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Show HN: Beeper Mini – iMessage client for Android

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Re: Show HN: Beeper Mini – iMessage client for Android

#521

Post by brailsafe »

This is really cool, at least in theory. I keep hearing from only iPhone users on podcasts that they find it annoying to message amyone not on iOS. As an Android user, I couldn't imagine this being a concern to me; have any of you Android users even had the passing thought that you're missing out on hypothetical conversations between people who only use iMessage?

I use Messenger for the gen x people in my life, Signal for others, and sms and google chat for some others, but I don't even know what devices any of my friends use on a regular basis, seems arbitrary to me.

Re: Show HN: Beeper Mini – iMessage client for Android

#522

Post by moeffju »

skiman10 wrote: post #79
Mg6yDfjp5U wrote: post #40

I just downloaded it, and can't get past the landing/sign-in page: "Google sign in error.null" Unfortunately, signing in with Google is the only option.

For some reason this security setting was turned off on my account even though I don't remember turning it off and use sign in with Google in other places. https://help.beeper.com/en_US/beeper-mini/beeper-mini-how-to...

Unfortunately, I'm still getting the error even after switching this on.

Re: Show HN: Beeper Mini – iMessage client for Android

#523

Post by graphe »

ianlevesque wrote: post #417
graphe wrote: post #375

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No they aren't. My iMessage still works, and so will other devices that had iMessage.

Ask someone with 32-bit Mac apps about Apple’s willingness to leave parts of their userbase behind.

They still work. Apple doesn't stop services from working or programs from functioning.

Re: Show HN: Beeper Mini – iMessage client for Android

#524

Post by actionfromafar »

sudosysgen wrote: post #418
riddlemethat wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just got some iMessage spam yesterday. Now I know why. This jailbreak will make it less likely for someone to be able to trust iMessage.

iMessage spam has been a thing for months, and if these guys could reverse-engineer iMessage, so can criminals.

But why can you register an iMessage account with no email and no phone number? It doesn’t make any sense to me. Signal avoided that and that protocol is documented.

Re: Show HN: Beeper Mini – iMessage client for Android

#525

Post by HenryBemis »

WheatMillington wrote: post #452
nroets wrote: post #430

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple can break Beeper without relying on the secure enclave: If Apple devices just send their serial number (IMEI for their GSM products), their servers can refuse to talk to hardware they didn't manufacture.

How does this address iMessages sent from non-iPhone devices?

If in the data sent across (via Apple servers) the IMEI and serial no of the device are also transmitted, then Apple can in that millisecond query on their various lists/inventories that this device is legit (activated device + IMEI + serial) and if all lights are green, proceed to deliver, otherwise drop it.

(perhaps different sets of data can be used, but it must be something that Apple already has, and the user has already provided (i.e. the iMessage email or the iMessage phone number, from the iPhone's enabled Settings)

Re: Show HN: Beeper Mini – iMessage client for Android

#526

Post by a_carbon_rod »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #461
threeseed wrote: post #432

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Messages is the same on OSX and iOS. It's not deeply integrated into the iOS by any normal definition. It's just shipped together.

The Messages app in macOS is less capable than the Messages app in iOS. It cannot even edit sent messages.

It can, by right clicking the desired message to edit. This is in macOS Sonoma, and I believe was a part of Ventura as well.

Re: Show HN: Beeper Mini – iMessage client for Android

#527

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

midasz wrote: post #476
kyawzazaw wrote: post #445

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> as I barely know anyone using iphone. where are you located?

I'm from the Netherlands and I know plenty of people who have iPhones but I also know (and am) plenty people with androids. People use either WhatsApp or Telegram. Isn't iMessage just texting within a walled garden?

The situation is very different in the US, primarily because in other countries SMS fees tended to be really high a decade and change ago, and thus drove users to WhatsApp, but in the US most carriers had adopted some form of unlimited texting shortly after the iPhone first came out.

Thus, for many socio-economic groups, iPhone is definitely king in the US, and for them iMessage is just the default way to message people because when it was introduced it was the default way to use SMS on iPhone. A restaurant in Texas famous for their funny signs put this out, https://twitter.com/ElArroyo_ATX/status/1693316647677825160 , and tons of people (myself included) could immediately relate.

Re: Show HN: Beeper Mini – iMessage client for Android

#528

Post by dang »

alxjsn wrote: post #66

JJTech is a high school student. Neat! https://jjtech.dev/reverse-engineering/imessage-explained/

Related ongoing thread:

iMessage, explained - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38532167 - Dec 2023 (73 comments)

Normally we'd downweight it as a follow-up but I think it's worthy of an exception.

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