Sunbird is Shutting Down Its iMessage Service Due To 'Security Vulnerability'
Who is taking the blame game between Sunbird and Nothing?
We reported how 'Nothing Chats' was forcefully pulled out of the Google Playstore due to security vulnerability. Sunbird was the brainbox behind the iMessage alternative software coined "Nothing Chats", It's been reported to have major security and privacy concerns leading to data exposures and has opted to shut the app temporarily.
Sunbird initially introduced its iMessage application for Android towards the end of 2022 and has been testing it within a limited group for some time termed 'closed alpha". However, they gained more exposure when they collaborated with Nothing to create the "Nothing Chats" app, aiming to bring iMessage to the Nothing Phone (2). Unfortunately, this app was accessible for less than a day due to significant privacy issues that emerged.
Also Read: Security Vulnerabilities Force ‘Nothing Chats’ App Out of Play Store
Nothing and Sunbird had pledged to provide end-to-end encryption, but following the release of the Nothing Chats app, Sunbird didn't meet expectations, leading to numerous privacy concerns and data leaks. More than 630,000 files became accessible due to the mishandling of end-to-end encryption. Despite Sunbird's assertion that the data wasn't stored on their servers, it was discovered that the data had been stored on Firebase.
In reaction to these issues, Nothing halted continuous downloads of the Nothing Chats app and notified users that its usage had been paused. Sunbird sent it's users notification on November 18 as posted on Reddit, explaining why they paused the app, while Nothing Chats users got their notification today.
Dear Sunbird User. We have decided to pause Sunbird usage for now while we investigate security concerns. We will update you when we are ready to proceed.
Sunbird also sent another notification to its users reporting they only disabling media sharing on the app.
Good afternoon everyone. We are investigating the security issues raised in the last 24 hours. In an abundance of caution and to protect your confidential data, we are shutting down Sunbird media temporarily. We will keep you posted. Thank you, & sincere apologies for the inconvenience.
Despite the whole drama and saga, Sunbird is yet to make official statement regarding this issue in any of their channels apart from the notification being sent via the app. Sunbird has shut down for now and we still don't know when they'll resume.
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Sunbird still claim to offer end-to-end encryption on their website, and fail to live to expectations with the Nothing Chats. The app is also not accessible via the Google Play store, but on a neutral view who do you think is to blame more in these whole saga? Was Nothing too fast to announce the Nothing Chats or was Sunbird not ready? Tell us what you think using the comment box.