{"id":584518,"date":"2026-08-06T01:36:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T01:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/584518\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T01:36:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T01:36:11","slug":"sunbird-brings-the-imessage-experience-to-android-phones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/584518\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunbird Brings the iMessage Experience to Android Phones"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re an Android<\/a> user itching for that iMessage experience, Sunbird Messaging is back and available right now. The company announced its return<\/a> on Wednesday, three years after it was shut down in 2023 due to privacy concerns.<\/p>\n

Sunbird\u2019s big selling point is that its messaging app lets you send blue bubble messages<\/a> to iPhone<\/a> users while also offering the iMessage chat experience<\/a> Apple customers are familiar with.<\/p>\n

According to the announcement, the app brings together iMessage, RCS and SMS\/MMC messaging under one proverbial roof. <\/p>\n

If organizing your text messages is a priority, the app now offers a Primary tab where you can add the people and groups you stay in touch with most. Messages from unknown numbers, routine texts with verification codes, and the like are filed in the Secondary tab. You can move conversations between both tabs at any time.<\/p>\n

\"\"Sunbird\u2019s Priority inbox lets you organize your contacts.<\/p>\n

As an Android phone owner, I\u2019m well aware of the stigma that comes from being the only blue bubble in a group iMessage chat.<\/p>\n

Since Apple now supports RCS messaging<\/a>, the barriers to communicating with my iPhone-using friends have mostly been knocked down \u2014 meaning I can now see typing activity, get read receipts and send high-quality media without the content quality headaches of the past.<\/p>\n

This begs the question: Is this glow-up too little too late? <\/p>\n

\u201cThe real problem is that an Android user in a group chat still breaks it for everyone: reactions, replies, high-quality video and group management often just do not work,\u201d Danny Mizrahi, CEO of Sunbird Messaging, said in a statement. \u201cSunbird fixes that, so the Android user becomes a full participant, and their iPhone friends get the experience they expect too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sunbird was initially on the Google Play Store<\/a> from late 2022 to late 2023. After it was discovered that the app was sending people\u2019s personal Apple ID credentials through an unprotected, unencrypted server, the company shut the app down.<\/p>\n

Not only did employees have access to this information, along with all content sent and received through the messaging app, but there was also a significant risk that a hacker could infiltrate the system and steal it.<\/p>\n

A year later, Sunbird resurrected the messaging app in beta mode. Today, it graduated to open-beta mode. <\/p>\n

With the messaging app returning to the Google Play Store, questions about lingering privacy concerns have resurfaced. According to the company, messages sent and received are now encrypted and do not get stored on Sunbird\u2019s servers. <\/p>\n

As for the sharing of Apple credentials, Sunbird requires you to have an Apple ID to use the app. The company says you\u2019re required to set up a one-time password, which is then destroyed, and no authentication tokens are kept.<\/p>\n

Sunbird\u2019s app offers a 14-day free trial, then costs $3 per month or $25 per year, and is currently available only to US customers. For more information on the company\u2019s security measures, head to the Sunbird website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A Sunbird spokesperson didn\u2019t immediately respond to CNET\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Aaron\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAaron covers what’s exciting and new in the world of home entertainment and streaming TV. Previously, he wrote about entertainment for places like Rotten Tomatoes, Inverse, TheWrap, Washington Post and The Hollywood Reporter. Aaron is also an actor and stay-at-home dad, which means coffee is his friend.
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tSee full bio\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you\u2019re an Android user itching for that iMessage experience, Sunbird Messaging is back and available right now.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":584519,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[61,60,80],"class_list":["post-584518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=584518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584518\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/584519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=584518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=584518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=584518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}