Thunderbird appears for Android – in the form of a further developed K-9 Mail, because the latter app is completely integrated into the Mozilla project.
Thunderbird for Android is coming – and at the same time it is already there, because the basis of the e-mail client will be K-9 Mail. The latter is now completely integrated into Thunderbird. Maintainer cketti of the open source app is now part of the Thunderbird team.
According to the announcement, there have been plans to port the program to Android since 2018. A cooperation between the two projects was then also considered – with an application as the goal. This should be under an open source license and aimed at users who prefer many functions and their own configurations of their email client.
Slow change
K- 9 Mail is not immediately history with the step: Before the name change, the features and the look should correspond to the expectations of Thunderbird. First of all, the program should receive the automatic configuration of the mail account, folders should be managed better and messages can be filtered. Finally, the desktop and Android client should be able to synchronize account information via Firefox Sync.
In the associated FAQ, the developers point out that the appearance of K-9 Mail in particular could change several times in the future. Nevertheless, Thunderbird users should install the app now if they are not put off by such changes. The K-9 project itself also emphasizes that users should simply continue to use the app as usual.
It is still unclear whether the desktop application’s calendar function will find its way into the mobile client. The developers are also still discussing whether there will be an iOS version. The FAQ also assures users that the developers’ focus remains on the desktop program.
Expected, but not quite
The move to release a mobile Thunderbird comes as a complete surprise , not: The project only held out the prospect of one at the beginning of May this year. However, the developers on both sides gave no indication that this would be K-9 Mail.
For a long time, K-9 Mail was the most popular free mail app on Android. However, the project released a major update a year ago that improved the mail client in many places, but also included a controversial redesigned interface.
