Beeper, the startup that reverse-engineered iMessage to bring blue bubble texts to Android users, is experiencing an outage.
[Beeper] has reported via a post on X that Apple is to blame for the issue. Users, including those of us at TechCrunch with access to the app, began seeing error messages when trying to send texts via the newly released Beeper Mini and messages are not going through.
Error Message
The error message reads: ‘failed to lookup on server: lookup request timed out’ spelled out in red letters.
[screenshot of Beeper Mini error]
In a response to a question on Reddit as to whether or not the app was broken, a Beeper team member had earlier replied, ‘Report a problem from the app, give us a chance to look into it.’
CEO’s Response
However, [Beeper CEO Eric Migicovsky] responded to TechCrunch’s inquiry about Beeper Mini’s status by pointing us to the X post acknowledging the outage, and providing more detail. Asked if possibly Apple found a way to cut off Beeper Mini’s ability to function, he replied, ‘Yes, all data indicates that.’
Investigating Reports
[Investigating reports that sending/receiving is not working in Beeper Mini— Beeper (@beeper) December 9, 2023]
[Beeper] has reported that it’s not working for all accounts yet. More work to do, we’re going to sleep now but back at it tomorrow.
iMessage for Beeper Cloud
And…we might have spoken a bit too soon. It’s not working for all accounts yet. More work to do, we’re going to sleep now but back at it tomorrow.— [Beeper] (@onbeeper) December 9, 2023
[iMessage for Beeper Cloud is back in business—for real this time. You should be able to send + receive iMessages.]
Apple’s Statement
If you get a notice about a new ‘Mac’ added to your account, it’s because Apple doesn’t know how to say that ‘Beeper’ has re-established its connection.
[pic.twitter.com/VxQiZmvT9e— Beeper (@onbeeper) December 9, 2023]
Updated, 12/9/23, 9:40 pm et with Apple’s statement.
Background
[Beeper] reverse-engineered iMessage to bring blue bubble texts to Android users.
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Topics
- android apps
- Apple
- Apps
- Apps
- beeper mini
- imessage
- Mobile
- Startups
