Beeper Messaging App That Irked Apple Is Acquired by WordPress.com Owner

Comments

• some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  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.

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  • smeg@feddit.uk ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    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!)

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    • Glasgow@lemmy.ml ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      It’s a matrix clone with built in bridging so you’re only using the matrix protocol technically.

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    • scops@reddthat.com ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      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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  • Nia_The_Cat@beehaw.org ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    [deleted]

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    • some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Thanks!

      “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.

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  • macgyver@federation.red ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Blue bubbles is what you use now with or without beeper.

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• 0xCAFE@feddit.de ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Well that’s some news. If they’re good news we will see. I’m a Beeper user but never heard of Texts (stupid name) before, which seem to share the same misson as Beeper. Texts was purchased by Automattic last year (according to the Beeper blog).

  What does that mean? Automattic punches with some weight in the chat space now. In general I don’t like it if big companies buy small products. However Automattic still seems to bet on the Fediverse, so maybe if the teams from Beeper and Texts can work together on a Matrix-based, open source chat application, we could get something really good.

  I’ve mixed feelings about this whole thing, some shy optimizm, some less shy pessimism.

  Well, time will tell.

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  • noodlejetski@lemm.ee ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    given that they struck a deal with OpenAI and Midjourney to train them on Tumblr data, I’d be wary of their other stuff.

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    • 0xCAFE@feddit.de ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I know what you mean, but I think private chat and public posting are quite distinct. They’d destroy a lot more trust if they sell private messages compared to what they did with Tumblr. Especially if they continue to push local bridges, where they won’t be able to read any message (you still have to trust them obviously).

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  • Glasgow@lemmy.ml ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    You can just set up a synapse server and bridge all your chats manually btw

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• SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Looks like we figured out Migicovsky’s plan was always the same as Pebble: wreck what was promising and then sell it off to the highest bidder.

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  • n2burns@lemmy.ca ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I don’t think that’s a fair assessment, and I’m someone who’s pretty invested in both projects (I’ve been using Beeper for almost a year and I’m still wearing a Pebble).

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• GenderNeutralBro@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I’m not really familiar with Automattic or any of their acquisitions (I know Tumblr and Pocket Casts, but I’m not a regular user of either). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automattic#Products

  What’s their track record here? Should we expect anything they acquire to be gutted and squeezed like they’re Broadcom, or do they actually develop the things they acquire in a way that serves their users?

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  • noodlejetski@lemm.ee ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    they’ve automatically opted Tumblr accounts into training LLMs, so… not great

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• entropicdrift@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Paywall ʕ ͡° ʖ̯ ͡°ʔ

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  • uninvitedguest@lemmy.ca ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Here’s the company blog post.

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  • 0xCAFE@feddit.de ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Adding these rules to uBlock Origin allowed me to read the article:

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    • SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I like Bypass Paywalls Clean for Firefox.

      gitlab.com/…/bypass-paywalls-firefox-clean

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  • noodlejetski@lemm.ee ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    it opened for me, I wouldn’t have posted it otherwise. perhaps it’s a regional thing.

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  • ptz@dubvee.org ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    That’s not OP’s problem.

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    • entropicdrift@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Did I say it was? I didn’t downvote, I’m just whining

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• Melody@lemmy.one ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Mandatory archive.is/Dt8FX link

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• infinitevalence@discuss.online ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Bring back the Pebble watch, its been dead for years and is still the best “smart watch”!

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