Sunbird has announced it has temporarily shut down its iMessage app for Android to investigate security concerns.
Sunbird is a messaging app that lets you get around the blue bubble problem. The app brings Apple’s iMessage to Android, and while this sounds exciting, recent reports have shown that the app is full of security holes.
In response, Sunbird today announced it has shut down its service to investigate the security concerns. The company said it has paused usage till further notice.
Sunbird follows Nothing in shutting down its messaging app
Sunbird wasn’t very well known until recently when it partnered with Nothing to bring iMessage support exclusively to the Phone (2). However, Nothing pulled its messaging app from the Play Store just a day after reports of privacy concerns started piling up.
The Sunbird-powered Nothing Chats was supposed to be end-to-end encrypted. However, an investigation by X user @evowizz and a blog post from Text.com revealed the data shared through the app can be readily accessed by unauthorized parties.
Thread time!Summary:– Sunbird has access to every message sent and received through the app on your device.– All of the documents (images, videos, audios, pdfs, vCards…) sent through Nothing Chat AND Sunbird are public.– Nothing Chats is not end-to-end encrypted.
— Dylan Roussel (@evowizz) November 18, 2023
While Nothing claimed its decision to remove the app was driven by bug fixes, the timing of the removal strongly suggests it was prompted by the security flaws.
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Coming back to Sunbird, the company notified users that it is putting its services on hold for now. The announcement, as reported by 9to5Google, reads:
“Dear Sunbird User. We have decided to pause Sunbird usage for now while we investigate security concerns. We will update you when we are ready to proceed.”
Sunbird was launched in 2022 and the app has only been available to those who sign up for its waitlist. Beeper is a similar app that can still be downloaded from the Play Store, but it isn’t fully secure either.
Apple has already announced it is adopting RCS, so the texting situation between Android and iOS may not be as dire as it is right now. However, the ‘blue bubble’ problem may remain something you’d have to deal with.