Sunbird iMessage app for Android

Blue Bubbles Return to Android for $2.99

Sunbird lets Android users join iMessage with reactions and high-quality video while avoiding the group-chat problems that can still appear across platforms. Google Messages and SMS also work inside the app, with WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger integrations planned.

The Relaunch Has a Security Debt to Repay

Sunbird disappeared for nearly three years after serious security issues. The rebuilt service says messages are encrypted on the phone, in transit through certificate-pinned connections, and at rest with AES-256; Apple’s end-to-end encryption protects the final step to an iPhone.

Passwords and Media Are Designed to Disappear

The company says an Apple ID password is used once to create the session and then destroyed, without retaining a reusable authentication token. Media is typically deleted within 48 hours and never kept longer than 72, while an independent audit reportedly found no critical vulnerabilities.

Convenience Still Requires Trust

An AI assistant for summaries and drafted replies is planned later this year, but Sunbird’s essential proposition is not AI—it is asking users to trust an intermediary with a messaging bridge Apple does not officially provide. The new safeguards are therefore the product, not background detail.