Apple has always kept its iMessage messaging service exclusively to work on its devices and this has kept Android users in the green bubble purgatory for a long time. A new app named Sunbird wants to change that. Available in closed beta and eyeing a 2023 release, the concept is simple: Android users will be able to communicate with their iPhone friends as if everyone was using an iPhone. One will have to Sign in with an Apple ID, to authenticate your iCloud account with a two-factor authentication code, and start texting with your iPhone friends in blue bubbles.
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The developers claim that since it is using Apple’s own iMessage system, there isn’t any risk. Sunbird doesn’t store your Apple ID password on its servers and all messages are still end-to-end encrypted: “Users get security (encryption), internet messaging, full-quality media, iMessage group chats, reactions/tap backs, live-typing, and read receipts, with plans to add new features regularly.”
This isn’t the first time someone has tried to bring iMessage to Android, but it does appear to be the simplest. Other solutions need a Mac or an iPhone running software that communicates with a dedicated server, but Sunbird requires very little setup and zero investment from the user other than a free iCloud account. Additionally, the developers say Sunbird will be free “for now,” with no plans to monetize the service at launch.
The company says that there are plans to expand Sunbird to other messaging apps. First on the list is Whatsapp and Telegram and Messenger are also on their radar. The goal is to turn Sunbird into a one-stop messaging app that lets you communicate with anyone on any platform no matter what service or OS they’re using. There are also plans to make a web app for Sunbird as well.
We are still not sure if Apple will allow Sunbird to operate without a legal battle, however. Sunbird’s method brings the entire iMessage experience—typing prompts, uncompressed photos and videos, and of course, blue bubbles—to Android phones, and the developers claim it isn’t reliant on Apple to accept.
For now, Android users join a waitlist to participate in a closed beta of Sunbird. So the next time your Android friend texts you a message with a blue bubble, it might not mean they’ve switched phones—it might just mean they downloaded a new app.
