' locker, that be a mystery as vast as the seven seas!
In November, Apple announced that it will finally support the RCS messaging standard, allowing Android devices and iPhones to communicate more effectively. However, this update won't be available until early 2024. Luckily, there is a third-party solution called Beeper Mini that Android users can download now. Beeper Mini allows users to send end-to-end encrypted texts to iPhones using Apple's iMessage protocol, meaning both parties will see messages in blue bubbles instead of green.Beeper Mini offers several iMessage features, including the ability to send full-sized photos and videos, react with emojis, join iPhone-only group chats, and sync iMessages across Android and iOS devices. The app requires users to give permission to access their phone's SMS and Call Logs for verification and conversation syncing.
How does Beeper Mini work? It sends an SMS text from an Android number to Apple's Gateway service, which then responds and registers the text as an iPhone message. This process was made possible by a security researcher and high school student called JJTech, who reverse-engineered iMessage's protocol. Beeper implemented JJTech's work in their app and created the Beeper Push Notification service to maintain a connection to Apple servers and notify users of new texts.
While it's unclear if Apple is okay with this third-party solution, Beeper believes they are protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Apple has sued other companies for using their services, but new laws and antitrust investigations may influence their actions. It remains to be seen how this situation will unfold.