The MacRumors Present: Ought to Apple Enable iMessage for Android?

On this week’s episode of The MacRumors Present, we focus on the current controversy round Android apps that search to allow iMessage performance.

A number of corporations have been vying to supply options for Android customers who want to ship and obtain iMessages for a while. Most lately, “Beeper Mini” provided a means to take action without having to sign up with an Apple ID.

The app’s builders used reverse-engineered iMessage protocols to register Android cellphone numbers with Apple’s servers, permitting Android customers to ship blue bubble messages to iPhone customers with help for all iMessage performance, together with learn receipts, typing indicators, and reactions.

Apple ended up blocking Beeper Mini final week, with the corporate confirming that it took steps to close down the app because it apparently posed dangers to the safety and privateness of iMessage customers.

In a weblog put up, the Beeper Mini staff stated that the app had the “quickest rising paid Android software in historical past,” with greater than 100,000 downloads. This was stated to be proof that Android and ‌iPhone‌ prospects “desperately need to have the ability to chat collectively” with the entire options accessible on iMessage. Earlier this week, the app’s performance returned, however now with the requirement to sign up with an ‌Apple ID‌ and obtain messages by way of an e-mail handle relatively than a cellphone quantity.

Beeper Mini’s builders say that regardless of reaching out to Apple, they haven’t heard again. It’s unlikely that Apple will give in and permit Beeper Mini to operate because it did, and Apple could shut down additional performance as effectively if it might probably.

Apple does have plans to convey a variety of iMessage-like options to chats between ‌iPhone‌ customers and Android customers by RCS, a protocol that Apple will add to iPhones subsequent 12 months. ‌RCS‌ will convey help for prime quality video and pictures, emoji reactions, typing indicators, learn receipts, and extra, all options that Beeper Mini says that Android and ‌iPhone‌ customers are determined to have in cross-platform chats.

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