Chat app developer Beeper is changing its strategy due to constant disruptions from Apple Inc. AAPL. The firm is now focusing on long-term objectives and has announced plans to make its iMessage connection software fully open-source.
What Happened: Beeper revealed on Thursday that consistent interference from Apple has been a stumbling block for its app, Beeper Mini. As a result, the company is now working on a software solution it believes Apple will accept, and it will not react if Apple obstructs this solution.
Beeper CEO Eric Migicovsky expressed concern over the impact of this interference on the company’s reputation.
“Each time that Beeper Mini goes ‘down’ or is made to be unreliable due to interference by Apple, Beeper’s credibility takes a hit. It’s unsustainable,” he said in the press note.
Despite these setbacks, Beeper continues to assert that Beeper Mini is secure and upgrades unencrypted chats between iPhone and Android users to encrypted, blue bubble chats. Apple, however, contends that Beeper Mini presents significant risks to user privacy and security.
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The Beeper Mini and Beeper Cloud software is now open source and available on GitHub. Beeper intends to focus on its core objective of creating the best chat app in the upcoming year.
Why It Matters: This development comes on the heels of calls for an antitrust investigation into Apple’s alleged anti-competitive actions against Beeper Mini by US senators and representatives.
Recently, over 60% of Beeper Mini users with active iMessage accounts were affected by another service disruption caused by Apple. This followed a series of outages since the launch of Beeper Mini and Beeper Cloud, which facilitate iMessage support on Android, Windows, and other platforms.
With Beeper Mini adopting an open-source approach, it remains to be seen how this move will affect its future interactions with Apple and the overall user experience.
Photo courtesy: Beeper Mini
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