Apple has formally responded to the Beeper Mini controversy, confirming it reduce off the Android app’s entry to iMessage citing “important dangers to person safety and privateness.”
The shutdown of Beeper Mini’s entry to the iMessage community on Friday was sudden, and it was believed to have been instigated by Apple. Late on Saturday, Apple confirmed it to be the case.
In a press release offered to The Verge, Apple explains “We took steps to guard our customers by blocking methods that exploit pretend credentials with a view to achieve entry to iMessage.”
The iPhone maker added that the methods used posed “important dangers to person safety and privateness,” with these dangers together with metadata publicity, undesirable messages, spam, and phishing assaults.
Whereas Beeper says it’s working to repair its app, Apple’s assertion signifies it is going to “proceed to make updates sooner or later to guard our customers,” making it tough for the app to exist on the platform.
In its response, Beeper posted to X that it stands behind the app, and insists Beeper Mini retains messages personal and boosts safety when in comparison with unencrypted SMS.
“For anybody who claims in any other case, we might be completely satisfied to offer our total supply code to mutually agreed upon third celebration to judge the safety of our app,” it provides.
On Friday, Beeper founder Eric Migicovsky questioned Apple’s determination, asking “If Apple actually cares concerning the privateness and safety of their very own iPhone customers, why would they cease a service that permits their very own customers to now ship encrypted messages to Android customers, reasonably than utilizing unsecure SMS?”
Apple’s full assertion follows:
At Apple, we construct our services with industry-leading privateness and safety applied sciences designed to offer customers management of their knowledge and hold private data protected. We took steps to guard our customers by blocking methods that exploit pretend credentials with a view to achieve entry to iMessage. These methods posed important dangers to person safety and privateness, together with the potential for metadata publicity and enabling undesirable messages, spam, and phishing assaults. We are going to proceed to make updates sooner or later to guard our customers.
