An application that started with a good intention. © Beeper
After Nothing Chats, the messaging application initiated by Carl Pei’s brand and which aimed to create a link between Android and Apple users, it is the turn of Beeper Mini to see its career cut short . This new app developed by a 16-year-old student, in cooperation with the company Beeper, boasted of using the official protocol of Apple’s messaging system to introduce it to Android devices.
In fact, this application sorted through its users’ SMS messages in order to identify conversations involving users of Apple’s messaging service. The conversations concerned then automatically moved to “blue bubble” discussions in order to blend in with fans of the Apple brand and not suffer the distinction imposed by the Cupertino company.
It was enough to attract the wrath of Apple, which announced that it had “took steps to protect users by blocking techniques that exploit fake credentials to access iMessage”. Without asking for the closure of Beeper Mini, the brand managed by Tim Cook simply corrected the flaw exploited by the incriminated application. Beeper Mini’s trick consisted of redirecting its users’ messages to Apple’s servers before sending them to their recipients. Since then, although Beeper CEO Eric Migicovsky has assured that access to Beeper cannot be cut, the Cupertino company has apparently found a way to block its path.
Users found that sending and receiving messages no longer worked. © Beeper
Beeper’s approach is intended to be virtuous, its founder emphasizing the advantages of the application and the security guaranteed by such a process which, passing through Apple’s servers, benefits from end-to-end encryption of messages, which does not offer not a standard SMS. The Apple doesn’t see it that way: “These techniques posed significant risks to user privacy and security, including potential exposure of metadata and opening the door to spam, spam, and phishing attacks.”said an Apple spokesperson in a statement relayed by The Verge.
While American Senator Elizabeth Warren urged Apple to offer more interoperability between its users and those who use third-party services, Apple has already announced that it is bowing to pressure from the European Union with the integration of the iPhone protocol. communication RCS (Rich Communication Services), used by Google, by 2024… without however renouncing the differentiation between “blue bubbles” and “green bubbles”.