What you need to know
- Beeper says that it received and verified reports of 30 users of Beeper Cloud or Mini that had their Macs banned from using iMessage by Apple.
- Apple Support says the Macs were banned from accessing iMessage due to "spam."
- Beeper has disabled new iMessage connections to Beeper Cloud, and it's unclear when or if functionality might return.
Beeper seems to have lost its war with Apple over iMessage, as the messaging app announced on Monday (Jan. 29) that it is disabling new iMessage connections on Beeper Cloud. After giving up on Beeper Mini and shifting focus to its main Beeper app, all of Beeper's services related to iMessage may be gone for good.
Beeper announced the change in a post on X, explaining the reason for the move. Apparently, users who set up Beeper Cloud or Beeper Mini through their Mac could be banned from using iMessage on that device. Beeper confirmed these user reports, representing 30 of the 3,500 users that had set up iMessage in Beeper since Dec. 21, 2023.
Beeper says the server-side measure was taken sometime after its Dec. 21 software update. That's because Beeper previously used its own Macs for iMessage authorization, and none of those computers were banned.
According to Beeper and affected users, the bans were given without warning or notice. The company reached out to Apple and did not hear back. However, once Beeper tipped the story to The New York Times, things started to change. Two days after the Times contacted Apple about this issue, Apple began unbanning affected Macs.
Beeper started receiving user reports that their computers had been unbanned starting last week, on Jan. 24.
Apple banned some Beeper user Mac computers, New York Times investigated, Apple unbanned.The saga continues! Even after we've shifted our energy from iMessage back to our core Beeper product (15 network universal chat app), Apple cannot seem to get enough! Here's the TLDR: pic.twitter.com/pMln2xK6KfJanuary 26, 2024
The company called Apple's response "appalling" if it were true. After contacting Apple Support, they said that iMessage bans were issued due to "spam." Luckily for users, the ban did not impact their Apple ID or iMessage on other devices.
In response to the bans, Beeper has disabled new iMessage connections to Beeper Cloud. That means iMessage on Beeper is completely dead, whether through Cloud or Mini. It's possible that Beeper could restore access at some point in the future, though.
People who set up a Beeper Cloud client after Dec. 21 can remove it by navigating to Beeper Desktop > Gear > Chat Networks > iMessage > Delete. Beeper says that if anyone is still experiencing iMessage bans on their Mac, they should contact Apple Support and report a problem in the Beeper app.
Now that iMessage on Beeper is in the rearview, at least for now, Beeper's mobile app serves as a universal home for 14 messaging apps.
