The beta version of the chat app titled Nothing Chats has been pulled from the Play Store just a day after its initial release. Nothing Chats aimed to provide Android users with a chat app similar to iMessage, typically exclusive to Apple devices.
The removal from the Play Store was attributed by Nothing to the necessity of addressing “various issues” within the app. They announced a delay in the app’s release until these issues are resolved, without specifying a definite timeline for the fixes. It raises questions as to why these significant flaws weren’t caught earlier, prompting the app’s removal.
Prior to its removal, significant criticism surfaced regarding the app’s security. A report by 9to5 Google revealed that Nothing Chats lacked end-to-end encryption, potentially allowing easy access to attachments sent through the app.
Nothing Chats relied on Sunbird for its iMessage-like features, which had access to users’ iCloud accounts. Criticism had already arisen due to Sunbird’s use of HTTP instead of the more secure HTTPS. Additionally, the blog Texts.com highlighted the app’s insufficient security features based on investigations into Nothing Chats.
The investigations uncovered that even outgoing messages were transmitted unencrypted and in plain text to a Sentry server. Kishan Bagaria, the founder of Texts.com, labeled this as “extremely insecure,” indicating that Sunbird could access all messages sent through Nothing Chats.
Nothing did not directly address these allegations, leaving uncertainty about the severity of the issues prompting the app’s removal from the Play Store. They have expressed a willingness to collaborate with Sunbird to resolve the concerns, although it remains unclear if this encompasses the security flaws within Nothing Chats.
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