

The idea to collaborate with an existing open source email project for Android was born in 2018, when Sipes started talking to Christian Ketterer, the K-9 Mail project maintainer, about potential collaborations. The development of an Android email client from the ground up was one of the options that the team discussed, but it would have been a large project that would have required considerable effort and resources. The Android version enables Thunderbird users to sync data between desktop versions and their mobile Android devices. The release would fill a gap, as Thunderbird has been available for desktop operating systems only up until now.

Thunderbird product and business development manager Ryan Lee Sipes confirmed in May 2022 that Thunderbird would become available for Android soon.
