Multi-service messaging app Beeper, which permits folks to connect with all their chat apps from one interface, is relaunching its app on Wednesday to supply a safer model that now not requires use of its personal cloud providers. As well as, Beeper is introducing premium choices that present entry to extra accounts than its free tier and embrace power-user options like reminders, the power to ship messages later, an incognito mode to learn messages with out marking them learn, AI voice observe transcriptions, and extra.
Now owned by WordPress.com maker Automattic, which purchased Beeper for $125 million in 2024, the app has virtually totally built-in with competitor Texts.com, which Automattic additionally acquired the 12 months prior for $50 million.
With a mixed 30-person group (together with contractors) and now working beneath the Beeper model, the messaging app helps WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, X, Telegram, Sign, Matrix, Slack, Google Chat, Discord, LinkedIn, and Google Messages (SMS/RCS). On Mac computer systems solely, Beeper can even join customers with their iMessage chats, although Apple has shut down this entry in prior variations.
The general aim, in accordance with Automattic, is to simplify the issue of getting too many messaging apps to maintain up with, whereas additionally protecting these chats safe.
The app beforehand first related with Beeper Cloud earlier than speaking with the messaging community, stated Beeper CEO Kishan Bagaria. Whereas that system stays the default, customers will now have the choice of switching to Beeper on machine, which is able to see the app connecting on to the messaging community and skipping the intermediary.
“That ensures that end-to-end encryption is preserved and your privacy is as good as the official app,” Bagaria advised TechCrunch in an interview forward of the app’s relaunch. Whether or not or not the businesses concerned will respect having their very own apps bypassed, nevertheless, stays to be seen.
“We have good relationships with some of these companies, and some of them are OK with this,” Bagaria stated. “Others, we have not really heard from much.”
To stave off any potential shutdowns by messaging community suppliers, Beeper goals to help the enterprise fashions of the first-party apps every time attainable. For instance, if Telegram is displaying adverts, these adverts will probably be proven in Beeper, too.
As well as, EU laws requiring interoperable messaging platforms might put strain on messaging app suppliers to depart an answer like Beeper’s alone.
Alongside the relaunch, there’ll now be an choice to improve to a brand new $9.99 per 30 days premium plan, Beeper Plus, which permits customers to attach with 10 messaging providers as an alternative of simply the 5 that free customers have entry to.
As well as, Plus subscribers have the choice to schedule messages to ship later, can set reminders to observe up on chats, learn messages in incognito mode in order that they don’t really feel pressured to reply instantly, entry a number of accounts per community, view AI voice observe transcriptions (processed by way of OpenAI’s Whisper mannequin with person consent), and swap out their app icon for a customized model.
A fair greater tier, Beeper Plus Plus, which begins at $49.99 per 30 days, presents entry to limitless accounts and is designed with the wants of companies or social media managers in thoughts. (Annual subscriptions are additionally accessible at a reduced value of $99.99 per 12 months for Beeper Plus and $499 per 12 months for Beeper Plus Plus.)
Following Beeper’s acquisition by Automattic, the corporate mixed its group with Texts.com to develop a brand new product that provided the very best of each providers. With Wednesday’s relaunch, these apps are actually 99% built-in, Bagaria stated, as only some smaller options stay to be ported over.
Finally, Automattic’s newest acquisition, the private CRM Clay which can be later rebranded), may also be built-in with Beeper, although it should stay a standalone app.
“It will mostly be built on top of the Beeper platform — it’ll stay complimentary,” Bagaria stated. “Clay is an amazing app [as it] works today. Then, with Beaver, it can just ingest more interactions and data, which will make it like two to 10x better. Once that is done, I’m sure Clay can be a very powerful product.”
Beeper right now has hundreds of thousands of registered customers, together with these from Texts.com. A small portion of those that are nonetheless utilizing Texts.com are actually being provided the choice migrate to Beeper, because it has added the on-device expertise, which they like.
Bagaria stated there should be some remaining points round reliability when transferring to the on-device mannequin, however these are being labored out as edge circumstances pop up. At some later level, Beeper Cloud will probably be deprecated as soon as the corporate is certain the on-device mannequin is able to being everybody’s each day driver.
Additional down the highway, Beeper goals to make its information accessible to different corporations, with person permission and controls to guard privateness. As an illustration, an MCP Beeper at some point might let customers join to speak apps by way of Claude or ChatGPT to ask it issues like “summarize all my important messages from this evening.”
These developments will take a while, as Bagaria says he’s additionally a “very privacy-conscious user,” and would need a answer that’s very clear about what information is accessed and when, and one that enables customers to even manually say sure or no to information requests, maybe.
“We also don’t want to have server farms where we have models trained on your data. That’s a complete no, no,” he stated.
