Beeper Mini, created by a 16-year-old, relied on reverse-engineered code to connect to Apple‘s iMessage servers.This allowed Android users to enjoy the benefits of iMessage, including blue bubble messaging, high-quality media sharing, and end-to-end encryption.
While Beeper Mini caught the eye for its innovation and potential to bridge the messaging gap between Apple and Android users, its future was always uncertain. Apple has a history of protecting its ecosystem and has not officially released an iMessage API for third-party applications.
What Apple has to say
According to a report by 9to5Google, Apple has confirmed that these “techniques” are risky for its users. In a statement, Apple said “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.”
The company also said that it will continue to protect its users. “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,” added Apple.
Beeper also issued a statement after Apple’s confirmation. “We stand behind what we’ve built. Beeper Mini is keeps your messages private, and boosts security compared to unencrypted SMS. For anyone who claims otherwise, we’d be happy to give our entire source code to mutually agreed upon third party to evaluate the security of our app,” the app maker said.