Nothing pulled out the beta of its new messaging app, Nothing Chats, from the Play Store only a day after its release.
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Nothing Chats Suspends Launch Amid Privacy Concerns
One day after the beta app hit the Play Store, Nothing released a statement that the company had removed and will delay the launch until further notice. Moreover, both Nothing and Sunbird are already working to fix several bugs.
We've removed the Nothing Chats beta from the Play Store and will be delaying the launch until further notice to work with Sunbird to fix several bugs.
— Nothing (@nothing) November 18, 2023
We apologise for the delay and will do right by our users.
A 9to5Google report defined the Nothing chats as a "privacy nightmare" due to its lack of end-to-end encryption, which was a feature promised by both companies. In addition, image files sent by other users were reportedly easy to access in plain text.
When the app was announced last week, Nothing wrote "Nothing Chats is built on Sunbird's platform and all Chats messages are end-to-end encrypted, meaning neither we nor Sunbird can access the messages you're sending and receiving. However, both companies failed to deliver on their promises.
Users Investigate Nothing Chats Privacy Issue
Several users published their findings on X, most of which pointed out that the app is not using HTTPS and credentials are sent over plaintext HTTP. However, Sunbird argued that regardless of the usage of HTTP all data is encrypted and it is only used as part of the one-off initial request from the app.
texts team took a quick look at the tech behind nothing chats and found out it's extremely insecure
it's not even using HTTPS, credentials are sent over plaintext HTTP
backend is running an instance of BlueBubbles, which doesn't support end-to-end encryption yet pic.twitter.com/IcWyIbKE86— Kishan Bagaria (@KishanBagaria) November 17, 2023
Moreover, X user Dylan Roussel revealed that Sunbird will have access to every message sent and received through the app on the device. In addition, all files sent are also available to the public.
Thread time!
— Dylan Roussel (@evowizz) November 18, 2023
Summary:
- Sunbird has access to every message sent and received through the app on your device.
- All of the documents (images, videos, audios, pdfs, vCards...) sent through Nothing Chat AND Sunbird are public.
- Nothing Chats is not end-to-end encrypted.
While Nothing did not directly mention the privacy issues as part of the delay, the company shared that they "will do right by our users." As of writing, the company is yet to disclose how long will the app be available again.
Related Article: Nothing Integrates iMessage to 'Nothing Chats'
