Matt Mullenweg on the Beeper acquisition, adding to their previous acquisition of Texts:

Today the announcement went out that we’re combining the best technology from Beeper and Texts to create a great private, secure, and open source messaging client for people to have control of their communications. We’re going to use the Beeper brand, because it’s fun.

Seems like we’re in an interesting, perhaps pivotal moment for text messaging and DMs, and Automattic is set up to be an important player. Smart strategy.

@manton Given my recent travels outside of the US (to Tanzania), I think the real "fight" here is not with Apple, but with WhatsApp.

I was absolutely gobsmacked over the ubiquity of WhatsApp in Africa (and, I'm told, pretty much the entire rest of the world as well).

@patrickrhone Sounds right. Europe’s DMA is also requiring WhatsApp to open up, so possibly new opportunities for integration.

@numericcitizen It’s a good app. They’ve got a difficult task, though, getting groups to leave Slack, Discord, etc.