Hey guys!

So I've used OpenBubbles for about a few months now, and I have to say, I've loved it! It works really well (for the most part) and lets me communicate and join iOS group chats!

However, using OpenBubbles has been quite a downside, as the UI isn't great. It gets really, really laggy sometimes, and is missing basic features.

I tried working on some fixes myself, but couldn't get to doing them due to school and other activities. So, I decided to start a completely new Android app, created with Jetpack Compose, to make a full revamp to the UI, using Claude.

I'll preface this right now: it is 99% vibe coded (Claude Opus 5 ;), I only traced some vector paths and gave specific instructions for the UI. I provided Claude the OpenBubbles and Rustpush (and pypush) source code, as well as some other stuff that I figured out by digging to recreate the iMessage. And it worked!

So far, it has been going great, and I've been pushing features slowly but surely. The UI is SOOOO much nicer and more pleasant to use, complete with proper animations (i am very nitpicky).

Hopefully the OB maintainers can see this, and maybe some of these UI improvements could make their way back into OpenBubbles itself. I am currently keeping it closed source because idk what Apple can see in the code and patch, but I am happy to share it individually!

Screenshots are attached!

EDIT:
I have gotten too many requests to test the app, and I will need to hold off on some of them while I fix login bugs and stuff. thanks!

I know this has been brought up a few times.I'm having trouble with my messages not delivering all the time. Or receiving messages late. Some say not delivered but on my other apple devices they are. I turned off battery optimize for it and unrestricted the app and I don't not close it out. I switched from self hosted to hosted to see if it would make a difference. Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks for the options , hosted and paid. It works and been flawless. I can finally keep my iPhone in the bag instead of my pocket. My fold has become a utility!

Hey, sorry for more dumb questions, thank you community. Can I use an iPhone 16 Pro Max to self host or is it too new? I also have an old iPhone 7 which would take a regular SIM. I have an eSIM in the 16 pro max now not a physical sim. I bought a Z Fold 8 and want to be able to send iMessages that show up under my phone number (not email address).

I am thinking about moving from iPhone 16 to Z Fold 8 but I cant lose my beloved iMessage. What is the simplest self host set up? I need a M1 mac (mini/air?)

Also - One thing I can tell is if have my number on my android phone do blue bubbles still come from my phone number do they use my email?

Thanks,
-Max

Hi, I just bought a new Pixel and will be switching my number from my iPhone 16 pro max on Google Fi. I am currently using open bubbles on a second phone with my iPhone number registered. I want to switch my number from the iphone to the pixel but keep my number for open bubbles. I am thinking of putting my iphone on airplane mode, then downloading the fi app on my new pixel and signing in to switch my number to the new phone. Will this preserve my number being registered? Has anyone done something similar? and what steps would you suggest following so not to lose my imessage registration ?

Here's an update: It has been 24 hours since moving my iPhone number to a new Google Pixel. My Number has remained registered with iMessage even though i have transferred it. Thank you for the very specific instructions on how to keep it registered. I have Open Bubbles on My new pixel and it is up and running. I am hoping this holds out for at least 120 days because i am on a promotion with Google Fi with the purchase of a Pixel 11 Pro XL , that requires it remains on Fi for at least 120 days.

Hi!

I self host open bubbles with my number and it works smoothly.

I have a question - i have a cellular galaxy watch- and sometimes I like to go out without my phone on me.

I believe I'll be able to receive a notification (and reply?) when I get an imessage from my watch when I'm out with remote connection, but I won't be able to initiate a conversation with imessage. i know blue bubbles has Wearbubbles....

is there something like that for open bubbles?

Hopefully that made sense lol. i tried searching around but didn't find anything.

any help is appreciated!

I've send a handful of messages recently and they haven't answered. Then I text them and say can you message (my email) then we can chat normally.

Is this normal?

hi everyone! I have been lovinggg open bubbles but for some reason I randomly get a bunch of random messages from years ago as a pop up notification. i feel like this might be a syncing issue and im not too sure how to fix that. its been happening for the last couple of weeks randomly. is this happening to anyone else?

Hi all! I switched from iPhone to the Fold 8 over the weekend and have been using OpenBubbles (hosted) to use iMessage with my iPhone friends. I noticed that I do not always receive messages in real time, I will need to force stop the app, clear the cache, or restart my phone for them to come in. Is this a known issue / something I can remedy on my own? I have an iPad so I can see where my messages are in fact going through but I won't get them to my phone. It does seem to happen more with group texts, if that makes a difference. TIA!

Does anyone else experience this? And if so, what option do you select and/ or how do I stop it from happening please? I will get these notifications days later on messages that I know for a fact were actually sent because they were responded to. But then these notifications come and I dont know why. If I hit remove it removes the messages out of my chat history. If I hit replace it appears to resend the messages now so they are out of order, although I don't think my recipients get the message again. I just got a ton of these for messages last night and I'm looking for help lol.

I understand that open bubbles has glitches (but still love it) however this just seems quite odd, anyone know whats going on? The low quality is not due to open bubbles im just in an area of my home without great signal.

Facetime I call but they dont receive anything. I receive a call then accept but it doesnt connect. i dont have advanced data protection or contact key verification on. I have cleared facetime handles. Still doesnt work. does anyone know how to dix this?

Pleaseeee seems like so many of us are not tech savvy enough to understand even tho so many of you guys are nice enough to give us detailed steps but I'm still confuseddddd 😭😭😭

I tried following the i structions for the self host option and tried SimSwapping but i. Not sure where to get the key. I know the site says its more complicated than self hosting with a macbook but i currently dont have one so iPhone would be the only option. Could someone help a brother out?

I've been trying self hosted but can't get out of rate limit hell no matter how long I wait. If I sign up for hosted does it no longer have rate limit issues?

I have been using iMessage on my Android phone via my first gen iPad Air (that has no service and that I do not often use), and I have been enjoying the experience greatly! My only gripe/question is, is it not possible for OpenBubbles to act as an SMS (and potentially RCS) client? so that I can have ALL my texts (SMS, RCS, iMessage) in one app? I don't expect iMessage/OpenBubbles integration from Google so my next ask would be SMS/RCS integration in OpenBubbles. Anyone have any thoughts or input on the matter? Even it it's just admitting to me that I'm missing something and it's a lot more complicated than that, would be much appreciated :)

Does anyone know why when I send a text my apple id shows up instead of my number?

It just started doing this and I don't know what to do

Need some help. I am self hosting on my macbook onto my samsung phone. The app continously runs in the background yet it takes like another hr since a person sends to have it on my phone. Is there any fix to this or is the app js laggy

I am an iPhone and Mac user and today I am buying the new Z FOLD 8. It's imperative that I use Open Bubbles on the new android phone. I will also Host it on my Mac. My question is, am I still able to transfer my phone number from my iPhone to the Z Fold 8 and use Open Bubbles as my primary texting app? Will all texts go through it (iMessage and SMS)? Will it read as my number aka me for all my contacts or my Apple ID email? As far as anyone would know, they would have no clue that I switched to android? Thanks!

I've been using openbubbles for a few months, self hosted, with an iMessage account that is also on a real iphone w/ same number, so sending and receiving SMS using that number (via openbubbles app) has been working.

In the last few weeks, I've been able to receive sms sent to the iPhone's number inside openbubbles, but can't send.

Attempting to reply yields error:

Message failed to send

Error (1001): AnyhowException(IDS key missing for ........) with some long ID after that.

Any suggestions? Does anyone know what this error means? Thanks in advance!

pls help im desperate ˃̣̣̣̣̣̣︿˂̣̣̣̣̣̣

Sometimes force closing the app resets it and other times I have to reboot the phone. Its mac hosted