Sunbird, the popular app that allows Android users to use iMessage, has returned to the Google Play Store, three years after being pulled due to security concerns. The Android app first launched back in 2022, allowing Android users to communicate with iPhone users via iMessage. However, the app, and the Nothing Chats app that was built upon it, were shut down temporarily in 2023 due to major privacy concerns. Reports from a security researcher and 9to5Google claimed that the apps didn’t offer the end-to-end encryption they promised, allowing user data, including messages, files, and personal data, to be accessed in plain text.
Fast-forward to three years later, and the Sunbird app has now been relaunched, with Sunbird Messaging claiming it has tightened up the app’s security following the previous concerns. The app is available to download from the Google Play Store, with a free 14-day trial available for new Sunbird users. After the trial, a subscription is required that costs $2.99 a month or $24.99 a year. According to a press release announcing the relaunch, over 181,000 people had signed up for Sunbird early access ahead of the launch. Below, we break down what the Sunbird app does and the new security measures that are in place.
What is Sunbird?
Sunbird is a unified messaging Android app that combines multiple messaging services, including iMessage, Rich Communications Services (RCS), and SMS, together into one inbox. When messaging iOS devices through Sunbird’s iMessage feature, Android users are granted a blue bubble, rather than the usual green RCS or SMS one, which allows them to have the same messaging experience as iPhone and Mac users. As a result, Sunbird users can more seamlessly participate in iMessage conversations with Apple users and have access to all iMessage features through Sunbird, including text effects, live stickers, message effects, text formatting, and more.
In 2022, when Sunbird was first released, messages between iOS and Android users were sent as SMS or MMS messages by default, meaning Android users couldn’t utilize iMessage or participate in iMessage group chats. However, that changed in 2024 — after Sunbird was pulled from the Play Store — when Apple began supporting RCS messaging between Android and iOS users. This change allowed the former to access features previously reserved for iMessage, such as typing indicators, read receipts, and high-resolution media.
Does that mean Sunbird is irrelevant in 2026? While some Android users think so, that’s not necessarily the case. RCS does give Android users access to several features available in iMessage, but it doesn’t give them all iMessage features. Android users are still unable to use the message effects and inline text formatting features that are available through iMessage. In addition, some Android users have reported encountering compatibility issues when using RCS to message an iOS device, including problems with group chat messages, emojis, and sending videos.
Sunbird’s security improvements
The return of Sunbird has been met with skepticism by some users online, given the app’s previous shutdown due to major privacy concerns. In the press release announcing the app’s relaunch, Sunbird Messaging addressed its improved approach to security and privacy. “Your messages are encrypted on your device and in transit, and Sunbird doesn’t keep them; they pass through only long enough to be delivered,” it explained. “When you message an iPhone, Apple’s own iMessage encryption carries that final step, exactly as it always has.” According to Sunbird, the technology behind this is protected by two issued U.S. patents.
Speaking to Android Authority, Sunbird Messaging CEO Danny Mizrahi further explained that this means the app doesn’t store your messages off-device. “Conversation history lives on the user’s device and the recipient’s device, not on our servers,” Mizrahi told the publication. “A message moving through our infrastructure is protected in transit and released once it is delivered.” This means messages are encrypted on the phone before they leave it, in transit, and at rest on the device with AES-256, an advanced encryption standard.
According to Mizrahi, when an iMessage is sent to an iPhone, it is protected by Apple’s iMessage end-to-end encryption, which Sunbird does not modify. While a user’s Apple ID password is used to set up an iMessage session, Mizrahi says it is used only once and then destroyed. In addition, media is automatically deleted from Sunbird’s servers within 72 hours.
