Beeper

Beeper launches redesigned Android app in beta with new features, but no iMessage

Ben Schoon | Mar 14 2024 - 8:30 am PT

Now that the dust has settled around the Beeper Mini situation, Beeper is turning attention to its original app which is getting a massive revamp on Android starting today.

Rolling out to beta users starting today, the new Beeper for Android is revamped entirely from the original app. It requires a fresh download from the Play Store, but delivers a much more modern experience built on the same foundation as Beeper Mini was. The new look feels native to Android and drastically improved over the existing app, as we’ve noted in our early access to the app over the past few days.

Right away in the new app you’ll notice the blue color scheme and the considerable boost in speed. The new Beeper app is dramatically faster, in part because it now caches chats locally.

There are also new features. During setup, Beeper now uses Android’s native QR scanner to set up access from the desktop app. It also now supports more Android features like Bubbles, and has a dual-pane design on foldables, tablets, and ChromeOS.

Another big new addition is the ability to link new chat services from the mobile app, something that was previously only possible from the desktop app. You can also now search messages across all connected platforms at the same time, which is super useful.

The new app, as we’ve been testing it, works very well as a replacement for the previous version, and seems to be roughly at feature parity. The only outstanding omission, really, is iMessage support. This new app doesn’t support iMessage at all, with the existing, only mostly functional bridge still only working in Beeper Mini. That will be coming to the new app in time, though, Beeper says. Some other missing features including tagging people with @, viewing a list of who has reacted to a message, and scheduled send, but they’re all coming in updates.

As of today, the new Beeper app is available only in beta, but it should come to all users in time. Access to the standard Beeper app, though, is still invite-only. Beeper notes in a blog post that the app will become paid soon, saying that it will be “activating paid subscriptions in the very near future.” There’s no word on pricing.