Beeper Mini, a newly released Android app, provided users with access to Apple’s iMessage service for a monthly fee. This initiative resembled the recent introduction by Britain-based Nothing. However, shortly after its launch, the app developed by former Pebble co-founder Eric Migicovsky experienced an outage. Apple confirmed that it had blocked the service due to concerns regarding privacy and security. Nevertheless, Beeper asserts that its service is secure and is actively working to restore the app.
When users attempted to send messages through the Beeper Mini app, they encountered “Failed to lookup on server: Lookup request timed out” error messages on their screens. After receiving multiple reports of issues, Beeper acknowledged the problem and announced its efforts to reinstate the services.
Subsequently, Apple confirmed in a statement to The Verge that it had taken measures to prevent Beeper Mini from accessing iMessage because the app utilized “fake credentials.” Apple stated that it had taken these actions to safeguard its users since the technology employed by Beeper posed significant risks to user privacy and security.
However, Beeper Mini claims to offer end-to-end encryption for its messaging service. In a post on X, the company emphasized that it ensures message privacy and enhances security, unlike unencrypted SMS. Additionally, Beeper expressed its willingness to share its complete source code with mutually agreed third parties for security assessment.
Founder Eric Migicovsky questioned whether Apple, if truly concerned about the privacy and security of iPhone users, had any valid reason to block a service that now enables their own users to send encrypted messages to Android users, rather than relying on insecure SMS.
Later, Beeper reiterated its commitment to restoring its services and expressed anticipation in sharing positive updates with its users soon. Beeper Mini was introduced as a service to facilitate Android users in connecting with iOS users via iMessage for a monthly fee of $1.99 (approximately Rs. 160).