Real iMessage on Android?

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This could get interesting.

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That’s fascinating.

Years ago I accidentally went for a swim with my iPhone, before they were waterproof. I couldn’t replace it immediately, but I tried sticking the SIM card in an old flip phone I had … and it worked!

More, when I got certain kinds of app notifications (for the iPhone apps I had on my bricked iPhone) they just showed up as SMS messages! Irrc, there was some random-looking characters accompanying the text of the alert, which presumably contains instructions for the phone or authentication or something. But I remember thinking it was a pretty clever approach.

I’m sure the technology behind iPhone alerts is more sophisticated now. But in retrospect, I’m not too surprised it’s possible to fool the iMessage system into accepting non–Apple hardware.

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Never heard of this before (and AFAIK that’s never been something that Apple supported/documented).

Which Apps did this? (If you remember)

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I don’t remember which apps, sadly. It was pretty early on, at least in my own iPhone history – mid- to late-2010.

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Well this is an interesting development and it looks like Apple might be in a tight spot. It’ll be interesting to see their response. I wonder if they won’t release iMessage for Android just to kill this product, assuming there are no easy technical or likely legal optioins available to them.

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I’m mostly worried about this solution spoofing device IDs. I don’t know to what extent the Apple ID and the security system surrounding it depend on it – the video suggests that it’s not a major issue as these IDs are not truly unique – but this still worries me a bit. If it’s true that mitigating this might require a major redesign of Apple’s authorisation and Apple ID system, then this will take quite some time probably.

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Yeah, I’m wondering about this part too.

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As I see it killing the product doesn’t solve Apple’s problem. Neither does buying Beeper or taking legal action. Now that the method is known anyone can create another app. Perhaps Apple can “flip a switch” and change the way iCloud IDs work - but that would have to work perfectly on every device that they have sold in the past 12+ years.

I wonder if Apple is regretting their decision to kill iMessage for Android? If they had released it maybe no one would have looked for a way to build another one.

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You’re right in that killing this app doesn’t solve the problem. It may be that the genie is out of the bottle. Would be nothing more than a tactical message to investors in similar ventures for other Apple services that they’re bad investment.

If Apple can’t easily close this technically or legally then it looks as if iMessage may be cross platform no matter what and they may decide that it’s in their best interest to grab whatever remaining control they have over that and run with it.

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The Empire Strikes Back: Apple cuts off Beeper Mini's access after launch of service that brought iMessage to Android | TechCrunch

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Apple confirms that it shut down Beeper’s access:

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Yes. It looks like the only way Apple will ever let iMessage communicate securely with Android users is if the US government decides to get involved.

Update:

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This is a big bet. Automattic is doubling down on chat after their acquisition last year of Texts.com, a messaging app with a similar mission. Our teams and products will merge, and I will take on the role leading the team as Head of Messaging. It will take a bit of time for us to integrate and combine forces under the Beeper brand.

Beeper has just over 115,000 users

This is the first acquisition by Automattic to augment an existing acquisition, I think.

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I think they’re going to be smart about iMessage:

A lot of people are asking about iMessage on Android… I have zero interest in fighting with Apple, I think instead it’s best to focus on messaging networks that want more engagement from power-user clients. This is an area I’m excited to work on when I return from my sabbatical next month.

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If Apple was also smart about iMessage, we shouldn’t need beeper… Apple is instead greedy lol… and they are also smart so that works in their favour.

Instead, Tim Cook rather I buy my mum an iPhone :crazy_face:

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Who is this “we” you speak of? :joy: In all seriousness though I think this could be killed with the post quantum encryption updates made to iMessage. Haven’t looked into it deeply though.

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We as in people who still want to communicate with android people using the messages. Having said that, RCS support coming to iOS will make it easier than what we have today.

I am pretty sure if iMessage comes to android officially, it will likely be most used chat app in the world.

It doesn’t because Apple sees it as a lock in to the platform which is really disappointing

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Or Apple sees it as a perk one gets for buying a compatible Apple product.

Why should Apple foot the bill for providing this service to non-Apple customers?

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Apple doesn’t have to provide another service. IMO, if iMessage & Facetime were compatible with other clients that would allow businesses to use them. Even letting users change their default message program would be an improvement.

As it is iMessage is like an email service that only works on Macs.

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I didn’t say they had to do it for free. They can say it’s part of iCloud+ or something else. If anyone knows how to extract money from subscriptions it’s Apple … at least give them that much credit lol

In regards to why do it… it’s the same reason… customer experience. It’s why they have iTunes on Windows or Apple Music and Apple TV on android. They didn’t have to do this.