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If you want to chat with your iPhone buddy from your Android phone. Then you must have known about the blue bubbles and green bubbles. The fight to develop iMessage for Android is on and a new contender is here. Beeper Mini is now available on the Google Play Store, it aims to act as iMessage for Android. Let’s see how secure is Beeper Mini and is it the Best iMessage for Android.
What is the Beeper Mini?
So, like in the introduction the app is meant to turn your Android phone’s green bubble into a blue bubble text. This means you can join in the chat groups with other iMessage-only users without feeling left out. Also depending on the person, the different bubble colors can feel either unique or isolated. There have been other iMessage apps for Android like Sunbird for example. However, they haven’t been successful due to various security flaws.
How Secure is the Beeper Mini?
The first generation of this app called the Beeper, used to rely on the Apple Mac server relay. This means that a remote Mac was being used to log in with your Apple ID. Since we do not have any physical access to those devices, it wasn’t the safest option. However, Beeper Mini is different in that regard as it can connect to Apple servers directly. Furthermore, the app can send and receive end-to-end encrypted messages. So, Beeper Mini, Apple or any third party cannot access or view your messages.
You can test a custom python script to test the apps’s security. Learn more about it here.
How To Use Beeper Mini?
You can download the Beeper Mini app directly from the Google Play Store. After launching the app, you’ll be prompted to sign up for a free 7-day trial. Beeper Mini service isn’t free and requires a subscription of $1.99 a month. Furthermore, you need to allow permission to send messages and access contacts. Beeper Mini doesn’t require an Apple ID to sign in and works just with your phone number.
However, in my case, I couldn’t use my phone number, so this can vary from region to region. There’s an optional Apple ID sign-in option, which you can use to access the app. For security, we can use Apple’s app-specific password to create a random password for this app. Beeper Mini claims that all our information is stored only on our app and not on any remote servers.
Is it the Best iMessage for Android?
The app design is fairly simple and the default screen only has a New Chat floating icon. We can add our iPhone friend’s number using this New Chat option. Here, there’s also an option to create a new group. The chat page is minimal with the option to send attachments like files, location, and contacts. Additionally, we can view and send photos from the attachment area or the gallery. There’s also support for voice messages and emojis.
According to Beeper Mini, these are all the functions supported as of yet. Direct Messages, Group chats, High-resolution images and video. Editing and Retracting messages, Read receipts, Typing status, Tapback emoji reactions, Reply threads, Voice messages, Stickers and GIFs
How To Unlink Phone Number or Apple ID from Beeper Mini?
We can toggle the read receipts from the settings along with the dark/light theme. You can unlink your phone number or Apple ID from the Beeper Mini using the Manage Connection option. Additionally, you can use the Apple ID website to manually deregister iMessage from your phone number. Also, to cancel or manage subscription there’s a direct link to open the subscription page on the Google Play Store.
The company has also mentioned the following new features that they are working on with no fixed arrival time. Import past chat history, Full-text search, Block list, Chat history backup and export, SMS/RCS, WhatsApp and Signal integration, Chat bubbles, Foldable UI, Facetime audio and video calls, and Scheduled messages.
Verdict
Beeper Mini is aiming to do what Sunbird couldn’t accomplish. An iMessage app for Android without the need for remote server login. The app doesn’t need an Apple ID to login but not necessarily like in my case. Hopefully, they can fix this issue for international regions like India. If you have a lot of iPhone friends then this app can be useful to you. Only if you care about the blue and green text bubbles. If not then there’s no need for apps like Beeper Mini or Sunbird.
