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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

#841

Post by KETpXDDzR »

khaki54 wrote: post #680
KETpXDDzR wrote: post #675

Do I understand correctly that you charge $8/month for this? I can't wait for an open source version of this app.

If you're paying for it, it becomes feasible that maybe they aren't selling your information or doing something nefarious

Paying or not doesn't matter. In the end, you have to trust them.

The sweet thing about open source is that you can review the code to build that trust.

I wonder how they'd react is someone reverse engineers their app and makes an open source version of it.

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

#842

Post by jaktet »

Rebelgecko wrote: post #243
jaktet wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can invite you if you want. I just need a platform to send you a message on then I can do it through the app.

Thanks, that'd be awesome. If email works you can use my username @gmail.com

I messaged you but you might be able to use this link http://refer.beeper.com/YTRsJd

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

#843

Post by Domenic_S »

brokencode wrote: post #568
Domenic_S wrote: post #550

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> iMessage is just too important to modern text communication to be as locked down as it is. What do you mean; if a private company creates something, and enough people buy/use it, at some point it becomes a common good? I like the idea of iMessage being open, but I don't like the idea of forcing Apple under government threat to open it

I don’t know what you mean by “common good” in this context, but if a company has a dominant market position and uses its power to cripple competition, then it falls within antitrust laws. iMessage is so important today, especially to young Americans, that its exclusivity to iOS has become a significant barrier to Android or other operating systems from being competitive. It’s up to regulators and the court system to…

Apple does not require any consumer to use iMessage, nor do they make installing alternatives such as Whatsapp difficult. iMessage is simply a messaging option. This is in stark contrast to how MS treated IE back in the antitrust lawsuit days.

The fact that lots of people prefer to use iMessage -- despite myriad easily-accessible alternatives -- doesn't feel anticompetitive in the slightest; in fact making a product that people freely choose over similar alternatives is the definition of winning competition.

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

#844

Post by remram »

koffiezet wrote: post #834
remram wrote: post #474

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Non-Apple devices could just lie

Not if they require a certificate containing the serial number/imei/... + a nonce provided by Apple, signed with a private key/certificate stored in the secured enclave, loaded into the device when it's manufactured.

The GP comment was:

> Apple can break Beeper without relying on the secure enclave: If Apple devices just send their serial number

You have come full circle with the comment 4 posts up.

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

#845

Post by glitchc »

modeless wrote: post #743
glitchc wrote: post #711

I was excited until it asked me to login with my Google account. If it doesn't need an iCloud account why does it require my Google one?

For the $1.99/mo subscription fee via Play Store in-app payment.

Yipes no thanks. I would consider a one time payment but this is too pricey.

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

#846

Post by rezonant »

redserk wrote: post #807
rezonant wrote: post #794

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 soft…

This isn’t uncommon at all when dealing with development that requires interoperability. Far from it, actually. If a part of your user base uses another service, you’ll inevitably have to add workarounds specifically to cater to users for that service. It’s just a fact of life when multiple groups have to implement a spec. If you aren’t willing to add workarounds, users will think your software is broken when they sh…

Not free, but worth it for messaging to solve the real pain points that iMessage and Google Messages users deal with while trying to communicate across the aisle.

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

#847

Post by greatquux »

tomrod wrote: post #386
hedgehog wrote: post #360

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who cares what the color is? One message type is E2E encrypted over Apple's infrastructure, and you can message while not on cell. The other is not E2E and may have carrier billing and whatever other restrictions on it.

XMPP/Pidgin coming back!

Seriously I don't have the chops or time to do it, but creating a Pidgin wrapper around this tech would be awesome. Just for basic texts/emoticons, it helps a lot with Teams and WhatsApp chats already for me (along with the Pidgin notification extension for GNOME that pops up a box I can type a quick reply into wherever I am).

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

#848

Post by geraldhh »

benmanns wrote: post #382

Is there any way to do this on iPhone? I use a Google Voice number since Google Voice came out, and I would love to iMessage from it, but Apple won't let me add it as a number for the device.

guess the eu will have to regulate this as well

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

#849

Post by averageRoyalty »

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?

> Isn't iMessage just texting within a walled garden?

Isn't that exactly what WhatsApp (and to a lesser extent) Telegram are?

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

#850

Post by averageRoyalty »

PrimeMcFly wrote: post #785
azinman2 wrote: post #660

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you prefer about Android?

How about not being in a walled garden and actually having access to your device?

Yeah, I hear Android manufacturers and app developers are very encouraging of unlocked bootloaders and user root access.

It's not 2008 anymore, we're all in walled gardens now.

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