Multi-service messaging app Beeper, which allows people to connect to all their chat apps from one interface, is relaunching its app on Wednesday to offer a more secure version that no longer requires use of its own cloud services. In addition, Beeper is introducing premium offerings that provide access to more accounts than its free tier and include power-user features like reminders, the ability to send messages later, an incognito mode to read messages without marking them read, AI voice note transcriptions, and more.
Now owned by WordPress.com maker Automattic, which bought Beeper for $125 million in 2024, the app has almost entirely integrated with competitor Texts.com, which Automattic also acquired the year prior for $50 million.
With a combined 30-person team (including contractors) and now operating under the Beeper brand, the messaging app supports WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, X, Telegram, Signal, Matrix, Slack, Google Chat, Discord, LinkedIn, and Google Messages (SMS/RCS). On Mac computers only, Beeper can also connect users with their iMessage chats, though Apple has shut down this access in prior versions.
Image Credits:Automattic/Beeper
The overall goal, according to Automattic, is to simplify the problem of having too many messaging apps to keep up with, while also keeping those chats secure.
The app previously first connected with Beeper Cloud before communicating with the messaging network, said Beeper CEO Kishan Bagaria. While that system remains the default, users will now have the option of switching to Beeper on device, which will see the app connecting directly to the messaging network and skipping the middleman.
“That ensures that end-to-end encryption is preserved and your privacy is as good as the official app,” Bagaria told TechCrunch in an interview ahead of the app’s relaunch. Whether the companies involved will appreciate having their own apps bypassed, however, remains to be seen.
“We have good relationships with some of these companies, and some of them are OK with this,” Bagaria said. “Others, we have not really heard from much.”
Image Credits:Automattic/Beeper
To stave off any potential shutdowns by messaging network providers, Beeper aims to support the business models of the first-party apps whenever possible. For example, if Telegram is showing ads, those ads will be shown in Beeper, too.
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