Eric Migicovsky, founder and CEO of Beeper, the instant messaging application known for having effectively brought iMessage to Android, announces the acquisition of its “creature” by Automattic. Beeper was the protagonist of a gripping tug-of-war with Applewho in every way tried to protect his walled garden preventing the entry of third-party solutions.
Beeper Miniin fact, allowed you to exchange messages between iMessage and Android devices, ensuring that communications from non-iOS-based devices were no longer relegated to “bowl value“. After the implementation of various countermeasures on Apple’s part, Beeper decided to “throw in the towel”, no longer willing to support “the cat and mouse game with the largest company in the world“. Only recently, Beeper returned to the spotlight by presenting the dream of a universal messaging application, currently lacking support for iMessage.
What changes for Beeper with the acquisition of Automattic
On April 9, 2024, Beeper confirmed the acquisition of all of its assets by Automatican American company founded by Matt Mullenweg, known for being the holding company of WordPress. Automattic’s work model is revolutionary, as all employees work remotely from wherever they choose. The important thing is that “they are online”.
For its part, Beeper now offers the possibility of sending and receiving messages on 14 different chat networks and, according to its authors, it boasts enormous potential.
Given the current state of the messaging landscape, Migicovsky and his team believe there is ample opportunity to innovate and create new experiences in the field of online chat. “Most other messaging apps are stagnant, entrenched in their positions, with no significant new players emerging since Discord’s launch in 2015. Given the state of the messaging world, we’ve long felt the need for a strong ally with the resources to support us in our mission“, explains the CEO of Beeper.
Automattic has a long history of putting the privacy and empower users to control their data themselves. Furthermore, the company boasts excellent bilateral relationships with Meta, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Matrix and other entities, with which Beeper hopes to start a new era of collaboration.
Could Automattic potentially cause Apple to reconsider its position?
Migicovsky explains that he has known Mullenweg for years now. He was an early user, supporter and investor in Beeper. We are aligned on ours goals (build the best chat app in the world), on the approach (open source where possible) and independence (Beeper will operate independently).
After the acquisition of Texts.com, a messaging app with a similar mission, Automattic is focusing heavily on support for chat systems, which – evidently – will be increasingly integrated into its products. Not only WordPress but evidently also WooCommercea very popular plugin for activating e-commerce functionality on WordPress sites with the aim of creating and managing online shops in a simple and immediate way.
Who knows if the “greater weight” of Automattic and the opportunities it could present to Apple precisely in terms of integration with WordPress and WooCommerce could lead Tim Cook’s company to review its positions by evaluating a historic opening iMessage. In fact, Apple is not obliged to do so: according to the European Commission, iMessage is not a gatekeeper, but things could still change in the future.