Next Beeper Mini Fix Requires Users to Have a Mac

[kwikdeth]

"Apple's iMessage monopoly" give me a break.
Next up, a lawsuit against Ford claiming other automakers should be able to make Fords.

 

[sdugoten]

iMessage isn’t SMS
The Messages app is not iMessage.
You can disable iMessage and never use it. The Messages app existed before iMessage existed. It will just use SMS/MMS and soon RCS. Plenty of people never use iMessage on their devices. They can even use the same Messages app on iPad and Mac without iMessage to receive SMS/MMS (and soon RCS).

iMessage is an over-the-top, web-based messaging service that is entirely optional to use.

I mean...just use the Messages app solely for receiving SMS. For all other texting need, just use whatsapp/signal, and forget about iMessage. Isnt' that will be simpler?

 

[fastred]

I gave up on Beeper.

 

[Rock_Artist]

This really remind me the jailbreak days. First it “just worked”, then you had to follow some steps and even restore fresh, then you had semi-tethered jailbreaka. Mini beeper now going to have a tethered workaround…

 

[JosephAW]

Apple just needs to charge $.99 a month for android users to use iMessage, they make a killing

 

[BigJohno]

Why are they trying to hard to make this work...

 

[tazinlwfl]

I mean...just use the Messages app solely for receiving SMS. For all other texting need, just use whatsapp/signal, and forget about iMessage. Isnt' that will be simpler?

I prefer not to have terrible Meta apps on my device or rely on their service. iMessage suits me perfectly fine, and if I text someone who doesn’t have iMessage, it automatically drops to SMS/MMS without me having to think about it. A much simpler solution.

 

[contacos]

Say what you want, they seem to pretty quick to find another way instead of just giving up

 

[thinsays]

lol.

 

[azentropy]

Apple just needs to charge $.99 a month for android users to use iMessage, they make a killing

Probably more like $4.99/mo or include it in some other paid Apple service. Could even work out a deal with carriers (at least in the US) that they could bundle the service.

 

[DFZD]

Instead of forcing shut this small company, Apple should suspend users trying to use this service. Maybe for short intervals at first. Yes this won't solve the problem either but at least Apple would stop pretending that it cares about it's user's privacy and security.

 

[macduke]

Honest question: How many people can afford a Mac but not an iPhone?

This company is going to have no customer base left. Grasping at straws...

 

[scorpio vega]

Better idea. Apple releases an Android client for iMessage, or let me replace the default messaging/sms app on my iPhone.

You’re not entitled to iMessage on android. Sorry.

 

[curtissh]

I use Beeper to get iMessage texts on my work Windows PC. It's a total game changer, and something I've wanted desperately for years and years. I have an iPhone. I have a Mac Mini at home. This solution will work great for me. Air Message did something similar, but the software was slow and it had limited functionality relative to Beeper. Beeper is really great code. I would GLADLY pay for what they're doing, even if I have to enroll with my own Mac. I also like that I can consolidate Signal, Whatsapp, and Telegram into the same pane.

 

[tobybrut]

This makes Beeper mini no different from all the other iMessage for Android apps, such as AirMessage or BlueBubbles, both of which require installing a server side component on a Mac. That method works because it is actually using iMessage and routing it through to an Android app. This “fix” is likely to hold since others have been doing this for years and Apple hasn’t done anything to block those. I haven’t compared features side-by-side, but AirMessage and BlueBubbles are free, while I think Beeper mini charges a monthly fee.

I actually run AirMessage, myself, because I have two phones, an iPhone and an Android. I use this mostly to avoid SMS on my family group chat. It has its quirks and bugs and missing features, but it mostly works pretty well. I probably won’t switch to RCS when Apple implements it due to the lack of end-to-end encryption, the main reason I’m using AirMessage.

 

[scorpio vega]

Good lord, just give it up. This has gotten pathetic now.

Getting? It’s been pathetic.

Honest question: How many people can afford a Mac but not an iPhone?

This company is going to have no customer base left. Grasping at straws...

Exactly.

Not sure why Beeper Mini is so desperate. In a few months, their app will be completely irrelevant.

They want blue bubbles lol

Apple just needs to charge $.99 a month for android users to use iMessage, they make a killing

Android users are deaperate and sad enough so I’d charge them $10 a month lol.

 

[scorpio vega]

RCS when Apple implements it due to the lack of end-to-end encryption, the main reason I’m using AirMessage.

I really wish people would stop pushing this rhetoric. None of us know if apple will have e2ee or not. It’s apple so I lean towards likely.

 

[Tune]

Apple needs to stop dragging @$$ and release RCS already.

 

[tobybrut]

I really wish people would stop pushing this rhetoric. None of us know if apple will have e2ee or not. It’s apple so I lean towards likely.

It’s because it won’t have end-to-end encryption. If you’ve seen the news stories, there is only one version of RCS that has it, Google’s version. The standard RCS spec that is used by the cellular companies doesn’t have it, and that’s the version Apple will be using. The same news stories say Apple is working with the consortium to create one that does, but when you’re dealing with new standards, we’re talking YEARS. Apple is introducing RCS in just a few months.

 

[CarAnalogy]

Damn I’m getting tired of being right about this. I said this in the very first post about this. You can proxy messages from a Mac that’s legitimately signed in. But yeah, at this point, why even bother? There might actually be more of a market for Android using Mac owners, but this is still getting ridiculous.

 

[CarAnalogy]

I care. Tell me this "real story". I have two iPhones (personal and work), and an android phone.

I like iOS, I like macOS, I don't like Apple's decisions with iMessage.

..and I routinely send Apple feedback about it. Doubt they read it, but I keep sending it.

They’ll fix that soon. By shutting down Feedback.

 

[kirbyrun]

In our testing, 10-20 iMessage users can safely use the same registration data.

Am I the only one who thinks that's a really broad, imprecise range? Like, if I get a bunch of friends together to gang up on a Mac to use Beeper Mini, am I gonna be OK at 11? 12? Will I crap out before I hit 18? If I want to split the cost of a new Mac, am I dividing by 10 or by 20...and what do you mean I won't know until I buy it and try?

Hardly the most important or interesting aspect of this whole thing, but it just kinda jumped out at me...

 

[tobybrut]

I really wish people would stop pushing this rhetoric. None of us know if apple will have e2ee or not. It’s apple so I lean towards likely.

Oh, one more thing. Apple has been allowing SMS since iMessage’s inception and it doesn’t have e2ee, so there’s no particular reason to assume Apple will invent its own variety that won’t work with the cell companies. Google uses its own flavor and its own routing, and the news stories have said Apple will not be using Google’s. If you’ve ever used an iMessage group chat with even a single Android user, the entire chat goes through SMS regardless of whether everyone else is using an iPhone, not just the part to/from the Android. It’s for that reason of lack of e2ee that I switched to AirMessage. I didn’t want to expose my family’s main group chat.

 

[curtissh]

This makes Beeper mini no different from all the other iMessage for Android apps, such as AirMessage or BlueBubbles, both of which require installing a server side component on a Mac. That method works because it is actually using iMessage and routing it through to an Android app. This “fix” is likely to hold since others have been doing this for years and Apple hasn’t done anything to block those. I haven’t compared features side-by-side, but AirMessage and BlueBubbles are free, while I think Beeper mini charges a monthly fee.

This is not quite right. Unlike AirMessage and BlueBubbles, Beeper is just using the local Mac to get the registration data, but otherwise everything is running through the Beeper servers. That's what makes Beeper so much more performant than AirMessage and BlueBubbles. Also, both of those alternatives have limited functionality relative to Beeper, unless you disable your MacOS System Integrity Protection with BlueBubbles, which is a huge PITA and an obvious security risk.

Also, at least so far, Beeper is not charging for their desktop app, which I've been using for a few months. I don't have need of Beeper Mini as I use an iPhone.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Why is this only a thing after Apple has already confirmed that they're adding RCS? Strange timing.

I’m sure they rapidly put together this solution in an attempt at making as much money as possible before the RCS thing happens. And, with over 100,000 sales, there’s likely either refunds OR a class action lawsuit in their future if they don’t keep working on it.