[HN Gopher] I built an iMessage bot using Beeper ___________________________________________________________________ I built an iMessage bot using Beeper Author : anteloper Score : 69 points Date : 2023-03-29 19:27 UTC (3 hours ago) (HTM) web link (www.getclearspace.com) (TXT) w3m dump (www.getclearspace.com) | andwaal wrote: | I have been using Beeper for 6 months or so now. In the start it | had some bugs, but now they are more and more rare (I don't use | iMessages). | | Overall an amazing product, with what seems like a very active | and product team behind which constants pushes out new updates. | Highly recommended 10/10! | smt88 wrote: | I'd switch in a second, but you can't use iMessage without | giving Beeper your iCloud password. That's a dealbreaker for | me. | | I wonder if they'll offer a self-hosted option at some point. | jeron wrote: | Looking forward to a Beeper chatGPT bot | rsync wrote: | Does beeper have an API with a curl interface ? | | As in, I can run a curl command with an API key and generate an | imessage ? | | How can I throw money at this today ? | | EDIT: OK, I understand that the same restrictions are extant that | always have been - namely, an Apple device needs to be involved | in creating the actual imessage. So this is not the breakthrough | service I thought it might be. | jeroenhd wrote: | Beeper is a bunch of Matrix bridges run as a commercial | service. You can join the wait list or set up your own | Matrix+bridges if you want (though that's more fiddling | around). | | As Beeper is based on Matrix, you can use the standard Matrix | API, use libraries like Maubot, and plenty of others in other | programming languages. HTTP calls are one way to send/receive | messages but there's more flexibility to be gained if you pick | a wrapper library IMO. | joefigura wrote: | Not sure about other chat apps, but to connect to imessage | they were originally using jailbroken iphones and now use | MacOS virtual machines, according to another commentator. So | there is a bit of additional work that would be necessary to | fully replicate it. | jeroenhd wrote: | Looks like you're right: | https://docs.mau.fi/bridges/go/imessage/index.html | | Disappointing, but iMessage has always been Apple's special | little protocol nobody else can use. | | Still, there are Docker images out there (that break the | TOS) for running macOS inside QEMU, I'm sure someone can | script one of those to set up a bridge more easily? | redsolver wrote: | Beeper uses the Matrix API, so yes! | Makhram wrote: | Unfortunately, I had to quit using Beeper a few days ago. Ever | since they migrated to their new hungryserv, iMessage reliability | has gotten steadily worse and worse. It culminated in an entire | day of sending iMessages where Beeper gave them all a delivered | checkmark... But none of them actually reached their recipients. | Was fun explaining to people who were angry I hadn't messaged | them back in over a day... I'm back on BlueBubbles now, hopefully | it will be more reliable. Overall it's a shame because I'm really | rooting for Beeper to succeed. I'm sick of all the existing chat | providers. | navanchauhan wrote: | I love using Beeper, but I disabled iMessages. It is a bit | unreliable when it comes to iMessages | | I use it for everything else though (Instagram, Slack, Discord, | WhatsApp, Facebook, Signal) | ofchnofc wrote: | [dead] | joefigura wrote: | "There is also plenty of fun to be had: ETA Accountability Bot - | when I send "I'll be there in 10" it could follow with an | accurate translation: "on average, this means I'll be there in | 13.26 minutes"." | | Brilliant! | pie314isi wrote: | In the slightly olden days, iMessage - or whatever it was called | then - had a built in jabber client, and there was brief period | (Sierra era?) that iMessage/iCloud could sync up all your | messages across google and apple and SMS. | | I _think_ it would have enabled this functionality, if anyone | knew and/or investigated it. | danaris wrote: | Yep, this is when it was called iChat. I used it for that exact | purpose for some time. This was before Apple had their own | protocol, though; I believe it just supported AIM and XMPP. | pie314isi wrote: | it's actually persisted more recently. I just checked a High | Sierra machine. "Messages" has an "Add Jabber Account" menu | option. An it's recent enough that it plays nice with all my | existing more modern iPhone/macOS etc iCloud messages. | wantlotsofcurry wrote: | More of a Beeper question. I couldn't find the information on | Beepers website or FAQ page. | | - For iMessage, does using Beeper allow you to use your own phone | number to send/receive messages or do you have to use your Apple | ID email to send/receive iMessages? | coddingtonbear wrote: | Although I see somebody else suggesting otherwise, I promise | you that you can send/receive iMessages (and SMS messages) via | your phone number if you have an iPhone. You do have to select | your phone number as your "Default Alias" from the iMessage | chat network configuration page, though. | pkulak wrote: | I don't think it's that simple, and it's kinda up to Apple. | If you have an iPhone, then yes. But if you have an Android | phone, from what I can tell, there's nothing you can do to | stop Apple from eventually disregarding the phone number | attached to your account and sending everything from your | email address. Part of the reason I use an iPhone at the | moment is because my entire network uses iMessage and I run | an iMessage -> Matrix bridge. | Scalene2 wrote: | Apple ID. | cheapliquor wrote: | I signed up for beeper like 3 months ago and still haven't gotten | an official invite. | counternotions wrote: | Seems like there's a wrapper app like this that marks the peak | of each generation of chat apps. Meebo used to be the sh*t. | johnxie wrote: | Missing Meebo! It was truly ahead of its time. I remember the | struggle of keeping just 10+ chat windows open, but man, it | was a lot of fun to use! | bg0 wrote: | Same :( | tuxracer wrote: | You can self-host with https://github.com/mautrix/imessage and | https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/ | leovander wrote: | Are they still doing iMessages via an always on Apple computer | or shipping out jailbroken iPhones? | axutio wrote: | Via MacOS VMs/containers. | arjvik wrote: | Does that mean you can't use your own phone number if | you're an Android user? | Kab1r wrote: | Yes. I am a beeper user and there is currently no | mechanism to register phone numbers unless you own an | iPhone. ___________________________________________________________________ (page generated 2023-03-29 23:00 UTC)