The effort to bring iMessage to Android users gains another contender today. A new app introduced by a startup named Beeper, Beeper Mini, is designed to allow Android users to send and receive end-to-end encrypted iMessage chats for $1.99 per month. The team behind the app has been able to make Beeper Mini a reality by reverse-engineering the iMessage protocol. This enables the app to operate as a “native implementation of the iMessage protocol.” Beeper claims not to have access to the contents of users’ messages and asserts that messages are not sent in clear text. Users do not require an Apple ID to use Beeper Mini. Since its inception in 2020, Beeper is being built in public, with over 50 projects published to GitHub and the founders coming with a history of building promising tech, including the Pebble smartwatch.
The app is competitively priced at $1.99 per month, with a seven-day free trial. It has raised $16 million through its Series A, led by Garry Tan of Initialized Capital. It is also supported by SV Angel, Samsung Next, Liquid2 Ventures, Niv Dror from Shrug Capital, and Kevin Mahaffey.
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