This is a dedicated stand-alone Android app by Beeper which will carry a $1.99 pm subscription after the 7-day trial period. It validates via SMS as an iPhone 7 (just as an iPhone would) so no Apple ID is required, but there is also an optional Apple ID sign as well.
Beeper Mini claims to secure your chats with full end-to-end encryption so that neither Apple nor Beeper can read the contents of the message.
Beeper Mini does not use a Mac relay server in a data centre. Instead, the app connects directly to Apple servers to send and receive end-to-end encrypted messages. Encryption keys never leave your device. No Apple ID is required. Beeper does not have access to your Apple account.
Features:
- Send and receive blue bubble messages from your Android phone number.
- Full size photos and videos, plus replies and reactions.
- Join iPhone-only group chats.
- Secure and private, with end-to-end encryption.
- Sync existing iMessages across multiple Android or iOS devices, including Macbooks and iPads.
- read receipts, typing indicators, emoji reactions, media galleries and more!
The roadmap is apparently ending later on, with the existing iMessage functionality in the free Beeper Cloud app being closed down. That functionality is working still, and will probably continue to do so for a while. The plan is to monetise through the Beeper Mini subscriptions to make the service sustainable and to keep adding features.
The picture though will likely change again later in 2024 as Apple includes RCS in their Messages app. Yes, it will probably only show green bubbles, but it will be E2EE and otherwise fully functional. It may miss out on iPhone-only groups, though.
So far, for me, Beeper Mini got up and running fine and did authenticate via SMS for my Android phone. One of my iPhone contacts though says my message showed up grey. This could be that the app was very newly registered, or because it was a chat previously started on the main Beeper app. Another contact that I started a new chat with, confirmed he sees blue bubbles from me.
I suspect this app may be more of a hit in the USA that is far more iPhone-centric than the rest of the world, and once RCS integration takes hold inside the Apple Messages app, the world may then already become more integrated.
See https://blog.beeper.com/p/introducing-beeper-mini-get-blue