Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Alternative Email Client Sparrow Acquired by Google

I was just thinking about getting the app, before the announcement and noticed in the reviews that apparently Sparrow was having issues with stability and privacy before Google even acquired them. The current version in the Mac App Store is only rated at 3.5 stars :(
 
so.. i'm an android phone user who purchased a new iPad. The default mail client is crap. I hope the Sparrow team starts working on the gmail apps for both OSs. that said... it's really funny how bent out of shape some people get around here with anything involving google/android. it's not nearly this bad on android forums.
 
Doombringer said:
It's called integration, friend.

Or simply: Apple acquires Sparrow. Apple incorporates Sparrow's design and feature improvements over Mail, into Mail. Apple's Mail thus becomes better.
Click to expand...

I'd imagine Apple developers are more than capable of adding said features themselves without having to purchase a whole company.
 
Last night I removed sparrow off my Mac and iPhone because I installed mountain lion and started using mail again. Weird timing to then get this email. I was waiting for the iPad version but with ios6 on the way I probably would have gone back to mail anyway on the iPad.
 
It is effectively dead. Dom Leca wrote there won't be anymore updates / features to Sparrow other than bug fixes.

Sparrow has hit the end of the road. :(
 
Small White Car said:
It's not about the monitoring for me. I left G-Mail when they started tying it in with Google+ more and more. I don't want e-mail that's trying to be like Facebook.

I assume Sparrow will eventually move that way too which would be the reason for my disinterest in it. I can't speak for that other poster, but that's what would scare me away.




One company makes money by selling fancy toys. The other makes money by using the info you give them. This is not paranoia, this is their stated business plans.

If you somehow thought those were the same business model I could see why you'd be confused, but surely that's not the case, right?
Click to expand...

I know we're all Apple Fanboys/gals but if you don't think the information you feed Apple isn't being used to market you, then you are being naive.

It isn't as annoying as Google (i.e. ads), but Apple does it through their own ventures they make money off of (i.e. iTunes recommendations).

Both companies use information you provide them to market products/services to you and both companies profit from it.
 
ELMI0001 said:
Google can't have your info but Apple can?
Click to expand...

Apple doesn't use the content of my emails to push unwanted ads in my face. See the difference between Apple and Google is that you are Apples customer, the Advertisers are Googles customers. You are just an object Google uses to sell to their customers.
 
Gemütlichkeit said:
All major providers have access to your email info. It can't be avoided, except to go off the grid.
Click to expand...

True, but not all companies make nearly all of their massive profits by tracking and selling information about you, aggregated or otherwise. They don’t all have the same profit incentive (and terrible privacy track record) that Google has to cross the line into gray areas.

People who used Sparrow without GMail were Google-free, and that won’t be true any longer.

That said, users with Little Snitch and the like can always monitor Sparrow and tell the rest of us whether it communicates back to Google in any way. Hopefully, for NON-GMail users, that answer will be no! And hopefully Google keeps Sparrow working as a great client that doesn’t demand you use GMail. (But it seems likely they’d want it to be a GMail-exclusive tool in future.)
 
ELMI0001 said:
I know we're all Apple Fanboys/gals but if you don't think the information you feed Apple isn't being used to market you, then you are being naive.

It isn't as annoying as Google (i.e. ads), but Apple does it through their own ventures they make money off of (i.e. iTunes recommendations).

Both companies use information you provide them to market products/services to you and both companies profit from it.
Click to expand...

Probably, but again, it's not BLATANTLY thrown in my face. I was tied to google plus without choosing to be, tied to circles... all that stuff.
 
This is purely a talent grab. I'd be shocked if Google had any interest in a mail client for the mac. They want everyone using gmail on the web with their ads in it.
 
Filesystem in the cloud?

This could be a great Trojan horse for Google Drive. Think about it; currently there is no way to attach a file to an email reply. Sparrow includes a way to attach a photo, but there are numerous occasions where you need to attach a document or PDF, and if you're trying to do so from an iOS device it is at best a pain (send a separate email from an app like Dropbox), and at worst impossible (no way currently to quickly reply with a file, without a Jailbreak tweak).

I think (and I hope) that Google will integrate file attachments, customized push notifications and more to Sparrow. It makes sense that Google wants to offer more robust apps on the iOS platform as they can no longer count on Apple to include their services natively after the ouster of Google Maps. The Chrome app, Drive and now Sparrrow will be part of Google's iOS services and strategy.

On another note, as a Sparrow user I do hope that Google continues to improve the software, rather than kill it.

Edit: Feature freeze - Looks like Sparrow is saying they they won't develop any new features for the apps. This is obviously not great news for current users of Sparrow, but eventually we'll likely see the official Gmail.app inherit some of Sparrow's look and feel. It will be good to see Sparrow's interface + Gmail's robust native search.

Source 9to5mac: http://9to5mac.com/2012/07/20/google-acquires-sparrow-the-star-third-party-ios-and-mac-email-client/
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back