Apple has reportedly shuttered the app Beeper Mini due to “significant risks” to user security and privacy.
The app allowed Android users to text with blue iMessage bubbles like on iPhone and iPad. However, the tech giant claims that, despite their promise that it would offer end-to-end encryption, this was allegedly not the case.
“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, Apple’s senior PR manager Nadine Haija told The Verge. “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 messages, spam and phishing attacks. We will continue to make updates in the future to protect our users.”
“If Apple truly cares about the privacy and security of their own iPhone users, why would they stop a service that enables their own users to now send encrypted messages to Android users, rather than using unsecure SMS?” Beeper founder Eric Migicovsky added.
“We stand behind what we’ve built,” Beeper posted on X in response to the article. “Beeper Mini keeps your messages private, and boosts security compared to unencrypted SMS. For anyone who claims otherwise, we’d be happy to give our entire source code to mutually agreed upon third party to evaluate the security of our app.”
