Beeper halts iMessage integration after reported user bans on Macs

In its ongoing dispute with Apple for access to iMessages, Beeper, the universal messaging app, appears to have given up. In a recent announcement, the company revealed their decision to disable new iMessage connections on their main app, Beeper Cloud. This move effectively marks the complete shutdown of the service, at least for now.

Following user reports, it came to light that Beeper users that were using the workaround method of the connecting the “Cloud” or “Mini” app to iMessage via their Mac computers, were somehow being banned from using iMessage altogether. Despite this only affecting a minority of Beeper users (about 30 out of 3,500), the bans were enough to spark worries about Apple’s aggressive approach when it comes to unauthorized third-party access to its messaging service.

According to Beeper, the bans began shortly after the app pushed an update last month, which coincided with the company’s transition from relying on its own servers and instead having users seek authorization using their owned Macs. This worked for a little while, but apparently Apple eventually caught on and reportedly banned some of these connections.

Beeper effectively reached out to Apple directly, but never received a response or any explanation for the bans. Nevertheless, after receiving media attention from The New York Times, Apple seemingly quickly resolved the issue and lifted the ban on affected users within a span of two days. This was documented in great detail on an X/Twitter post the company published.

Apple claimed that the bans were due to “spam,” but Beeper and the affected users argue that they did not receive any warnings or notice any suspicious behavior. As a result, Beeper has decided to disable new iMessage connections on its platform completely. While the company does not completely rule out the possibility of reactivating iMessage accessibility through Beeper in the future, the current situation effectively puts an end to it.

Beeper had previously announced its intentions to refocus its efforts into improving their desktop and mobile apps, as well as adding support for more messaging services down the line. Beeper’s desktop and mobile apps (except Beeper Mini) remain fully operational, offering a convenient solution for multiple messaging services, and currently supporting an impressive range of 14 different platforms. This is what Beeper will become from now on, a universal messaging app, without iMessage, of course.