Earlier this month, WhatsApp announced some changes to its privacy policy sent users struggling to move their mobile social life into a new network. Signal received a influx of rich deserving new users, and Android users have complained that they can’t switch to Apple’s iMessage. All of this is a long way from saying it’s a good time to deal with messaging solutions –and founder Pebble claims he has a strange new solution.
Beeper is a future application that sells as a hub for all your messaging services. Instead of running half a dozen apps to keep in touch with friends, family and co-workers, Beeper lets you channel everything to a single interface. According to its website, the application supports 14 external messaging platforms, as well as its own Beeper network. But the company’s claim that bringing iMessage to Android, Windows or Linux devices could be a killer feature for anyone who has suffered through embarrassment of the green balloon.
Apple likes to keep its internal products exclusively for its own hardware, so this statement is a bit surprising, but Beeper says a solution has been found. On its website, explain:
Beeper has two ways to allow Android, Windows, and Linux users to use iMessage: we send each user a Jailbroken iPhone with the Beeper app installed that connects to iMessage, or if they have a Mac always connected to the Internet, they can install the Beeper Mac app that works like a bridge. This is not a joke, it really works!
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Okay, the part about using a Mac always connected as a bridge is unprecedented, but the idea of sending users recycled iPhones with jailbreaks is a bit boring.
Eric Migicovsky, founder of the Pebble smartwatch company and partner at Beeper, took to Twitter to insist that the jailbreak plan is legitimate and that it currently has 50 iPhone 4 ready for pregnancy.
Everyone needs a trick and we will offer Beeper points for originality. But it is hard to imagine that there would be a lot of requests for this jailbreak solution. Then again, there is a big world out there and there is definitely a market for these older devices if they are not too expensive. But an old jailbroken iPhone is a security risk that only gets riskier over time because you can’t apply security updates without putting the drive back in jail.
Another privacy issue is encryption. Beeper’s Privacy policy it is quite simple and does not contain obvious red flags. But it also doesn’t mention encryption. Many of the services it aggregates use a certain level of end-to-end encryption, and Beeper must be able to guarantee users that they can expect the same level of security that it would have when using any of the independent services. Beeper did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment on its encryption policy, and we will update this post when we receive a response.
Here is the list of Beeper compatible messaging services:
- Facebook Messenger
- iMessage
- Android Messages (SMS)
- Telegram
- Weakness
- Hangouts
- Skype
- IRC
- Matrix
- Discord
- Signal
- Beeper network
I would like to send some practical impressions, but the app isn’t available yet, and for now, all you can do is sign up to be notified when it launches.
Beeper raises a lot of questions, the most important of which can be whether or not people are willing to pay a $ 10 monthly subscription fee. At the moment, everyone is aware of the monthly subscriptions, and it’s not clear if being handy in messaging apps is a bigger pain in the ass.