Apple recently confirmed that on Friday it stopped the Beeper Mini app from letting Android phones send iMessages. The company said it “took steps to protect our users by blocking techniques that exploit fake credentials to gain access to iMessage.”
The Beeper Mini app recently launched, allowing Android users to send and receive iMessages on their phones. However, Apple was not happy with how it worked. The app used a trick to pretend it was an iPhone so it could access iMessage. But Apple was worried this could cause privacy and security problems.
People were concerned the app might accidentally share personal information from iMessages. Or that scammers could abuse the app to send spam or phishing messages. Apple wants to ensure iMessages stay private and secure just between iPhone users.
The company says the Beeper Mini technique “posed significant risks to user security and privacy.” This included the potential for personal metadata to be exposed. Metadata is data about your messages, like who you contacted or when rather than the content of messages.
Apple also notes it could not confirm iMessages sent through Beeper Mini were encrypted securely. Encryption helps keep message content private, but Apple wasn’t sure the app did this properly. The company said it “will continue to make updates in the future to protect our users.”
In response, Beeper deregistered all the Android phone numbers that were connected to users’ accounts. This prevents those numbers from receiving any future iMessages. The company also extended users’ free trials by another week while it works on fixing the app.
For now, Android users will have to rely on standard SMS text messages instead of being able to send iMessages until Beeper or another app develops a more secure solution that satisfies Apple’s requirements. User privacy and security will likely remain Apple’s top priority in evaluating any future methods.
