Using iMessage with an Android phone? Now you can, thanks to a new app called Beeper Mini that cheered up users of Google’s operating system — but sent Apple into a rage.
The recently launched app promises to let Android users communicate with others on iMessage with encrypted blue bubbles, read receipts, in-line answers, and high-quality multimedia just like iPhone users do. However, this swiftly sparked a conflict between Apple and Beeper, with Cupertino blocking the app due to “security issues” and Beeper swiftly coming up with fresh strategies to get its Android customers back on iMessage.
The software, which costs $2 per month and was released on December 5, was developed through a sophisticated reverse engineering technique – with the help of a 16-year-old high school student.
Only a few days after Beeper Mini’s release, however, Apple stopped the software, citing security concerns for iMessage users. As a result, Beeper decided to cease collecting its $2 monthly subscription fee while it looked for a more reliable means to deliver service.
The software company later advised users to obtain a jailbroken iPhone and install a free tool which generates iMessage registration codes to maintain the service – a somewhat indirect and costly method that discouraged most users.
Beeper CEO Eric Migicovsky says the firm is prepared to take legal action against Apple for antitrust violations and is ready to fight back.
“There are real antitrust implications here, and most people aren’t really getting the full picture,” said Migicovsky, who is also an open source software advocate. “They think, ‘Apple made iMessage, therefore they get exclusive rights to control access to it.’ But when you make a phone that’s used by more than 50 percent of the population in the States, and you make your app the default, you’re held to a higher degree of rules and regulation.”
Lawmakers are also keeping a close eye on Apple and Beeper’s feud. Representatives Ken Buck and Jerry Nadler, together with Senators Amy Klobuchar and Mike Lee, requested last week that the Department of Justice’s antitrust division investigate if Apple was breaking any laws. In a letter to Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter, the lawmakers said they were “concerned that Apple’s recent actions to disable Beeper Mini harm competition, eliminate choices for consumers, and will discourage future innovation and investment in interoperable messaging services.”
The Cupertino-based company defended its decision to block Beeper, telling The Verge that the app “posed significant risks to user security and privacy, including the potential for metadata exposure and enabling unwanted messages, spam, and phishing attacks.”
