| K-9 Mail | |
| Author: | Jesse Vincent |
| Developer: | MZLA Technologies Corporation, Christian Ketterer |
| Operating System: | Android |
| Programming Language: | Java, Kotlin |
| Genre: | Email application |
| License: | Apache License 2.0 |
K-9 Mail is free and open source email client for Android. It is designed as an alternative to the stock email clients included with the platform; it supports both POP3 and IMAP protocols and supports IMAP IDLE for real-time notifications. The project is named after the Doctor Who character K9.[1]
The source code was first published to its git repository on October 27, 2008[2] by Jesse Vincent and the first binaries were released to the public on the Google Code site the same month.[3]
In 2015 the project received $86,000 of funding from the Open Technology Fund.[4]
On 13 June 2022, it was announced that K-9 Mail had been taken over by MZLA Technologies Corporation, a subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation with current maintainer Christian Ketterer joining the team, and plans for K-9 Mail to be rebranded as Thunderbird for Android following the completion of a feature roadmap, including sync with Thunderbird on PC, integrating Thunderbird's automated account setup system, message filtering, and improvements to folders.[5]
In the early 2010s it was widely reviewed, and was particularly praised in the media between 2011 and 2013 as a replacement for the default mail application.[6] [7] At the time, it was a leading alternative Android app, often recommended[8] when a user did not want to use the default app. It was awarded the "Best App for Sending Email" in the 2010 "Best Android Apps" book.[9]