That's painful for nothing phone
Show HN: Beeper Mini – iMessage client for Android
791–800 of 902 posts
Re: Show HN: Beeper Mini – iMessage client for Android
#792Earlier quoted context omitted.
Have you used Nearby Share on Android? It's IME just as good Airdrop, the only real issue is that it's not baked into Windows PCs like Airdrop is with Macs (confusingly MS has their own thing called Nearby Share for Windows devices). I've actually had less issues with Nearby Share, my iPhone stopped sharing to my mini after a few months but could talk to everything else. Android solved BT pairing in a superior way ye…
yes, i primarily use an android phone. nearby share is janky and terrible. additionally, the fact that it's not built in everywhere is a ding from the standpoint of an end user.
It is built in to the Share dialog, so it is accessible anywhere the Share dialog is shown. And when you copy something to clipboard, the popup at the bottom includes Nearby Share. Where else would you like to see it?
Certainly not every iOS app has a custom Airdrop integration either.
Every time I've nearby shared it's worked just fine. What phone do you have?
Re: Show HN: Beeper Mini – iMessage client for Android
#793Earlier quoted context omitted.
Beeper is an app that unifies all the messaging protocols you mentioned (and others) into a single app. They are not introducing another protocol. Universal in this context is referring to the ability to use a single app across protocols rather than the ability to use a single app across platforms.
I miss the days of jabber being able to senselessly talk to aim, msn, yahoo, icq, etc. All chat contacts in one account.
Jabber transports, they were great.
Re: Show HN: Beeper Mini – iMessage client for Android
#794Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not asking them to implement these things on every platform, but it's not difficult to make documentation they certainly already have about protocols available.
Protocols calcify when you don't control all the endpoints, consider the case in point, iMessage, it is seems like there is some security implications for spoofing iMessage for any random number, yet, apple's recourse is very limited if it can't update all the endpoints (devices). The same is also true, say about AirDrop, if apple makes it "Open" and they have to make a breaking change for security or whatever reason…
By that logic the Outlook for Windows team should be responsible for patching Gmail for Android.
This argument is silly. You could use this line of reasoning to justify why all computers should use the same OS from the same vendor. Of course then you'd have a monoculture where implementation bugs that cause vulnerabilities are universally exploitable, instead of only exploitable on machines running that vendor's software.
Re: Show HN: Beeper Mini – iMessage client for Android
#795Earlier quoted context omitted.
editorialization. you know as well as anyone that restricting your feature development to your own platform rather than doing a retarded design by committee helps one innovate faster.
We don't need to speculate; internal emails from the Epic trial discuss the motivations. https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/27/22406303/imessage-android... In short, Eddy Cue proposed in 2013 that Apple owning the best-in-class messaging app would be a win, and even mentioned the cost being low. Phil Schiller shut him down, arguing it would remove a barrier preventing iPhone parents from buying their kids Android phones…
They could definitely just release an app for Android instead of opening the protocol, but as an Android user I'd reject it for the same reason I reject my Apple friends suggesting we all use WhatsApp or Signal: I don't want different conversations living in different chat apps for no reason. That to me is the bad old days of Facebook Messenger+Twitter DMs+SMS where I had to remember which platform each of my contacts prefers to use and then deal with missing features and an inconsistent experience all the time.
As much as I think Beeper's work on iMessage is important, apps like that do not and have never solved this problem. Because then you have different contact identifiers to contend with, the inability to make groups amongst those users, differing features, and the list goes on.
If you look closely at what I'm saying here, it's easy to compare it to what iMessage users say about why Android users create problems for them, and that's true. That's why messaging interoperability is important.
Re: Show HN: Beeper Mini – iMessage client for Android
#796Earlier quoted context omitted.
I recently paid >$1000 for the privilege of access to iMessage when switching from Android to iPhone. I'd have been _much_ happier staying on my preferred operating system and paying $24/yr. (iMessage has, for me, actually been worth it - but still, I frequently find myself wishing that something like Beeper Mini existed so I could go back to android).
You switched from Android _just_ for iMessage? Why on earth for? Could you elaborate?
I did as well. Because there are group chats I need to be in that I can only access if I have iMessage
I can't convince dozens of people in the groups to go sign up for signal just to accommodate me
Re: Show HN: Beeper Mini – iMessage client for Android
#797Earlier quoted context omitted.
You know, your question is very interesting: no, we didn't. Anecdote: we reverse engineered several Microsoft products and before Microsoft Windows 7 launch we were contacted by Microsoft QA and they offered us support to check if our software was compatible with it! BTW, our software was installed in millions of computers around the globe. For example, Trend Micro used our software for supporting their antivirus in…
I agree. After receiving a C&D from Meta for my OSS project (along with some other maintainers from some other projects) I strongly believe adversarial interop is a basic digital right that is required to fulfil the broken or revoked promises of web 2.0 If you know anybody that can help please let me know because I want to get back to maintaining the project.
What is the project? On what grounds did they C&D you?
Re: Show HN: Beeper Mini – iMessage client for Android
#798Earlier quoted context omitted.
Emulation software isn’t wholly original as it needs firmware and software from the device so emulated. An iPhone emulator with no bootrom and no iOS isn’t very useful. An open source client for an API need not include any non-original works.
They are though. https://news.ycombinator.com/context?id=38534247
After digging in more I believe that is only done in that proof of concept. If that's the case then it's too bad they didn't go back and update the POC to avoid the need for the binary.
Re: Show HN: Beeper Mini – iMessage client for Android
#799Earlier quoted context omitted.
What would they demand they cease doing? Publishing software? If the use of this software is against their rights in some way, the end users running it would be the ones in violation. Publishing original software is protected expression.
> Publishing original software is protected expression. That means Jack Shit in a world where a lawsuit can ruin a person's life regardless of its legal merit, with zero consequences for the corporation that filed it even if it gets tossed out by a judge eventually. LPT: Live as if human/constitutional rights didn't exist. Because if push ever comes to shove, you will quite possibly find that they indeed don't exist…
But there are consequences. Even if the financial costs are not meaningful to a big company, the backlash created by such actions can have wide ranging implications, from lost sales to loss of the public mindshare, to attracting legislative attention.
Re: Show HN: Beeper Mini – iMessage client for Android
#800Earlier quoted context omitted.
Exactly what I thought
But EU interoperability laws are cancelled out by DMCA (aka EUCD). That’s why reading a DVD with VLC has always been “technically” illegal. If Apple is able to update the protocol in such a way that it requires some kind of signed attestation from the secure enclave (basically a DRM) they’ll get legal protection. Also. Nobody uses iMessage in the EU. It’s all WhatsApp here. Blue bubbles are an American obsession.
What exactly is considered bypassing DRM in the case of Beeper Mini, and what copyrighted content is the DRM protecting?
This might be news, but the DMCA laws don't allow you to restrict software which is compatible with your own, especially if the competitor never used your code.