Automattic Inc., the internet company behind popular online blogging service WordPress.com, acquired the messaging app at the heart of a recent dispute with Apple Inc.
Automattic purchases Beeper in $125 million deal; CEO to join
This is a pretty stupid purchase. Beeper was based upon exploiting holes in the iMessage protocol. It was never going last. Why someone would pay for it after they closed the service is a mystery. I’m also not able to see the article due to paywall, so maybe there’s some great justification of which I’m unaware.
“There’s basically no open standard for chat, and our vision is to create that by connecting to legacy chat networks,” Migicovsky said in an interview.
Why you’d pay so much for a company that doesn’t have massively proven tech is beyond me.
That is/was only one of the services they offered, they have an all-in-one messaging app that lets you use a variety of other protocols (though I only discovered this about half an hour ago!)
not really, it’s the same Matrix protocol as other Matrix instances use. the only difference is that they set up bridges and manage them on behalf of the users (something that’s possible when hosting your own Matrix instance, too).
Yeah, I just set it up because I don’t want Meta’s shit on my phone and my friend group insists on using WhatsApp. I still had to install the native WhatsApp client but I was able to remove it as soon as I had confirmed the account creation. It also means I can stop giving out my cell number when I want to meet someone from Facebook Marketplace to buy something.
They advise against removing the apps on your phone, but at the least, you can turn off notifications for everything other than Beeper and use it as a single interface. On the desktop app, it makes a bit more sense. I’ve stopped running the Telegram, Signal, and Google Chat apps. I just wish Google Voice played nice with integrations and could be added to the platform.
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This is a pretty stupid purchase. Beeper was based upon exploiting holes in the iMessage protocol. It was never going last. Why someone would pay for it after they closed the service is a mystery. I’m also not able to see the article due to paywall, so maybe there’s some great justification of which I’m unaware.
Blue bubbles is what you use now with or without beeper.
Here’s some archived versions that’ll let you read it: GhostArchive, Archive.ph (ghost has just the text, .ph has the full page)
Thanks!
Why you’d pay so much for a company that doesn’t have massively proven tech is beyond me.
deleted by creator
Wait, does Lonnie own Automattic? /s
That is/was only one of the services they offered, they have an all-in-one messaging app that lets you use a variety of other protocols (though I only discovered this about half an hour ago!)
It’s a matrix clone with built in bridging so you’re only using the matrix protocol technically.
it’s not a “clone”, it’s literally using Matrix protocol with their own servers.
Forks maybe a better word.
not really, it’s the same Matrix protocol as other Matrix instances use. the only difference is that they set up bridges and manage them on behalf of the users (something that’s possible when hosting your own Matrix instance, too).
Yeah, I just set it up because I don’t want Meta’s shit on my phone and my friend group insists on using WhatsApp. I still had to install the native WhatsApp client but I was able to remove it as soon as I had confirmed the account creation. It also means I can stop giving out my cell number when I want to meet someone from Facebook Marketplace to buy something.
They advise against removing the apps on your phone, but at the least, you can turn off notifications for everything other than Beeper and use it as a single interface. On the desktop app, it makes a bit more sense. I’ve stopped running the Telegram, Signal, and Google Chat apps. I just wish Google Voice played nice with integrations and could be added to the platform.
FYI, e2ee messages like Signal’s and Whatsapp’s are decrypted on Beeper’s server before they get reencrypted and forwarded to the recipient.
also, Whatsapp and Signal might log you out if you don’t use their client for certain time.
There is on-device Signal bridge option in the settings
yes, it’s been added in a version that has only come out of beta today, if I’m reading their blog post correctly.