About sender display specifications and phishing scam risk in Thunderbird for Android
Dear Thunderbird Development Team
I'm a regular Thunderbird user. I'd like to provide feedback regarding security concerns regarding the UI specifications of the Android version of Thunderbird.
Currently, Thunderbird for Android displays the sender's "display name only" on the email list screen, making the sender's actual email address invisible at all times.
I feel this specification increases the following risks, particularly in smartphone environments:
- Anyone can freely forge display names. - Phishing scams posing as financial institutions, e-commerce sites, and official support are common. - Users often rely on the list screen or notifications to determine the content of emails.
As a result, a UI that makes it difficult to determine whether an email is from a legitimate sender at the list screen level can become a breeding ground for phishing scams.
The PC version of Thunderbird allows for detailed header display, etc., and I'm disappointed that the mobile version of Thunderbird, despite being the same Thunderbird, is at a disadvantage in terms of security.
I would appreciate it if you could consider the following improvements.
- Setting to always display "display name + email address" on the email list screen
Isisombululo esikhethiwe
1. The following steps should make Thunderbird for Android display email addresses instead of names (I know this is not exactly what you want): "Settings" > "General settings" > "Display" > "Message lists" section > Untick "Show correspondent names".
2. You can post your feature request in the following forum: https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/ideas/idb-p/ideas/label-name/thunderbird%20android
There is already the same feature request in the above forum, and you can upvote it: Option to display email address plus associates name https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/ideas/option-to-display-email-address-plus-associates-name/idi-p/85135
Funda le mpendulo ngokuhambisana nalesi sihloko 👍 1All Replies (3)
Hi nikuhei
Thanks for your carefully considered suggestion.
Another community member has made a similar suggestion on Mozilla Connect. You can help promote the idea by up-voting the suggestion at the link below. https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/ideas/option-to-display-email-address-plus-associates-name/idi-p/85135
As a community member, I'd like to highlight a couple of settings that might help.
The app has a feature to show correspondent names / android contacts, rather than email addresses. This can be turned off within the settings to display the full email address.
Navigate to general settings > display. Untick "Show correspondent names" (show correspondent names rather than their email address)
You can also tick "correspondent above subject" to give the email address more prominence.
The app further allows you to inspect the header of any email. To do this.
- Open an email
- Click download complete message
- Click 3 dot menu > show header
The developers are currently redesigning the message list view. You can see some of the proposals at the link below and share your suggestion.
https://thunderbird.topicbox.com/groups/ux/Ta9a415d4e3e807cf/uxd-11-26-updates-mobile-message-list
Isisombululo Esikhethiwe
1. The following steps should make Thunderbird for Android display email addresses instead of names (I know this is not exactly what you want): "Settings" > "General settings" > "Display" > "Message lists" section > Untick "Show correspondent names".
2. You can post your feature request in the following forum: https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/ideas/idb-p/ideas/label-name/thunderbird%20android
There is already the same feature request in the above forum, and you can upvote it: Option to display email address plus associates name https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/ideas/option-to-display-email-address-plus-associates-name/idi-p/85135
Thank you for the detailed explanation and for pointing me to the existing feature request.
I understand that disabling “Show correspondent names” is currently the closest workaround, although it does not fully meet the need.
My main concern is phishing prevention: displaying only the display name makes it harder to quickly verify the real sender, especially on mobile. Being able to show **both the display name and the email address at the same time** (or at least optionally) would significantly improve security and transparency.
I have upvoted the existing feature request you linked and would strongly support its implementation.
Thank you for your help and for maintaining Thunderbird for Android.
You must log in to your account to reply to posts. Please start a new question, if you do not have an account yet.