Kellen
Having iMessage on Android is a topic that won’t ever go away until Apple officially releases an iMessage client. Until then (which may be never), we’ll continue to share with you options you have as an Android user to make your messaging experiences with iPhone users less of a problem. You know, that whole green and blue bubble thing, well, it’s still a thing that effects people to this day.
You may have heard of Beeper, probably because it is one of the longest running iMessage-on-Android clients available. We first wrote about it back in 2021 and once again over this past summer when it received support for RCS. The app is led by former Pebble smartwatch founder, Eric Migicovsky, so it has solid name recognition to back it up.
Today, Beeper announced Beeper Mini, their latest attempt at making iMessage on Android an easy thing with fewer drawbacks or security concerns. So far, all the blog bros who were briefed on the app seem to love it and believe it is the iMessage client Android has needed.
BEEPER MINI FEATURES: Beeper Mini turns your bubble to blue and does so with only your current phone number that you have been texting with in green bubble format previously. It sends full size photos and videos, has reactions and typing indicators and read receipts, works in iPhone-only group chats, can send voice notes, and is end-to-end encrypted.
After spending 3 minutes with the app, I can sort of see why this might be the option you’ll choose, assuming you don’t mind paying $2/mo for it. It really is super simple to setup, the features you need the most are there, it looks slick, and the Beeper team has shared everything they can about security and encryption to try and help you feel good about using it. This doesn’t appear to be the security nightmare that was Nothing Chats.
BEEPER MINI SECURITY: How does Beeper Mini work? Look, I’m no security guy, so to get that information, I’ll direct you to this blog post from the Beeper team. That’s the technical deep dive that talks about reverse engineering iMessage to make this all happen, as well as the security and privacy measures in place (like full end-to-end encryption). I think the big thing here is that, unlike the other iMessage on Android options, this isn’t using a Mac Mini in some remote area as a relay mechanism. You also don’t need an Apple ID to get started, just your phone number. You can attach your Apple ID if you want, though, to get a full cross-device experience.
And to get started you simply download the app from Google Play. There’s no waitlist or anything, you can start using it today. You then sign-in with a Google Account to get your profile icon, email address, and name. It then registers your on-device (SIM) phone number through their backend magic to get you started. Once done, it’ll pull in the conversations you’ve had with iPhone folks and flip your bubble to blue for iPhone users to see going forward. And that’s it.
So far, the service just works quite well. I tested reactions, saw typing indicators, and even sent images and a voice note. The only drawback I’m seeing for now is that it only pulls in iMessage conversations. It sounds like Beeper Mini will soon switch to just Beeper when it adds more services or features, like the old Beeper. Because at the moment, this is only an iMessage messaging app.
Oh, and yes, I mentioned this earlier, but it does cost $2/mo to use. There is a free 7-day trial to start before you are charged. If iMessage and blue bubbles are that important, I can’t imagine you will mind parting with $2.
Google Play Link: Beeper Mini
// Beeper
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