Mozilla Will Transform K-9 Mail App into Thunderbird on Android

Mozilla revealed today that the open-source Android email client K-9 Mail will become Thunderbird on Android. Christian Ketterer, the developer and maintainer of K-9 Mail has joined the Thunderbird team and will work on transforming the app into the Android version of Thunderbird.

K-9 Mail is a quite popular email client on Android with over 5 million downloads on the Play Store. The app has a Gmail-like interface and supports every email provider with push IMAP support and unified inboxes. Because the app already supports power user features with a shared focus on privacy and open standards, Mozilla acknowledged that taking over the K-9 Mail open source project was the easiest way to bring Thunderbird to Android.

“Thunderbird users have long been asking for Thunderbird on their Android and iOS devices. This move allows Thunderbird users to have a powerful, privacy-respecting email experience today on Android. Plus, it lets the community help shape the transition of K-9 Mail into a fully-featured mobile Thunderbird experience, the Thunderbird team announced today.

Before K-9 Mail gets rebranded to Thunderbird on Android, the team still needs to “reach certain development milestones that will bring K-9 Mail into alignment with Thunderbird’s feature set and visual appearance.” The roadmap currently includes adding support for account auto-configuration, improved folder management, support for message filters, and synchronization between the mobile app and Thunderbird on the desktop.