Apple really doesn’t want Android to have access to iMessage

The Beeper Mini application, allowing access to iMessage from an Android smartphone, no longer works. Apple would have quickly blocked the system.

Blue bubbles against green bubbles, the war continues! While the difference has existed for a long time, the issue has come up very regularly in recent weeks… and Apple does not seem determined to give up ground.

Blue bubbles vs green bubbles

Let’s take the events in order. With its iMessage protocol, Apple has designed a golden and very exclusive fortress for iPhone users. By sending messages to each other, iPhone owners can enjoy many benefits, such as end-to-end encryption, but also sending images, reactions, etc. Obviously, for this to work, both parties must have an iPhone and the messages are reduced to simple SMS when one of them is on Android.

To mark this difference, Apple has opted for a color code: if the bubble is blue, it is an iMessage, if it is green, it is an SMS. A small difference which sometimes creates great discrimination in schoolyards.

Many attempts

Several actors are trying to break this difference. For example, Google lobbied for Apple to adopt RCS, an open protocol, and ultimately won its case. Some differences will thus be erased, but the colors of the bubbles will remain.

At the same time, some are seeking to interfere with Apple’s protocol. Nothing recently tried its luck with an Android application supposed to allow the use of iMessage. However, this did not last since it was withdrawn a few hours later after the discovery of security vulnerabilities.

More recently, it was Beeper, a startup that created a messaging application bringing together all the others, which launched an application dedicated to iMessage: Beeper Mini. Unlike Nothing, this one does not work through a Mac, but connects directly to Apple’s servers. The promise is therefore rather tempting.

Apple whistles the end of the party

Now 48 hours after the launch of Beeper Mini, the messages are no longer sent. A message is then displayed in red: “server search failed: search request timed out“.

On the networks, the startup quickly took the floor to confirm the problem and indicate that its teams are on the spot. Contacted by TechCrunch, Eric Migicovsky, the CEO of Beeper, however clarified that “all data indicates[qu’Apple a trouvé un moyen de couper Beeper Mini de son réseau] “.

If this is the case, there is no indication that a lasting return can be envisaged. Apple wants to reserve this functionality for its customers to make it a selling point and it would be surprising if nothing was done to block this protocol. So this is a pretty bad sign for Beeper Mini… as well as all those who were hoping to send iMessages from their Android smartphone.