The early days of instant messaging are returning with the familiar "uh-oh" alert. A dedicated group of developers has launched ICQ Reborn, an unofficial fan project designed to revive one of the first global chat platforms after its official shutdown by Mail.ru (VK) in June 2024.
Reverse-engineered infrastructure and XMPP servers
To bypass the defunct corporate backend, the community has deployed independent XMPP-based servers. By reverse-engineering the server architecture, developers have restored compatibility for legacy clients and reintroduced the UIN (User Identification Number) system—the numeric IDs that served as digital identities long before the dominance of usernames.
Nostalgia over functionality
The project focuses heavily on aesthetic authenticity, recreating the classic GUI and the signature notification sounds. However, ICQ Reborn is not intended as a modern messaging alternative; it currently supports only text-based private and group chats, with no voice or video capabilities. The software is limited to Windows 10 and 11, and since it has no link to the original database, users cannot recover old accounts and must register new ones.
Stability issues and security warnings
The revival has faced immediate technical hurdles. As reported by chip.de, the service suffered an early outage when its free Oracle Cloud server was terminated, potentially wiping initial user data. More critically, the project operates without encryption, meaning messages are sent in plain text—a stark reminder that this is a nostalgic experiment rather than a secure communication tool.
The legacy software movement
The emergence of ICQ Reborn reflects a growing trend in the open-source community to archive and resurrect legacy protocols. By transforming a dead commercial product into a fan-run service, the project prioritizes digital preservation and nostalgia over modern security standards.
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