iPhone owners have relished the exclusivity of blue iMessage bubbles in their conversations for almost ten years. That changed in 2023 with the arrival of the Android underclass, thanks to apps like Beeper that break into Apple’s system and reverse engineer it. Apple has been retaliating against Beeper, but the app has come up with new ways to get around it. However, Apple has won the most recent game of cat and mouse. The new workaround for Beeper greatly reduces the convenience of the service.
On non-Apple devices, it is not possible to log into iMessage by yourself. This is a messaging system that works in conjunction with text messaging; when the iPhone detects that you are contacting another iPhone user, the communication automatically goes through Apple’s servers instead of sending a traditional SMS. Longer messages, HD media, typing indications, and more can be accessed in iMessage in this way. When an Android user sends a message to an iPhone, they are represented as green SMS bubbles devoid of any functionality.
Apple has done a fantastic job of discrediting Android with this unequal communications, although Android phone numbers can participate in iMessage using apps like Beeper and Nothing’s Sunbird-based chat software. Apple is free to obstruct Beeper’s access to iMessage, even as Beeper is free to assist users in using it. The company decided to delay charging for the service while resolving its dispute with Apple.
Apple has been able to disable Beeper’s workaround at every opportunity. To elucidate the latest development in the iMessage story, the Beeper developers have resorted to Reddit. “Registration data” is a packet that needs to be sent when you connect to iMessage. In the past, Beeper’s service relayed data utilizing a fleet of Mac computers housed in a data center. Users must, however, exchange registration information as a result. Apple has blocked Beeper users using this method.
You must create your own registration data with the most recent version of Beeper, which necessitates a Mac computer. Similar to iPhones, Macs come pre-installed with iMessage functionality. Using the registration data, the Beeper Cloud app will link you to iMessage on your Android device. But the Mac must always be online because this info needs to be refreshed around once every week. Additionally, Beeper advises using a friend’s Mac to create the registration data. According to the business, ten to twenty users can share the same data without drawing Apple’s notice.
A few years ago, these clumsy iMessage workarounds might have been useful, but times are changing. It was recently confirmed by Apple that iOS would now enable RCS messaging. Android users will finally enjoy modern text features when speaking with iPhone users, however it presumably won’t have all the functionality of iMessage. When RCS becomes available in a year, nobody will want to bother with iMessage workarounds anymore.