The triumph didn't last long. Apple has closed a loophole that gave Android users direct access to iMessage technology
December 11, 23:02 Share:
Apple may turn off FaceTime and iMessage in Britain (Photo: @onbab/pexels)
Late last week, within days of the launch of Beeper Mini, which was touted as an easy way for Android users to access iMessage's encrypted messaging technology, the messaging app began experiencing technical glitches.. According to The Verge, users could no longer send “ blue” messages ( correspondence inside iMessage is highlighted in this color), activate your phone numbers, etc.. In the end it became clear: Apple took measures to prevent the new service from working. This was confirmed by company representatives.
“We've taken action to protect our users by blocking methods that use fake credentials to gain access to iMessage,” said Nadine Hajja, Apple's senior PR manager.
In response to the blocking, Beeper representatives accused Apple of pushing iPhone owners to send significantly less secure SMS messages when communicating with Android users, instead of providing the latter with access to iMessage.
“If Apple truly cares about the privacy and security of its own iPhone users, why are they stopping a service that allows their own users to send encrypted messages to Android users rather than using unsecured SMS?” Beeper CEO Eric Migicovsky told The Verge.
American Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, commenting on Apple's decision, also accused the company of anti-competitive behavior.
“Green Bubbles” ( this color indicates SMS messages, while iMessage messages are blue in chat – NV) less secure. Why is Apple blocking a new program that allows Android users to chat with iPhone users via iMessage? Big Tech CEOs are protecting profits by crushing competitors,” she wrote on X.
https://twitter.com/SenWarren/status/1733956234200445130
To recap, Beeper Mini isn't the first attempt to make Apple's exclusive iMessage messaging technology work on Android, but it's being called the most impressive.. While previous efforts involved complex systems with remote Macs logged into a user's Apple ID, the Beeper team enabled connections directly to Apple services. To do this, they completely deconstructed the messaging pipeline and learned how to fool the system that checks whether the connected device is actually a company product.
Beeper claims that its methods do not harm message encryption and user privacy.. At the same time, Apple claims there are “significant security risks.”
Now Beeper is still hoping that Apple, which continues to demonstrate that users should buy an iPhone rather than wait for the company to approve any iMessage solution for Android, will make concessions. The team claims that it is willing to share Beeper code with Apple for security testing.
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