Appointment finding without e-mail chaos: Thunderbird gets Appointment
Coordinating appointments is too time-consuming for the Thunderbird developers. Thanks to Appointment, this should be done with just a few clicks in future.
![Appointments in Thunderbird](https://heise.cloudimg.io/width/610/q85.png-lossy-85.webp-lossy-85.foil1/_www-heise-de_/imgs/18/4/6/6/1/1/0/0/appointment-3bd78f1eeb9f5e0d.png)
(Image: Thunderbird)
Thunderbird is introducing a new project called Appointment. As the name suggests, it is a function for coordinating appointments. Specifically, it is intended to eliminate the need to send multiple emails to find an appointment by allowing users to simply select a time that suits everyone based on their free time and that of other participants. The possible times are available in a simple calendar overview.
Closed beta: registration required
At launch, however, Appointment is only available as part of a closed beta. Interested users can sign up for it via the announcement of the new function. It is not yet clear when general availability will follow. Like Thunderbird itself, Appointment appears to be open source software; the developers have published it as a project on GitHub.
The project page also shows that users can operate the backend for Appointment themselves. The developers have already built a Docker container for this purpose; alternatively, there are instructions for configuring the software manually. However, an initial test failed when the necessary invitation code was requested.
Thunderbird is currently extensively rebuilding the free email client. In addition to an Android app, Exchange support is on the agenda following the release of the revamped interface in 2023.
(fo)