Beeper Mini is down for 5% of users, but there's a fix

Apple Insider seems strangely enthusiastic about this brazen disregard for Apple’s proprietary software. 

Dead_Pool said:

Apple Insider seems strangely enthusiastic about this brazen disregard for Apple’s proprietary software. 

You're behind the news perhaps?  The new app version requires users to sign in with their own Apple ID. The older version that Apple blocked did not require an ‌Apple ID‌, and it registered each Android user's phone number with Apple's iMessage servers without Apple's permission.  I completely understand and agree with Apple disabling the initial try. 

To be honest, I don't think it's a big deal anyway. It's some silly US-centric issue AFAICT, a weird fixation that US media and smartphone owners have. For those looking for a messaging service as secure, and often MORE secure, than iMessage there's options already. Outside of the US those "other options" are generally preferred over what Apple offers. 

Continuing for the near future, just as it's been since inception, iMessage is really not very secure once any non-Apple user enters the conversation. Perhaps that's part of the reason why Apple users in many regions in the world don't use iMessage. Apple is unable to E2EE the conversation, but with other services they can, and do so cross-platform.

Now if the only people you chat with are other Apple device owners then iMessage is a very secure and private way to do so, no need to look elsewhere. For those people Beeper Mini won't be missed. I can understand why the opinions seem mixed. It depends on where you are, and how embedded in a platform's first-party services. None of the opinions stated are right or wrong for everyone. 

It seems like these Beeper people would have been better off collecting bug bounties from Apple.

Dead_Pool said:

Apple Insider seems strangely enthusiastic about this brazen disregard for Apple’s proprietary software. 

Strange take, but okay. There's no enthusiasm in any of this, nor in any of our other coverage about the cat-and-mouse game that we've made.

It's Apple-related news. That's what we do.

People who choose WhatsApp — and many millions of people do — are giving Meta/FaceBook your data (maybe — or maybe not — the content of your messages, but lots and lots of other data) to sell to advertisers and media manipulators.