this post was submitted on 20 Mar 2024
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Beeper couldn’t bring iMessage to Android — but it can still make a great chat app (www.theverge.com)
submitted 7 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 51 points 7 months ago (5 children)

I really, really don't understand what their business plan was. At it's core it used an exploit to trick Apple into thinking the messages were legit, did they not think Apple was going to close the loophole?

If Apple wanted iMessage on android it would be on Android. The only people bringing iMessage to Android is Apple, and anyone who figures a way around that is going to get ban-hammered by Apple.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I really, really don’t understand what their business plan was

iMessage on Android wasn't their main goal, it's just what made them famous. they've set out as an all-in-one messaging app (basically they let you register on their Matrix server with bridges for other messaging servers, so that they can manage them for you if you trust them enough) that also included iMessage support. for now it's free but they're supposedly planning to add some extra features that will require a subscription.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 7 months ago (1 children)

You can also very easily run the bridges yourself if you don't trust them. I do so in my homelab, it was 10 minutes of work setting it all up. Super stable, and e2e from my side.

For me their value proposition is their new beta android app which is the best Android matrix client, and their quite fast matrix server. That might change in the future when conduit is fast enough...

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago (1 children)

You can also very easily run the bridges yourself if you don’t trust them. I do so in my homelab, it was 10 minutes of work setting it all up. Super stable, and e2e from my side.

Do you have a guide or list of links?

[–] [email protected] 17 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Yeah I'm kind of puzzled by it too lol. I wish they had just kept their original solution of using Macs to run iMessage. Perhaps if they had gotten popular it still would have been blocked, but their whole strategy of being super open about it is odd. I suppose they thought they could fight it but evidently that wasn't the case.

Overall though I agree with the post, the app is really nice, the new android version is super slick and if they can get all the other connections working locally like they want, it'll be even better

[–] [email protected] 13 points 7 months ago

They spent around $750,000 building that iMessage bridge...shame...However, there are many people self-hosting and still using iMessage on Android...that will, likely, get smacked down soon. I've used Beeper since the early Beta (a little over three years now) and I love it.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago

I can only speak for myself, but I'm a green bubble and proud. 🟢

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago

Marketing, I for one had never heard of the app until the Apple fiasco they brewed up.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

At some point they said that after beta it would be $9 a month. But that messaging seems to have disappeared.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 7 months ago (2 children)

I have been using the new beeper. It's life changing. Having all my conversations in just one app is actually making me talk to me friends more. It's great!

Fuck iMessage though. Don't know why people give such a shit.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I have been on the waitlist for almost 12 months. No messaging app is worth waiting that long.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (2 children)

I don't believe there's a wait list anymore. You should be able to just download it from an app store for free. In the future, they'll release a premium version that will require payment.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 7 months ago (1 children)

You can install the app but it'll tell you it's not available for this account yet if you're still in the waitlist.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago (2 children)

I have an invite link that may get you in faster. Let me know if you want it and I'll send it to you in a direct message. I've already sent it to @[email protected]

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

Would you mind sending it my way? I'd be curious to use it

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

Do you happen to have one more invite?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Might be different for iOS. I just checked and when I try and login to the app it says I’m #40k~ in line

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

This app is not for iOS yet. Only the old cloud version I think

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

Have you told your contacts, at least?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (3 children)

Can't recommend Beeper. The new app really is great but the services don't want people using it that way and it shows. I got constantly logged out and even got a scary message from Facebook about how they would delete my account because I was using automation or something.

It also basically undoes all of the security and privacy features of Signal.

It's a great Matrix client though...

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I've been using it with Facebook for a long time and I've never had any issues or scary messages. It's the main reason I use it as I don't want Facebook on my phone.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Cool? I'm glad it hasn't happened to you.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

Me too! Just commenting to show it doesn't happen to everyone.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago (2 children)

It also basically undoes all of the security and privacy features of Signal.

I'd like to have a source for this claim, please.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago

The source is basic documentation about how Matrix bridges work.

Not only is no longer NOT E2EE, but all of your Signal messages are stored (encrypted) on a remote server, with virtually all metadata attached to them. Things Signal themselves do not keep on their servers.

Further, you're increasing your attack surface by adding another, likely easier way to hack into all of your messages, if one were so inclined.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago

I don't have a direct source other than the source code of the software they use: https://github.com/mautrix/signal

When using one of their "cloud hosted" bridges, the bridge software (that connects between Matrix/Beeper and other protocols) has to read all message content. Otherwise, it's impossible to bridge to another protocol. E2EE becomes end (other users) to bridge (beeper) encryption.

With "local hosted" bridges, E2EE stays intact, but messages can't be sent/received if the device hosting the bridge is unavailable.

In the future, with MLS (a different E2EE protocol), it could be possible to keep E2EE even when bridging to Matrix on cloud hosted bridges.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

I'm contemplating trying to run the meta bridge locally to get around that issue, it has to do with their server running in I think Finland?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

🤖 I'm a bot that provides automatic summaries for articles:

Click here to see the summaryLate last year, the company bet big on a hacked-together iMessage app for Android, only to be shut down by Apple within days.

And the answer was to stop fighting Apple and return to its original goal: bringing every chat app — iMessage excepted — into a single place.

You can then connect Beeper to messaging services like Telegram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Signal and to social platforms like Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.

Besides the bursting inbox, Beeper isn’t a lot different from the other texting apps I’ve used, as you can attach images, record voice messages, and create group chats.

The new Beeper comes with features the previous version didn’t have, including a refreshed design as well as the ability to link new messaging platforms from the mobile app — not just the desktop client.

There are also some experimental features you can try, including a fully end-to-end encrypted on-device Signal bridge and a sticker maker.

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