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.
Sign up for our new free newsletter to get three time-saving tips each Friday — and get free copies of Paul Thurrott's Windows 11 and Windows 10 Field Guides (normally $9.99) as a special welcome gift!
"*" indicates required fields
“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.