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K-9 Mail
Original author(s)	Jesse Vincent
Developer(s)	MZLA Technologies Corporation, Christian Ketterer
Initial release	27 October 2008; 15 years ago
Stable release	6.804 / 7 June 2024; 3 months ago
Repository	github.com/thundernest/k-9 ;
Written in	Java, Kotlin
Operating system	Android
Type	Email application
License	Apache License 2.0
Website	k9mail.app

K-9 Mail is a 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]

History

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]

Reception

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]