Pie Message Brings iMessage to Android Devices! [Video]

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Posted May 3, 2016 at 6:02pm by Shalom Levytam

Developer Eric Chee has just unveiled Pie Message, an open source project that brings iMessage to Android devices.

The project uses a Java Web Server and an OS X Client that run on your Mac. It monitor's the chat.db file used by the OS X Messages application for new messages, then relays those messages to an Android app.

Chee has released a video of the project in action and has posted the code on GitHub.

"This project is a super alpha prototype. I am releasing it because I need your help. :)"

Take a look at the video below and hit the link to visit its Github page!

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Comments (17)

Comments are closed for this article.

Marc Miller - May 4, 2016 at 12:21pm

personally i think the benefits of the iMessage app obviously are not using cellular text messaging (even though 98% of all cellular companies offer unlimited these days) but iMessage is good because it sends texts, pictures, and videos faster which is beneficial with this app but i think the typing icon and the read/delivered messages are another plus. Not that i care if people read my text but i know if they did recieve it or if their phone is not on or something like that. If this app eventually had identicle features as the iMessage app then it would work out. I dont think i would be able to use 2 separete messaging apps on one phone. Android users would hate that i'm sure but if they have a specific reason behind why they want iMessages then i guess it could be good. Either way great project.

Fbn - May 4, 2016 at 3:47am

How to install it?

Amriibacchus - May 4, 2016 at 2:01am

Isn't this just a message relay and not actually iMessage? I mean if your OSX client goes offline for some reason it would stop working right?

Basswow - May 3, 2016 at 9:45pm

@Eric Chee...so cool! This would solve a lot of things. Hope you find a horde of people to help you! Thanks for your efforts :-)

Eric Chee - May 4, 2016 at 1:25am

@Basswow Thank you so much for your kind words! =] It took me a lot of work and time to get this prototype working xD

aa2007 - May 3, 2016 at 7:22pm

Can FaceTime be worked to run on Android as well?

aa2007 - May 3, 2016 at 7:21pm

I noticed that the ... Bubble doesn't show up. Can that be added?

Eric Chee - May 3, 2016 at 9:19pm

Hey Rob. Eric, developer of PieMessage here. Great question! It definitely is possible. I would just have to send a key command to the OSX Client and the Messages app should handle it accordingly. It is currently not in the project. These are all features I know what to do in my head, I just never got around to them.

RWR - May 3, 2016 at 9:19pm

Super Alpha means it might come in the future, but what you see now is what you get. This guy cross platformed something that processes through a server, be happy that this magician exists!

Vikas Bhagaur - May 3, 2016 at 6:38pm

How secure is this?

Eric Chee - May 3, 2016 at 6:32pm

Hey guys! Eric, developer of PieMessage here! Happy to answer any questions you guys have :)

DAPRULE - May 3, 2016 at 10:09pm

Im trying to install it on android, to test it. I dont see an option to open it in android studio. What am I doing wrong?

unboricualoco - May 3, 2016 at 11:27pm

how secure is this? does it have they same encryption apple imessage does?

Eric Chee - May 4, 2016 at 3:25am

Hey DAPRULE, The directory PieMessage-Android/ is an Android Studio project. Open that folder with Android Studio

Eric Chee - May 4, 2016 at 3:27am

Hey @unboricualoco. Great question! The Android app does not store any iCloud credentials. It simply passes the text to the OSX device. The OSX device just tells the OSX ‘Messages’ app to send it assuming you are signed into that iCloud account on the OSX. As far as the socket communication from the Android app to the OSX client – Since it’s an open source project, I left the encryption part up to the developers who are much more fluent in terms of security. Right now it just sends a plain text JSON to back n forth. Completely unacceptable I know. This definitely weakens the end-to-end encryption of Apple's iMessage. But yeah as you can tell, this project got really big which is why I’m hoping to get help from the open source community.