iMessage for Android App 'Beeper Mini' is Back, Apple ID Sign In Now Required and Phone Numbers Don't Work

[Harthag]

It’s about what iMessage isn’t bringing to the table.



100,000 signups for a sketchy app which was guaranteed to break in a couple of days is insanely indicative of the demand.

If Apple released iMessage for Android officially I guarantee it’d break records for first-day app downloads.

I think Eric and co. must have known that Mini would be short-lived, though they had a glimmer of hope. Any damage they had hoped to achieve has been done. It’s clear as day iMessage is possible on Android now. And it is Apple holding back RCS functionality or interoperability.

Given that 90% of teens in the U.S. use iOS, Apple won’t lose a penny by bringing iMessage to Android. Sure some nerds will switch to Android, but people aren’t leaving Apple just for iMessage. There is money to be made by charging Android users for native iMessage and FaceTime. Tie it with iCloud storage and charge $10 a month for it. It’d be a much better value than what I’m paying right now for Apple One that I never use aside from Music and iCloud backup.

If Apple has millions of suckers paying for Apple One, they surely can find a million more suckers to pay $10 a month for iMessage and FaceTime. No one except online forums would care that Apple brought iMessage etc. to Android, which accounts for less than .0000001% of the total population.

 

[txscott]

I don't understand the group text issue. I mean I do understand it, I just don't understand why anyone would want to be a part of group texts. They are as annoying as emails with big distribution lists when people just hit reply to all. Or the insufficiently damned scourge of conference calls. I may wish to chat with you and any number of other people, but very, very seldom at the same time.

With regard to green vs blue bubbles, as I look at my text history, everybody I message with has an iPhone. I did not plan or particularly desire that outcome. I find it an interesting datum. It explains why I have never been upset about green bubbles.

 

[Brian.m85]

I still don't understand the motivation for Apple to do this. Yes they improve the experience of the whatever percentage of iPhone users who use iMessage and SMS exclusively, but at a huge cost to them in terms of supporting all of those extra devices with no additional revenue, all with the privilege of losing one of their competitive advantages.

They could charge for it and have additional revenue in the short term. I think the industry has a few examples where attempting vendor lock in has hurt the product.

Microsoft for example had put in the work to support Android apps on Windows Phone (which now allows Android on Windows 11). They opted against this because they were afraid no one would write native apps and look where Windows Phone is at now.

FaceTime might have enjoyed the popularity of Zoom during lock downs if it wasn't an Apple exclusive.

Let people use your products how they want where they want and they'll continue to buy your stuff.

 

[nfl46]

Lol. iPhone users are mad that the Android users bubbles are now blue. Awe. It's okay.

You can now include us on your group chats and send us high quality videos. Lol.

 

[GoofyCyborg]

 

[scorpio vega]

This is so sad and desperate of android users lol

 

[Brian.m85]

I agree with this point. Being an Android user… I was concerned when they launched this with a price tag. I admittedly tried it… didn’t add my AppleID though. But the feature where it recognized my phone number tied to iMessage… worked.

At face value… it’s definitely a feature that should be paid for given the popularity of such a thing, I was hoping they would have placed a donation into the app instead of a subscription.


Apple users constantly bring up this topic about the color of the bubbles… Android users couldn’t care less about the color, it’s the features that’s behind it.

I am not surprised by the price. They have to pay for the servers that forward Apple push notifications to Android devices somehow.

 

[scorpio vega]

Lol. iPhone users are mad that the Android users bubbles are now blue. Awe. It's okay.

You can now include us on your group chats and send us high quality videos. Lol.

Imagine feeling left out because of a color lmao. The fact so many grown adults tie their self worth to a color and see this a victory.

 

[gluckett]

Who cares if the bubble is blue, green, purple or yellow? If you can send a message, send a message. Seems only the Android users care about the bubble color.

 

[scorpio vega]

If this will continue to be a cat and mouse game, the product is DOA. No one wants to pay for a messaging service, let alone one that is unreliable.

You underestimate the desperation of android users.

 

[Brian.m85]

This is so sad and desperate of android users lol

The high schooler who reverse engineered Apple's API's probably did it for s*** and giggles. Would look good on their resume too. And Beeper likely is trying to make a buck. None of that sounds desperate. And the few bucks Beeper wants to charge per month is probably pocket change for people who love their Android devices.

 

[scorpio vega]

Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp are not as good as iMessage. I use both. Apple Music and TV are more or less stand alone apps, where you are not very likely to switch devices on-the-fly like you are with messaging apps.

And more importantly, since apps like those already exist, what is iMessage bringing to the table anyway?

Messenger and WhatsApp literally do the same exact thing you can do with iMessage. The only benefit of iMessage is the fact it is built in To the phone software.

 

[gatorvet96]

Just buy an iPhone. You will like the quality and experience so much better anyway. Finally got my last family member to switch and they won't go back.

 

[gatorvet96]

Messenger and WhatsApp literally do the same exact thing you can do with iMessage. The only benefit of iMessage is the fact it is built in To the phone software.

Except they are owned by Meta. The most untrustworthy, personal information farming company on the planet.

 

[Brian.m85]

Who cares if the bubble is blue, green, purple or yellow? If you can send a message, send a message. Seems only the Android users care about the bubble color.

Android users care because enough iPhone users have made it an issue.

 

[scorpio vega]

The high schooler who reverse engineered Apple's API's probably did it for s*** and giggles. Would look good on their resume too. And Beeper likely is trying to make a buck. None of that sounds desperate. And the few bucks Beeper wants to charge per month is probably pocket change for people who love their Android devices.

Cool for the high school kid. He is not the first. He won’t be the last.

It’s desperate for android users all over a color under the guise of “modern text messaging”

Android users remind me of the kids in school who were bullied and then 10 years later at the reunion they have to make sure you know they they aren’t the ones who got picked on and have to constantly tell you how better they are 😂

 

[scorpio vega]

Except they are owned by Meta. The most untrustworthy, personal information farming company on the planet.

Yall use android aka google. You have no room to talk. I trust meta before I ever trust google.

 

[tuhoops]

It never ceases to amaze me how so many people fail to understand the following:

1. What iMessage is and what it does
2. What SMS/MMS messaging is, its history, and what it does
3. What RCS messaging is and what it does

I am not going to explain each here -- you can look it up -- and you should before you comment on this thread.

I will say this, Apple is really the only company keeping the ancient SMS/MMS protocol alive (those nasty green bubbles are the fault of APPLE, not Android, and are there by design), which is why I am mildly surprised they will embrace RCS next year. I guess the slogan "Privacy, that's Apple" rings hollow while you are single handedly keeping an insecure messaging system alive for the sole purpose of ecosystem lock in.

Think about this: at the birth of iMessage, way back in 2011, if Apple had made it a separate app (instead of integrating it into the existing "Messages" app, combining it with SMS/MMS texting) - green bubbles wouldn't exist. iMessage would've worked like What's App, Telegram, etc. "Texting" would've been separate. No green bubbles, no envy.

It was a brilliant decision by Apple, and now (in America especially) most people don't know the difference between the three services listed above. They just know blue or green. And they blame their friends on Android (wrongly) for messing up their chats. The world has moved on from SMS/MMS, but Apple still hangs on. Finally, maybe, it may actually end next year.

All this to say: Blame Apple, this is all their doing.

 

[Ludatyk]

I am not surprised by the price. They have to pay for the servers that forward Apple push notifications to Android devices somehow.

They already have that Beeper Cloud app that is set up using their own servers… and users are able to access that service for FREE.

They could have placed a donation into the Beeper Mini app… some users would undoubtedly pay for this feature (because I know not all), I certainly would have.

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

I don't understand the group text issue. I mean I do understand it, I just don't understand why anyone would want to be a part of group texts. They are as annoying as emails with big distribution lists when people just hit reply to all. Or the insufficiently damned scourge of conference calls. I may wish to chat with you and any number of other people, but very, very seldom at the same time.

Funny enough there's a skit that actually explains the group text issue perfectly

Short of it: When they're green it sends a message as a text which means the person with the Android phone can't see everyone else's replies, and if you add them to the conversation it turns the entire thing into SMS. It's why the Blue vs Green Bubble problem exists to begin with because Apple made it this way on purpose to let peer pressure take hold and convince the Android user to get an iPhone instead

Tim Cook says ‘buy your mom an iPhone’ if you want to end green bubbles

Apple’s CEO isn’t feeling pressure to change iMessage

www.theverge.com

It's why there's been so much demand from the Android side for Apple to adopt RCS over SMS which would fix that issue, and only now are they finally doing it, not to make messaging between their users and Android users better, but because the EU is forcing them to make that positive change. If Apple had things their way they'd let the non-iMessage messaging problems continue since it makes them a lot more money that way than just making a good crossplatform messaging solution.

 

[gatorvet96]

Yall use android aka google. You have no room to talk. I trust meta before I ever trust google.

What makes you think i use Android? Never in a million years. iPhone for me since the first one. Everything I use is apple. (see below) and yes Google is just as bad as Meta

 

[Brian.m85]

They already have that Beeper Cloud app that is set up using their own servers… and users are able to access that service for FREE.

They could have placed a donation into the Beeper Mini app… some users would undoubtedly pay for this feature (because I know not all), I certainly would have.

It's wait listed. You sure it's going to be free forever?

 

[scorpio vega]

What's wrong with Android? It's a good mobile OS.

It’s decent at best on galaxy and pixels and is a fragmented mess. The fragmentation isn’t as terrible as it used to be but it’s still an OS that does so much and yet does nothing actually well.

I cringe when I have to use android as it just feels subpar.

A lot of complaining in the comment section over Beeper Mini. Remember the stories of dates ghosting people on Android? The stories of kids excluding others from conversations on Android.

Beeper Mini probably wouldn't exist if some Apple users weren't such insufferable elitist.

Those stories were exaggerated lmao. If a grown man or woman feels slighted because someone doesn’t want to go on a date with them for a text bubble color that is truly pitiful and they need to spend time in therapy to discuss whatever self esteem issues they have.

Kids also aren’t being left out of group chats because most kids are using snap and messenger and tik tok and insta.

Again this is not 2010 lmao.

Apple users constantly bring up this topic about the color of the bubbles… Android users couldn’t care less about the color, it’s the features that’s behind it.

See above.

I used Android after ditching my iPhone 6 right up until I purchased an iPhone 14 Pro and during that time iMessages never once came to mind. Having used RCS messaging on both Google and Samsung devices during that time and now using iMessage, iMessage doesn't do anything I couldn't do on Android. Even if it did, I certainly wouldn't have paid a monthly fee to use it.

Exactly. Android users think that iMessage is what keeps us here. When I am forced to use android I don’t ever think of iMessage. iMessage is texting to me. I didn’t even realize it wasn’t normal texting until RCS came up on here a month ago.

 

[scorpio vega]

What makes you think i use Android? Never in a million years. iPhone for me since the first one. Everything I use is apple. (see below) and yes Google is just as bad as Meta

My apologies.

I trust meta more than Facebook. I’ve had an account with them nearly 20 years. Most of the data Facebook has from me is of me posting “dank memes” and selfies and getting into spirited politics debates on Facebook and following various Celebes on Instagram.

Google is far more of a toxic mess and I refuse to trust them with my data. Android is essentially a virus in my opinion.

 

[Iwavvns]

Who thinks that behind this Beeper thing with iMessage is Google, such as Google providing some engineering resources to Beeper to keep finding inroads to the iMessaging system? I wouldn't be surprised it exists.

Perhaps Google is thinking that this cat and mouse game we are currently enjoying will become too much of an annoyance to Apple and hasten adoption of RCS? Has Apple already confirmed that they will adopt RCS?