WordPress creator buys Beeper, the app that tried to launch iMessage on Android

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Today, more than 40% of the websites that exist in the world are powered by WordPress, the open source and free CMS, but which its creator Automattic also offers via a paid service, with some advantages. However, if Automattic is best known thanks to WordPress, it continues to diversify. For example, Automattic is today the owner of the Tumblr platform as well as the Pocket Casts podcast platform. And the next big project for this company is messaging.

Today, the plans of the creator of WordPress in messaging are a little more obvious since, according to an article from The Verge, Automattic has just bought the messaging service Beeper, whose mobile application tries to bring together all the popular services in a unique location. If this name means something to you, it's normal since Beeper recently made headlines by launching a real iMessage client on Android (which was subsequently blocked by Apple), relying on & #8217;reverse engineering.

In any case, thanks to the acquisition by Automattic, Beeper now has access to more resources to develop. Eric Migicovsky, CEO of Beeper, becomes boss of Automattic's messaging business. He will supervise the Beeper team, but also that of Texts (another messaging service that Automattic bought for $50 million. And all these employees will work on Beeper.

Automattic wants to revolutionize messaging

The direct consequence of the acquisition of Beeper by Automattic is that the application will be accessible to everyone. Indeed, until now, Beeper's services were only available by invitation and users had to register on a waiting list. The first mission of the team led by Migicovsky will therefore be to ensure that Beeper works correctly for the 450,000 who are on its waiting list. Then, the team will have to improve this multiplatform messaging which today allows messages from the following platforms to be managed on a single application:

• WhatsApp
• Facebook Messenger
• Twitter
• Android SMS
• Google Messages (SMS/RCS)
• Telegram
• Signal
• Matrix
• Slack

< li>Google Chat

• Instagram
• IRC (Libera.chat)
• Discord
• LinkedIn

However, in the long term, Beeper intends to offer more radical changes to the way people communicate. “Our vision is to leverage the connections we have with other companies and’ 8217;other networks”, explains Migicovsky, cited by The Verge, “but over time, migrate people and give them the ability to move to an open messaging standard.”

• Beeper recently made headlines by releasing an iMessage client for Android, which was later blocked by Apple
• Now, this company belongs to Automattic, creator of WordPress, which has big ambitions in the field of messaging
• Following the acquisition, Beeper is ending its waiting list and can be used by the 450,000 people who were on this list
• Beeper will also continue to strengthen its solution, which allows messages from 14 different platforms to be managed on a single application
• Later, Beeper will nevertheless try to migrate its users to a more flexible messaging solution open

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