Beeper disables new iMessage connections after Apple banned Macs

Ben Schoon | Jan 26 2024 - 9:51 am PT

The Beeper saga continues, with the company now disabling the ability to connect to iMessage entirely after Apple banned some of its customers’ Macs for using the app.

To recap what’s happened with Beeper thus far, Beeper Mini debuted in December with a reverse-engineered method of accessing iMessage with or without an Apple ID from Android phones. Apple shut down the method in part just days later, and vowed to keep it from working going forward citing “significant risks to user security and privacy.” Beeper managed to get things working again, but Apple’s efforts continued to prevent full functionality. By the end of December, Beeper had launched a final attempt to keep the app on Android (and other platforms) alive using registration codes obtained from Macs as well as jailbroken iPhones.

That last effort was a hurdle for many, but worked without any big problems for a little while.

But earlier this month, a trend started to emerge among Beeper users where Apple was banning their purchased Macs from iMessage after setting up a connection with Beeper. Apple flagged Macs as “spam,” preventing the Macs from sending iMessage through Beeper or even Apple’s own Messages app on the machines. Apple IDs, though, were unaffected, with iMessage still working on iPhone and iPad.

In an update on Twitter/X, Beeper explains that 30 of the 3,500 customers using the new iMessage bridge were affected in this way. In the time since, though, Apple seems to have unbanned the affected Macs, not-so-ironically just two days after a reporter from The New York Times reached out to the company on the matter.

Apple banned some Beeper user Mac computers, New York Times investigated, Apple unbanned.

The saga continues! Even after we've shifted our energy from iMessage back to our core Beeper product (15 network universal chat app), Apple cannot seem to get enough!

Here's the TLDR: pic.twitter.com/pMln2xK6Kf
— Beeper (@onbeeper) January 26, 2024

Beeper, however, is disabling the ability to use the Beeper Cloud app on macOS to connect to iMessage. While the company doesn’t say whether or not the functionality will return, it’s disabled as of now, preventing customers from establishing a new connection with iMessage. Notably, those who are already connected can leave the connection running (or disable it, if they wish).

We have disabled the ability for users to start new iMessage connections from Beeper Cloud at this time. If you set up an iMessage connection in Beeper since Dec 21st and would like to disable it, open Beeper Desktop → Settings Gear → Chat Networks → iMessage → Delete.

Prior to this, iMessage was moved to “Labs” in Beeper Cloud, and Beeper Mini was removed from the Google Play Store on Android.

Beeper asks any remaining users who have seen their Macs banned from iMessage to reach out first to Beeper so the case can be documented, then to Apple support to ask for their machine to be unbanned. Many of those affected seem to have had success getting unbanned simply be talking to support.