What's New?

This update significantly overhauls the underlying Java code for the Android app, bringing better stability, fixing bugs, and more features.

This release has also dropped support for Android 5 and 6... we apologies if this is causing an issue for you, but in order for us to move the app forward, we needed to make some compromises!

The Big Stuff

New Stuff

• Android backend is completely rewritten from Java to Kotlin, enabling some of the features and bug fixes in this list
• Notification when phone number deregisters

Important Bug Fixes

• Replying from the notification shade or in-car via Android Auto should now send much more reliably
• Firebase authentication detects if Google Services are available to avoid crashes on de-googled ROMs
• (Mostly) Fixes issue where the incorrect chat will be opened when opening from a notification

The Nitty Gritty

Enhancements

• Replying from a notification will now confirm the reply only once it has sent from the client side (otherwise the loading animation still shows)
• Media colors now generates a Material You theme based on the album art itself
• "Open In Browser" now opens links in Android's Custom Tabs, which supports all default browsers, not just Chrome
• Improved Kotlin worker process for processing incoming items when the app is backgrounded or closed - Dart VM should be correctly cleaned up and all processes should be killed which improves battery life
• Changed FindMy to open exact coordinates in Maps app rather than the address
• FindMy Friends shows last location update
• FindMy Friends shows location status
• Faster FindMy load and refresh
• Added tooltip to manual mark unread/read button to make it more clear
• Allow adding newlines in text when creating a scheduled message
• Notification when phone number deregisters
• New profile screen to view/manage all iMessage account related tasks

Fixes

• Fixed issues with opening a contact's page or creating a new contact
• Creating a new contact from an unknown number allows you to add the number to an existing contact first
• Firebase authentication detects if Google Services are available to avoid crashes on de-googled ROMs
• Fixed quick reply actions not consistently showing in notifications
• Fixed legacy URL preview titles showing just "www"
• Fixed URL previews too condensed in tablet mode
• Fixed app not accepting URLs with port in manual entry
• Fixed send and receive sound volume not following the preference set in settings
• Fixed chat list not loading on Windows if Secure App is enabled and initial authentication is canceled.
• Fixed custom themes with long names not uploading to server
• Fixed issue displaying URL previews

For Developers

• Upgraded to Flutter 3.19
• Updated dependencies

Notes

• The APK below supports Android Auto
• Please consider leaving us a review on the Google Play Store!

Useful Links

• Support Us (One-Time): https://bluebubbles.app/donate
• Sponsor Us (Recurring): https://github.com/sponsors/BlueBubblesApp

Clients

• BlueBubbles Server: https://github.com/BlueBubblesApp/bluebubbles-server/releases
• BlueBubbles for Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bluebubbles.messaging
• BlueBubbles for Windows: https://apps.microsoft.com/store/detail/9P3XF8KJ0LSM
• BlueBubbles for Linux: https://flathub.org/apps/details/app.bluebubbles.BlueBubbles
• BlueBubbles Web: https://bluebubbles.app/web

P.S. We are still putting the desktop through its own beta releases, so look out for those.

Enjoy!