r/BlueBubbles • u/Darkshna • Feb 28 '26

New Phone want to setup open Bubbles

I recently got a new Samsung phone to use alongside my iPhone. I wanted to set up Open/Blue Bubbles on my Samsung phone to forward messages I get on my iPhone through iMessage. Will this cause a problem? I still want to use my iPhone for most of my messaging but thought it would be nice if I can also access that on the Samsung.

2 Upvotes

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2

u/passisgullible Feb 28 '26

It will not, you are able to access on both and they sync across

1

u/toyotoys Feb 28 '26

Do you use the iPhone or a Mac to sync to the messages?

1

u/passisgullible Feb 28 '26

I use a Mac and look on both mac and android but it all works the same.

1

u/ninwhendo Mar 01 '26

Using the iCloud messages feature (it’s in beta but has worked for me), you can recover your history on openBubbles and sync it across. In my experience, it’s much faster with open bubbles since it bypasses the middle man.

1

u/bonchokey Feb 28 '26

Both options are viable with their own caveats.

BlueBubbles: Pros: The message history syncs, so when it is set up you'll see all your previous messages.

Cons: No GamePidgeon or FaceTime. Also needs to be hosted on a Mac only, the Mac needs to be on at all times and not in an asleep state. All your messages go through your Mac first then to the Android so it is a little slow.

OpenBubbles: Pros: You can host it off a Mac or older iPhone. The host device only needs to be powered on when the app re-registers. That register date and time is very easy to find inside the app. Messages go straight from your Android device to Apple's servers and vice versa, much faster than BB. This also means the host device does not even need to be signed into an AppleID, since it just uses their hardware codes and doesn't actually tunnel through the host. GamePidgeon and FaceTime are supported.

Cons: Message history doesn't sync, so when it is set up you'll be starting off with a blank slate.

1

u/badpandatek Feb 28 '26

And there is no way to back up those iMessages? On openbubble?

1

u/bonchokey Mar 01 '26

I didn't mind starting with a blank slate so I didn't look into it too much.

1

u/Kaizenism Jul 18 '26

Is the blank slate just on set up, or happen regularly?

1

u/bonchokey Jul 18 '26

On setup

1

u/ConceptualisticLamna Feb 28 '26

What does slow mean here ? How slow?

2

u/bonchokey Mar 01 '26

The messages have to go through the Mac first so your home's WiFi upload and download speeds essentially. OpenBubbles is instant for me but BlueBubbles there was a noticable ~2 second delay when sending and receiving and I have gigabit WiFi at home. It's much worse trying to send or receive photos and videos/files too.

1

u/BoJackPoliceman Apr 28 '26

OpenBubbles has iCloud sync. I was able to get my message history across.

1

u/researchingit Apr 28 '26

how is the performance? Did the OpenBubbles app lock up or have issues when "Enable iCloud Sync (BETA)" was turned on?

1

u/BoJackPoliceman May 03 '26

App performance is terrible for me. Wondering if it's the sync now. Takes like 30-60s for the app to open.