After Apple shut down the mechanism that Android app Beeper Mini was using to bring iMessage to Android users, Beeper Mini's developers today said that they have found a way to bring the app back, albeit with some major changes. The new version of the app requires users to sign in with an Apple ID, which was not needed with the prior version. All iMessages are also now sent and received through an email address rather than a phone number, though a fix is in development. The prior version of Beeper Mini did not require an ‌Apple ID‌, and it registered each Android user's phone number with Apple's iMessage servers without Apple's permission. The app's developers used reverse engineered iMessage…

Well that didn't take long. Apple cited security and privacy in shutting down Beeper Mini's iMessage workaround for Android users. (via Cult of Mac - Tech and culture through an Apple lens)

A few days after the Beeper Mini app launched a way for users to send blue-bubble iMessages directly from their Android iPhone knockoffs, Apple shut down the app’s access to its iMessage messaging service, citing security risks. David Pierce for The Verge: ‎ Apple senior PR manager Nadine Haija said in a statement… At Apple, we build our products and services with industry-leading privacy and security technologies designed to give users control of their data and keep personal information safe. We took steps to protect our users by blocking techniques that exploit fake credentials in order to gain access to iMessage. These techniques posed significant risks to user security and privacy, including the potential for metadata exposure and enabling unwanted…

Apple today confirmed that it took steps to shut down the functionality of Beeper Mini, an app that enabled Android users to send and receive iMessages. Apple emphasized its commitment to user privacy and security, explaining that the move was necessitated by the potential risks Beeper Mini's techniques posed, including metadata exposure and susceptibility to spam and phishing attacks. Apple's full statement shared with The Verge and other news sites is as follows:At Apple, we build our products and services with industry-leading privacy and security technologies designed to give users control of their data and keep personal information safe. We took steps to protect our users by blocking techniques that exploit fake credentials in order to gain access to iMessage.…

Well, that didn’t last long. Apple seems to have blocked Android’s new iMessage app, Beeper Mini, that promised blue bubble messages to those who settle for pretend iPhones. Chris Welch for The Verge: ‎ On Friday, less than a week after its launch, the app started experiencing technical issues when users were suddenly unable to send and receive blue bubble messages. The problems grew worse over the course of the day, with reports piling up on the Beeper subreddit. Several people at The Verge were unable to activate their Android phone numbers with Beeper Mini as of Friday afternoon, a clear indication that Apple has plugged up whatever holes allowed the app to operate to begin with. This throws a…

Apple’s iMessage looks likely to win an exemption from the EU’s demand for interoperability via the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Samuel Stolton for Bloomberg News: ‎ European Commission officials are leaning toward the reprieve for Apple as part of a five-month market investigation which concludes in February, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity. If designated under the Digital Markets Act, the company would have faced potentially onerous obligations to make iMessage work with rival online messaging services, such as Meta Platforms Inc.’s WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger — a move that Apple has strongly contested. ‎ MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote in September: With the UK — where Apple’s iMessage is actually used in…