The DOJ should investigate Apple after the Beeper shutdowns
Apple is Trying to Prevent Beeper from Running an Android Messenger App Compatible with iMessage, A Complaint to the US Department of Justice
A group of US lawmakers wants the DOJ to investigate Apple over its attempts to prevent Beeper from running an app that is compatible with iMessage. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Mike Lee (R-UT) as well as Representatives Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Ken Buck (R-CO) said in a letter to the DOJ that Beeper’s Android messaging app, Beeper Mini, was a threat to Apple’s leverage by “creating [a] more competitive mobile applications market, which in turn [creates] a more competitive mobile device market.”
These updates may sound promising, but they significantly limit the appeal of what made Beeper Mini such a big deal in the first place. The original Beeper Mini only required a phone number and anAndroid phone to send messages and Apple was able to break that within a few days. Beeper’s next attempt to bring Beeper Mini back required logging in with an Apple ID, but recently, the app started to break down again for many users.
Beeper claims that the link is very reliable because of the 1:1 mapping of registration data to individual user. This same Mac registration data will also work with Beeper Mini (the Android app that started this whole saga). Beeper needs to periodically refresh the registration data about once per week or month, which means you need to turn on your Mac regularly.
