Beeper Acquired by Automattic, Turns Off Waitlist

Beeper, the messaging company who tried to make an iMessage client for Android, only to be blocked at every turn by Apple, is still around and has now been acquired. As they announce big acquisition news, they are also releasing their newest Android app out of beta and opening up their waitlist to everyone on it.

Let’s run through it all, as there is quite a bit to take in.p

BEEPER ACQUIRED: On an acquisition note, Beeper has been acquired by Automattic. You may know them as the company who owns WordPress.com, but they own other stuff too, including Pocket Casts. This is the type of company that you want to buy your company.

The Beeper team is apparently sticking together and moving over to Automattic where they will operate independently, at least on some level. They are saying the right things about this move for now. For example, their privacy policy and terms aren’t changing, your messages are all encrypted, the business model remains that of a free app that will charge for premium features, etc. They are also letting you know that if this acquisition has you worried, you can always delete your account at account.beeper.com.

You can read more on the acquisition at this blog post.

WAITLIST ENDS, OPEN TO ALL: As we have moved away from Beeper news somewhat in recent months after their iMessage push failed, I’ve got to admit that I didn’t realize they still had a waitlist for users wanting to get into the service. That waitlist grew to more than 450,000 people. Wild, right? Those users no longer have to wait as of today.

Beeper announced that the app is available to anyone who wants to use it and all platforms are still supported: Android, iPhone/iPad, ChromeOS, macOS, Windows, and Linux. You’ll find all of the links for each platform at beeper.com/download.

BEEPER BETA EXITS BETA: And finally, Beeper’s new Android app that has been in beta testing for several weeks is leaving beta and available to all. This app has a refreshed design, faster performance, less requirements from a desktop Beeper app, local caching of chats on-device, improved message search, and more.

Folks, if you want a universal chat app that connects to almost all of the major messaging platforms to bring them into one app, give Beeper a try. Of course, you shouldn’t do so with the thought that iMessage support may one day arrive. It probably won’t.

• Google Play Link: Beeper