Thunderbird and K-9 Mail merge and “Thunderbird for Android” is born

Recently Thunderbird and K-9 Mail development teams have announced a project merger, whereupon the K-9 Mail email client will be renamed "Thunderbird for Android" and shipped with a new branding.

For a long time the Thunderbird project has considered creating a version for mobile devices, but during the discussions he came to the conclusion that there is no point in splitting forces and doing double the work when you can join forces with an already existing open source project nearby. For K-9 Mail, joining Thunderbird is beneficial in terms of additional resources, expanding the user base, and speeding up development.

For those of you unfamiliar with K-9 Mail, I can tell you that this is a free and open source standalone email client for Android.

The project is licensed under the Apache 2.0 license and the program is promoted as a more functional replacement for the applications included in most terminals. It supports both POP3 and IMAP trays and supports IMAP IDLE for real-time notifications, as well as it can work with IMAP, POP3 and Exchange 2003/2007 accounts (with WebDAV), folder synchronization, encryption under OpenKeychain support, digital signatures and saved on the SD card.

About the role of projects

The decision to merge was driven by similar goals and visions of both projects of what a modern mobile email application should be. Both projects are also privacy conscious, adhere to open standards, and are developed using an open development process.

For years, we've wanted to extend Thunderbird beyond the desktop, and the path to delivering a great Thunderbird experience on Android™ began in 2018.

That's when Thunderbird product manager Ryan Lee Sipes first met with Christian Ketterer (aka "cketti"), the project lead for the open source Android email client K-9 Mail. The two instantly wanted to find a way for the two projects to collaborate. Over the next few years, the conversation turned to how to create an amazing, seamless email experience across all platforms.

Before the first release under the new name, they plan to bring the look and functionality of K-9 Mail closer to the design and features of the desktop version of Thunderbird.

Of the plans to expand the functionality of K-9 Mail, the implementation of an account auto-configuration system as in Thunderbird, the improvement in the management of mail folders, the integration of support for message filters and the implementation of of synchronization between the mobile and desktop versions of Thunderbird.

“Joining the Thunderbird family allows K-9 Mail to become more sustainable and gives us the resources to implement long-requested features and fixes that our users want,” says cketti. "In other words, K-9 Mail will soar to greater heights with the help of Thunderbird."

Christian Ketterer, K-9 Mail project leader and core developer, now works at MZLA Technologies Corporation of Thunderbird and will continue to work on the K-9 Mail code full time.

For existing K-9 Mail users, aside from the name change and added functionality, nothing will change. Thunderbird users will be able to use a mobile client that is in sync and has close functionality to the desktop version. As for the desktop version of Thunderbird, it will continue to evolve without change and using the same technology.

Finally, in the blog post, they mention that K-9 Mail and Thunderbird are community funded projects, so if there is a chance and intention to help improve and expand K-9 Mail faster, it is possible to support the project with a small donation which you can make In the following link.

If you are interested in learning about it about the note, you can consult the original statement in the following link


Be the first to comment

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked with *

*

*

  1. Responsible for the data: Miguel Ángel Gatón
  2. Purpose of the data: Control SPAM, comment management.
  3. Legitimation: Your consent
  4. Communication of the data: The data will not be communicated to third parties except by legal obligation.
  5. Data storage: Database hosted by Occentus Networks (EU)
  6. Rights: At any time you can limit, recover and delete your information.