Beeper Inc.
TypePrivate
IndustrySoftware
Founded2020 (2020)
Founders
Headquarters
Palo Alto, California
,
United States
Products
  • Beeper Cloud
  • Beeper Mini
Websitebeeper.com

Beeper Inc. is an American software company that develops the instant messaging applications Beeper Cloud and Beeper Mini. The company is located in Palo Alto, California.[1]

History

Beeper was founded in 2020 by Eric Migicovsky and Brad Murray.[1][2] Migicovsky is the founder of smartwatch company Pebble.[3]

In 2023, James Gill – a 16-year-old Saucon Valley High School student at the time – reverse engineered Apple's iMessage instant messaging protocol after inspecting the network traffic generated by Apple Music on Windows and by iMessage on macOS. Gill published a proof of concept called Pypush that reimplemented iMessage in the Python programming language and released it on GitHub. After Gill contacted Migicovsky via Discord in August 2023, Migicovsky hired Gill to apply the implementation in Beeper Mini.[4][5][6]

Products

Beeper Cloud

Beeper Cloud, formerly named NovaChat and Beeper, is an instant messaging application that supports a variety of chat services and protocols, including Discord, Facebook Messenger, iMessage, IRC, Matrix, Signal, Skype, Slack, SMS/RCS (via Google Messages), Telegram, and WhatsApp.[3][7][8] The company renamed the app from Beeper to Beeper Cloud upon launching Beeper Mini in December 2023.[9]

Beeper Mini

On December 5, 2023, the company released Beeper Mini, an Android app that can send messages through Apple's iMessage instant messaging service.[6][4] The app was marketed as a way for Android users to communicate with iOS users through chat bubbles that are blue, the color used by Messages – the built-in text messaging app on iPhones – to show texts sent through iMessage.[10] To achieve vendor lock-in, Apple keeps iMessage exclusive to Apple devices and only allows Messages to communicate with Android users through the lesser-featured SMS protocol with texts that are displayed in green chat bubbles, which are disfavored among some iPhone users who perceive them as an indicator of lower social status.[4][11] Beeper Mini uses a reverse-engineered implementation of the iMessage communication protocol that supports some of iMessage's features, including blue chat bubbles and end-to-end encryption.[12]

Beeper Mini was downloaded more than 100,000 times within two days of launch. After the release, Apple repeatedly blocked Beeper Mini from sending messages through iMessage, and Beeper updated the app multiple times to circumvent Apple's blocks.[11] On December 21, Beeper issued its last update to Beeper Mini, which requires users to access an iOS or macOS device to enable the app to send messages through iMessage.[13]

At the urging of congresspersons Amy Klobuchar, Mike Lee, Jerry Nadler, and Ken Buck,[14] the United States Department of Justice initiated an antitrust investigation on December 22 to examine Apple's blocking of Beeper Mini.[15]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Beeper Mini, the iMessage app for Android, gives you the blue bubble". The Indian Express. 6 December 2023. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  2. ↑ Holt, Kris (11 December 2023). "Beeper Mini is back, promising iMessage access on Android if you sign in with an Apple ID". Engadget. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  3. 1 2 Porter, Jon (21 January 2021). "Pebble founder promises iMessage on Android and Windows with universal chat app". The Verge. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 Mickle, Tripp; Isaac, Mike (22 December 2023). "Apple's Newest Headache: An App That Upended Its Control Over Messaging". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  5. ↑ Goode, Lauren (5 December 2023). "Meet the 16-Year-Old Whose Code Is Jailbreaking iMessage". Wired. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  6. 1 2 Kastrenakes, Jacob (5 December 2023). "There's a new iMessage for Android app — and it actually works". The Verge. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  7. ↑ Perez, Sarah (5 December 2023). "Beeper reverse-engineered iMessage to bring blue bubble texts to Android users". TechCrunch. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  8. ↑ Schoon, Ben (17 August 2023). "Beeper adds support for Google Messages RCS alongside iMessage, works on Android and iPhone". 9to5Google. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  9. ↑ Myrick, Andrew (6 December 2023). "How to use iMessage on Android with Beeper Mini". Android Central. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  10. ↑ Kent, Jo Ling; Novak, Analisa (18 December 2023). "New app seeks to end iPhone-Android text color bubble divide - CBS News". CBS News. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  11. 1 2 Nguyen, Nicole (22 December 2023). "The Fight Over Apple's iMessage and Those Green Bubbles". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 22 December 2023. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  12. ↑ Purdy, Kevin (5 December 2023). "Beeper Mini for Android sends and receives iMessages, no Mac server required". Ars Technica. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  13. ↑ Bonk, Lawrence (21 December 2023). "Beeper says it's done playing cat and mouse with Apple over its iMessage for Android app". Engadget. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  14. ↑ Holt, Kris (18 December 2023). "US lawmakers call for DOJ probe into Apple's blocking of Beeper's iMessage app". Engadget. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  15. ↑ Lovejoy, Ben (22 December 2023). "Department of Justice investigating Apple blocking Beeper; FTC too". 9to5Mac. Retrieved 24 December 2023.

Further reading

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