Comment: iMessage for Android was fun while it lasted

Ben Schoon | Dec 12 2023 - 2:45 pm PT

iMessage for Android was once just a pipedream but has since become a reality thanks to a bunch of different workarounds. However, Apple has now made it abundantly clear that it does not want iMessage on Android, killing Beeper Mini, the first really good implementation of the idea.

In recent years, the idea of iMessage on platforms not owned by Apple has become a bit less crazy, as Mac server farms made it possible. However, those platforms never fully earned trust, as handing over your Apple ID to a third party is an inherently bad idea.

But, on December 5, Beeper Mini launched and really changed the conversation.

Beeper, launched in 2021 by Pebble founder Eric Migicovsky, originally allowed users to use iMessage on other platforms by signing into their Apple ID in a Mac server farm operated by Beeper.

But Beeper Mini took the server farm out of the equation.

Based on the work of a talented teenager, Beeper Mini used a method that reverse-engineered iMessage. The app handed your Apple ID, your phone number, and all of your messages directly to Apple. Effectively, it was a “native” iMessage client, and it worked incredibly well. And Migikovsky was pretty confident that the app would last, citing legal protection for apps that reverse engineer content for the purpose of interoperability, as well as the thought that Beeper’s method to bring iMessage to Android was beyond Apple’s ability to shut down. A detailed breakdown of how it all works from Snazzy Labs on YouTube does a great job of explaining why the method was seemingly bulletproof.

However, “seemingly” is the keyword there.

Just a few days later, Beeper Mini abruptly stopped working for all users, and it’s now been officially confirmed that Apple made a change that shut it down. And, in that confirmation (emphasis below my own), Apple has made it clear that it doesn’t want this sort of thing to, well, be a thing.

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.

While there’s a clear argument for privacy and security in having iMessage on Android, Apple was well within its right to close the loophole.

Beeper Mini, by reverse-engineering iMessage, effectively showed that Apple’s service had a hole in its armor. For a service that’s constantly talking about privacy, security, and encryption, Beeper Mini challenged Apple’s entire pitch. Beeper’s Eric Migicovsky continually reiterates that the app poses no security threat, which is seemingly true, but it’s equally correct for Apple to consider the app and its method to be security threats.

There’s just no world where Apple would have left this going indefinitely. At one point or another, the app would have been blocked.

Beeper, though, does seem determined to keep things going. The app was revived a few days after Apple “killed” it, though with some significant changes, including the removal of phone number support and the requirement of Apple ID. While that’s not as good as it was, it’s still good to see because, even with a phone number, Beeper Mini is still the best version of iMessage for Android we’ve seen yet.

Beeper is playing a cat-and-mouse game with Apple, and it is the mouse.

Apple has made it clear that it will continue to stop this app from working. It’s only a matter of time, probably. Beeper might pull it off and keep Beeper Mini running. However, at the very least, it seems obvious things will never work the same as they did at launch, and stability is not something I ever expect to see. I hope to be proven wrong, but it seems unlikely that Apple will let this continue, even as it sees increased scrutiny over that position.

Top comment by FSLA

Liked by 9 people

"These techniques posed significant risks to user security and privacy, including the potential for metadata exposure and enabling unwanted messages, spam, and phishing attacks."

The only risk to apple was their security moat in keeping users in their walled garden. If a spammer wants to operate, it's so easy to do it via other means. It's already a problem on their platform.

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As for other iMessage apps for Android, the future is largely unclear, but it’s not exactly bright either.

Sunbird is still on a (probably permanent) hiatus due to its ridiculously bad handling of user data. Automattic-owned Texts.com is still up and running, too (although that is based on you owning a Mac anyway). And, despite running into some issues, Beeper Cloud continues to work as well. Personally, I don’t foresee Apple going after the whole server farm or self-hosted bridge angle anyway because those apps don’t open questions about Apple’s security. Apple’s side isn’t really being exploited in those cases, it’s just the individual user’s choice that carries some potential risk.

But, in terms of actually having iMessage for Android, it does feel that Apple’s speedy response to this whole situation has made it obvious that Apple does not want iMessage to work outside of its ecosystem. And, as much as that’s a crying shame, it totally checks out, especially for Apple. So, as much as a native iMessage client for Android makes sense when it comes to user privacy and the prevalence of blue bubble bullying that Apple seems to want, it seems like it’s just not going to happen unless Apple decides to make it happen, and we all know that’s incredibly unlikely.

At the very least, Apple is adopting RCS next year.