Bridging the Gap Between iOS & Android Messaging: Incorporating iMessage on Your Android Phone

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This article offers a few options to let you set up iMessage on Android. These apps are all free to download and use, but they do have some differences.

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Beeper

Automattic, Inc.

Beeper started with a waitlist, but it’s now open to everyone. It’s free to use with an optional subscription that charges monthly.

Along with iMessage, Beeper also collects chats from 14 other apps:

• Android SMS
• Discord
• Facebook Messenger
• Google Chat
• Google Messages
• Instagram
• IRC
• LinkedIn
• Matrix
• Signal
• Slack
• Telegram
• Twitter
• WhatsApp

You link them up, and then you can access all of them from a single place. One way to get iMessage on Android with Beeper kind of defeats the point; you forward your iPhone messages to Beeper on your Android phone. But if youcreate a new Apple ID , you can use it for iMessages in Beeper on your Android.

Download for :

Android

iOS

Linux

macOS

Windows

weMessage

Burton Algorithms, Inc.

WeMessage is probably the most well known option for getting iMessage on an Android device. It requires you to have a Mac, but if you meet that qualification, you’ll use the app to make your computer a server that forwards your iMessages to the Android app.

One “catch” is that if your Mac isn’t powered on, it may not work. And you have to be on the same Wi-Fi network, unless you doport forwarding .

This option has all the features of a regular chat app–you can have group chats and send photos, videos, and voice messages, for example–and the interface matches the real Messages app really well. It even has iOS-style, full-screen effects like fireworks.

Download for :

Android

macOS

BlueBubbles

BlueBubbles

Like weMessage, BlueBubbles uses your Mac as a server to relay iMessages to your Android phone. If you don’t have a Mac, you can also create a virtual machine in Windows or Linux. You can also avoid port forwarding by using a BlueBubbles-recommended third-party proxy server–although we recommend using the port forwarding.

Both of these options are also available for weMessage, of course, but BlueBubbles has a lot of convenient documentation to walk you through how to set it up. And it has dedicated apps for Windows and Linux machines instead of a web client.

BlueBubbles is compatible with macOS High Sierra and later, although not all of its features are available in every version of macOS. It also includes customizations, reactions, effects, replies, read receipts, and more.

Download for :

Android (Client)

PC (Client)

macOS (Server)

AirMessage

AirMessage

AirMessage also uses your Mac as a server, but it also has a robust web client that lets you access your messages on any device that can connect to the internet without an extra download.

The usual complications are present here–you need a Mac or a virtual machine, and it always needs to be on, for example–but that’s just the nature of this workaround, and it’s not unique to AirMessage.

AirMessage works best with devices running Android 6 and up and Macs running Mac OS X Yosemite or newer.

Download for :

Android (Client)

macOS (Server)

Why You Can’t Normally Use iMessage on Android

You usually can’t use iMessage on Android because Apple uses a special end-to-end encryption system in iMessage that secures the messages from the device they’re sent on, through Apple’s servers, to the device receiving them. Because the messages are encrypted, the iMessage network is only usable by devices that know how to decrypt the messages.

Apple keeps iMessage and all its cool effects and features, includingiMessage apps , exclusive to devices running iOS and macOS. That’s why there’s no iMessage for Android app available on the Google Play store.

FAQ

• Can I send an iMessage to an Android device?
  Yes, you can send iMessages from an iPhone to an Android (and vice versa)using SMS , which is simply the formal name for text messaging. Android phones can receive SMS text messages from any other phone or device on the market.
• How do I register with iMessage?
  If you have an iPhone, registering with iMessage is easy. You just need to sign in to your iMessage account with yourApple ID on a Mac.
• Can I transfer text messages from iPhone to Android?
  No. The ways that youtransfer text messages from iPhone to iPhone are not supported when going from iPhone to Android.
• How do I stop spam on iMessage?
  The best method is to block the caller. To do this, tap the spam message then tapDetails >Info (i ) >Block this Caller >Block Contact .
• Why aren’t my iMessages sending?
  Maybe you’re trying to send a message to the wrong phone number or email address. Double check and try sending again. Or, maybe you just need to restart your device. Also, check your network connection.

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