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It’s been pretty fun the last few weeks seeing Beeper Mini come out as a way to bring iMessage to Android. Then, see Apple fix the exploit that was being used, and Beeper Mini fire back with another way to accomplish the same thing.
But, as you probably could figure out, this isn’t going to be sustainable for a small startup taking on one of the biggest companies in the world. So, today, Beeper has announced that it is pushing out its last software release, which they feel is something that Apple can tolerate existing. The company does “not have any current plans to respond if this solution is knocked offline.”
Beeper has also fully open-sourced the software that powers Beeper Mini and Beeper Cloud, so anyone else can continue development if they wish to do so.
Beeper’s CEO, Eric Migicovsky, says that the company will be shifting its focus back to its long-term goal of building the best chat app on earth in the new year.
Beeper is done playing “cat and mouse” with Apple
It was pretty clear in early December when Apple first fixed the exploit Beeper was using that this was just going to be a “cat and mouse” game for Apple and Beeper going forward. Apple fixes iMessage, and Beeper finds another way in, rinse and repeat.
However, as much as Beeper wants to fight for what they think should already exist – iMessage on multi-platform – that’s just not going to be possible with Apple. Keep in mind that Apple is a $3 trillion company; Beeper is very much not that.
On the bright side, this whole thing has brought to light the things Apple will do to keep iMessage an iPhone-only feature, which has gotten lawmakers involved. A group of Bipartisan lawmakers from the US House and US Senate have written to the Department of Justice to probe Apple about the shuttering of iMessage. We’ll have to wait and see if anything comes from this, as the government is quite slow.
Keep in mind that Apple will be adding RCS support next year (Thanks, Europe!), but that doesn’t completely solve the issues of texting an iPhone from an Android and vice versa.