Apple Confirms It Shut Down iMessage for Android App Beeper Mini

Apple today confirmed that it took steps to shut down the functionality of Beeper Mini, an app that enabled Android users to send and receive iMessages.

beeper mini
Apple emphasized its commitment to user privacy and security, explaining that the move was necessitated by the potential risks Beeper Mini's techniques posed, including metadata exposure and susceptibility to spam and phishing attacks. Apple's full statement shared with The Verge and other news sites is as follows:

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. 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.

Beeper Mini operated by intercepting the iMessage protocol using Apple's own push notification service, convincing Apple's servers it was an authentic Apple device. This method, according to Apple, involved the use of "fake credentials," which posed significant security and privacy risks to users. Beeper claims that its process worked with no compromises to encryption or privacy, and the company's documentation says that nobody can read the content of sent messages other than the sender and its recipient, but Apple was unable to verify this and says it posed risks to users.

Following Apple's statement, Beeper CEO Eric Migicovsky expressed his willingness to cooperate with Apple for a security review of Beeper's code to The Verge. He emphasized the importance of secure communication channels between iPhone and Android users, challenging Apple's decision by highlighting the inadequacies of unencrypted SMS for cross-platform messaging. Despite Apple's firm stance, Migicovsky remains committed to exploring solutions that could enable the return of Beeper Mini or similar services.

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Top Rated Comments

iBluetooth Avatar
18 months ago

convincing Apple's servers it was an authentic Apple device
This hack is quite a weak point in the security and should be rightfully blocked.
Score: 50 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rorschach Avatar
18 months ago

throw timmy in jail until he stops being so anticompetitive.
"Anticompetitive" in what way? Apple built and maintains a service that costs them money. They pay for it by selling other products and services. Have these clowns offered to pay Apple for the use of their servers? (That's not even getting into the security issues.)
Score: 46 Votes (Like | Disagree)
diddl14 Avatar
18 months ago
Not sure why anyone would think they could build a business around this?
Pretty clear that Apple would and will close any loopholes, even if they have to upgrade the OS itself and make it incompatible with older versions.
Score: 37 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Haiku_Oezu Avatar
18 months ago
The only surprising thing is they thought they could get away with charging for this
Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Ivander Avatar
18 months ago
And rightfully so. No matter how you call it - reverse engineering, hacking, finding loopholes etc., at the end of the day basically that company steals an Apple service in order to gain profit.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MrRom92 Avatar
18 months ago
People who want services like this are overly fixated on the whole “blue bubble” thing and I feel like they are kinda entirely missing the point
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)