Meanwhile, Whatsapp continues to be the most used messaging app in the world, with no sms or any other sort of fallback if you don't have an internet connection.
Spoiler - it's working again. Might be teething problems for a new service.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
It appears that Beeper Mini, an easy iMessage solution for Android, was simply too good to be true — or a short-lived dream, at least.
On Friday, less than a week after its launch, the app started experiencing technical issues when users were suddenly unable to send and receive blue bubble messages.
Several people at The Verge were unable to activate their Android phone numbers with Beeper Mini as of Friday afternoon, a clear indication that Apple has plugged up whatever holes allowed the app to operate to begin with.
The belief — or I suppose the hope — among Beeper’s developers and users was that it would be such an ordeal for Apple to block the Android app that doing so wouldn’t be worth the hassle.
Previous attempts to get iMessage working on Android — like Beeper’s original app — have involved complex systems with remote Macs logged into a user’s Apple ID.
Nothing, the startup from OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei, recently sought to bring iMessage to its latest phone, but that plan was quickly derailed by security and privacy concerns.
The original article contains 450 words, the summary contains 182 words. Saved 60%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
At the very least, hopefully Apple will notice that there is enough of an appetite for iMessage on Android that people are getting innovative about it.
Apple reportedly built a version of iMessages for Android a long time ago. Then they realized how many phones their bubble scheme sold and reversed course.
Why do people want iMessage for Android? That gives them more control over the entire messaging ecosystem.
They're adopting the RCS protocol, that's what people should want. It's interoperable with all phones and not just the ones that happen to support iMessage. It's supposed to replace SMS and MMS, which are guaranteed to work between all platforms.
This iMessage vs WhatsApp vs other walled-garden messaging apps debate is stupid when an open protocol is right there.
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
