Ondrej Holzman When a new email client appeared last February Sparrow, unleashed a real revolution on Macs, at least as far as e-mail is concerned. Users began migrating from the system Mail.app in large numbers, as Sparrow offered a much better experience when working with emails. Now, after a long wait, Sparrow has also appeared for the iPhone. Can we expect a similar course?
Although Sparrow looks really great, at least in the beginning, it has several obstacles that until it is overcome, it will not be able to compete with the system client in iOS, or to replace it in full. But more on that later.
The developers put real care into the development of the iPhone version of their app and the result is a precise work that is worth it. Sparrow for iPhone combines the best elements from competing applications, which the team around did Dominique Lecy combine perfectly. In the application, we will notice buttons and functions known from Facebook, Twitter, Gmail or even Mail. A more experienced user will quickly master the controls.
The first thing you do in Sparrow is sign in to your email account. The application fully supports the IMAP protocol (Gmail, Google Apps, iCloud, Yahoo, AOL, Mobile Me and custom IMAP), while POP3 is missing. As on Mac, in iOS too Sparrow offers a connection with a Facebook account, from which it draws images for contacts. I see this as a big advantage over the basic Mail.app, as the avatars help in orientation, especially if you are searching through a large number of messages.
inbox
Interface Inbox it is designed in modern graphics, like the rest of the application, and the change compared to Mail.app is the presence of avatars. Above the list of messages there is a search field, which no e-mail client could do without. There is also the well-known "pull to refresh", i.e. downloading the refresh list, which has already become a standard in iOS applications. A well-known feature that the developers have borrowed, for example, from the official Twitter application is the display of the quick access panel with a swipe gesture. You swipe a message from right to left and you'll see buttons for reply, add star, add label, archive and delete. You don't have to open individual messages for these actions at all. The function with holding your finger on the message is also handy, which will mark the given mail as unread. Again, fast and efficient. Through the button Edit then you can bulk delete, archive and move messages.
Gallery
Navigation
In the app navigation, the developers were inspired by Facebook, so Sparrow offers three overlapping layers – the statement of accounts, the navigation panel and the Inbox. In the first layer, you manage and select the accounts you want to use in the client, while a unified inbox is also available for multiple accounts, where messages from all accounts are grouped together. The second layer is the navigation panel, where you switch between classic e-mail folders and possibly labels. The already mentioned Inbox is located in the third layer.
However, Sparrow also offers a different view of incoming mail. In the upper panel in the Inbox, either by tapping or swiping, you can switch to a list of only unread messages or only those saved (with an asterisk). Conversations are elegantly resolved. You can switch between individual messages in a conversation with a swipe gesture up/down or tap on a number in the upper panel to view a clear summary of the entire conversation, which again is especially useful for a larger number of emails.
Writing a new message
An interesting solution is when you immediately select the addressee. Sparrow will offer you a list of your contacts, including avatars, from which you can choose whether you want to send a message directly to that person, or just cc or bcc them. In addition, the application monitors your behavior and thus only offers you the most used contacts. Adding an attachment is much better handled in Sparrow compared to Mail.app. While in the built-in client you usually have to add a photo through another application, in Sparrow you just need to click on a paper clip and choose an image or take one straight away.
The function of quickly switching between accounts is no less useful. Right when writing a new message, you can choose from the top panel which account you want to send the e-mail from.
Viewing messages
Wherever it was possible, there are avatars in Sparrow, so their thumbnails are not missing even for the addresses in the details of individual messages, which again helps with orientation. When you view the details of a given e-mail, you can see who the e-mail was addressed to (main recipient, copy, etc.) by color. At first glance, there are not too many controls in the expanded message, only the arrow for the answer lights up in the upper right, but appearances are deceiving. An inconspicuous arrow in the lower right corner pulls out a control panel with buttons for creating a completely new message, forwarding the open one, starling it, archiving or deleting it.
Sparrow settings
If we dig into the application settings, we will find most of what Mail.app offers and what we would expect from an email client. For individual accounts, you can choose an avatar, signature, create aliases and turn sound notifications on or off. Regarding the display of messages, you can choose how many we want to load, how many lines the preview should be, and you can also disable the display of avatars. There is also the possibility of using the so-called Inbox priorities.
Where is the problem?
Impressions of Sparrow and its features are generally positive, and the comparison with Mail.app is certainly valid, so where are the obstacles I mentioned in the introduction? There are at least two. The biggest one is currently the absence of push notifications. Yes, those notifications, without which the e-mail client for most users is barely half as good. However, the developers immediately explained everything - the reason why push notifications are missing in the first version of Sparrow for iPhone is Apple's conditions.
Developers they explain, that there are two ways to send notifications to iOS applications. They are either managed by the developers themselves, or they draw data directly from the e-mail provider's servers. At the moment, push notifications could only appear in Sparrow on the iPhone in the first case, but at that moment the developers would have to store our confidential information (names and passwords) on their servers, which they are not willing to do for the sake of security.
While the second method works without problems in the "Mac" version of Sparrow, it is not so simple on iOS. On the Mac, the application is always on standby, on the other hand, in iOS, it automatically goes to sleep after 10 minutes of inactivity, which means that it cannot receive any notifications. Of course, Apple provides an API (VoIP) that allows the app to wake up and receive information in the event of internet activity, which would mean it could communicate directly with the provider's secure servers, but Sparrow was initially rejected with this API in the App Store.
So we can only guess whether Apple has reservations about the use of this API and the question is whether it will reconsider its approach over time. The approval policy is constantly evolving, which Sparrow is proof of, since a year ago it would have been impossible to release a similar application that directly competes with some system ones. The developers have already published a kind of petition on their website that they want to pressure Apple. But we can't expect the Californian company's attitude to change overnight. So, at least for the time being, the fact that notifications can be replaced with the Boxcar application can be a consolation.
But to get to the second obstacle - it lies in the interconnectedness of the system. Compared to Mac, iOS is a closed system where everything has clearly defined rules and Mail.app is set as the default client. This means that if we want to send an electronic message from an application (Safari, etc.), the built-in application will always be opened, not Sparrow, and unlike push notifications, this probably has no chance to change. Compared to their absence, however, this is a much smaller problem that we don't notice that often.
What can we expect in the future?
In the coming weeks, we will definitely be impatiently watching the situation regarding notifications, but the developers are also preparing other news for the next versions. We can look forward to, for example, support for new languages, landscape mode or a built-in browser.
All in all
Similar to Mac and iOS, Sparrow is something of a revolution. There are no revolutionary changes in terms of order in e-mail clients, but it is the first serious competition to the basic Mail.app. However, Sparrow is still a bit short of the top. It won't work without the already mentioned push notifications, but otherwise the application is a full-fledged manager of your e-mail, which offers a lot of useful functions.
In addition, the price is not dizzying either, less than three dollars is adequate in my opinion, although you can argue that you get Mail.app for free, moreover in Czech. However, those who want a certain quality are certainly not afraid to pay a little more.
[button color=”red” link=”http://itunes.apple.com/cz/app/sparrow/id492573565″ target=”http://itunes.apple.com/cz/app/sparrow/id492573565″] Sparrow for iPhone - €2,39[/button]
Does landscape mode work? Was it written in the description as a thing for the future?
No it doesn't work.
dodo
Can someone tell me if I have the correct emails on gmail? Because sparrow on the Mac doesn't move them to my clipboard, but to the archive.
Well thank you.
I'm not with a MAC at the moment, but I think this is just a matter of setting the app itself or settings on the Gmail side.
dodo
it's not in the app, I looked for it there. yes, I think it can be set in mail.app, but I also had problems with that (if I remember correctly).
so the error is between the desk and the keyboard. :) just read what is written in the menu (keyboard shortcuts). Backspace=Archive (and not delete), Cmd+Backspace=Delete - which works correctly.
I wonder if there is password protection when entering the application?
It is not.
What about email searches? Is it also as stupid as the native app, or can it do real fulltext?
So for 1, I was expecting a price of $0,99 (€0,79) and for 2, Sparrow is a great application for Mac, but on iP, in my opinion, it cannot surpass mail.app in terms of comfort, which is not the best, far from it, but it is native and Sparrow can't deliver that feel. But they will be a thorn in Apple's side and they will find their users. My guess is that within 2-6 months we will learn about a new acquisition by Apple, they will buy Sparrow, which I think they are claiming for this iOS version. It could, however, mean a really interesting and rapid improvement of Mail.app, and I also hope that a native API could be created for pull to refresh, which would be excellent.
I think that feeling is purely subjective. When Sparrow has notifications, I'll definitely have no problem replacing Mail.app with it.
I hope the acquisition never happens. In my opinion, that would be a shame, just look at how Tweetie turned out. Developers would then have their hands much more tied, they wouldn't be able to do what they wanted (what customers would want) and maybe they wouldn't even stay with the development in the end. Mail.app (both Mac and iOS) could definitely use major improvements, but when there's an alternative that's this good, I'm not over it.
I agree with "pull to refresh", it has already become a completely common standard and Apple could finally include it in the equipment of its applications.
The point here is not even to equip their own applications with it, but to make an API for developers, for a simple implementation of Pull to Refresh. Otherwise, the acquisition would probably be a shame, but what can we do if Apple wants it that way. However, a big obstacle for Sparrow is that every application that sends email, every native application that allows you to share something via email will always call Mail.app. Sparrow can't bypass this even if he wanted to. That's why I think Mail.app is practically invulnerable on iOS. However, my subjective opinion is that Sparrow for iOS is not very interesting, and frankly, the graphics did not engage me twice. However, it is the best client for Mac OS X and I can't imagine using Mail.app, i.e. something like Outlook from MS for me, although Apple makes amazing SW and HW, so Mail.app on OSX is brutus-humus...
Could someone please advise how to set up Sparrow for email on the list? Thanks
So I bought it and I don't know...
I couldn't figure out how to add multiple labels to one email - I can only add 1 label in Sparrow for iPhone
Landscape mod is really needed, otherwise writing emails is a pain
IMAP does not work for me - if I read an email on the Internet, it is still marked as unread in Sparrow on the iPhone.
All in all - it might be a good app one day, but now it has a lot of unfinished business. Unfortunately, if you use Sparrow on a Mac, then this is probably a "necessity" - otherwise the email App will make you a lot of folders according to labels...