Security Concerns Halt Sunbird’s Mission to Bring iMessage to Android

Sunbird, which aims to bring iMessage to Android users, has halted development and pulled its app from the Play Store amid security issues raised this week. The company sent a notification to its users, saying that it is pausing the development of the app to investigate security concerns. As a result, Sunbird app has been temporarily shut down while the company conducts a detailed security analysis. Users who received the notification about the app’s shutdown have noted the occurrence. According to the company’s statement on Discord, they are committed to addressing concerns that were raised and improving the user experience. Sunbird messaging, founded in 2021, has received $2.9 million in funding and released its app in a closed program last December. Moreover, Nothing, a company started by OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei, announced that it would use Sunbird’s technology to bring iMessage to Android through Nothing Chats. However, security researchers pointed out flaws in the app, including messages being sent in plain text and all messages and media sent through Nothing Chats and Sunbird being public. In response to these claims, Nothing has pulled the Nothing Chats beta from the Play Store and stated intentions to work with Sunbird to fix the bugs. Apple recently announced that it will adopt RCS (Rich Communication Standards) next year, which allows sending multimedia messages with other features. This could potentially address the green and blue bubble divide between Android and iPhone users.