Google Pulls 'Sparrow' Mail Apps From App Store to Focus on New 'Inbox' App

[aawil]

I really liked the mac app but stopped using it after google bought them. It was quite a shame really. I've been using the stock apple app ever since.

 

[michelepri]

I avoid using Google products because you never know when the development stops. I only use Gmail because Icloud Mail works the way we know it does, unfortunately.

 

[citi]

Email. I hate email. Did I say I hate email.
Somebody kill it already.

Then SOMEBODY should provide a viable business alternative

 

[C DM]

Heh. This is an EA type move. Users of Sparrow will certainly be annoyed.

Doesn't seem like this changes anything for those already using Sparrow.

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I avoid using Google products because you never know when the development stops. I only use Gmail because Icloud Mail works the way we know it does, unfortunately.

Realistically that can be true for many companies/services.

 

[rekhyt]

Thought they pulled it out a long time ago.

Moved from Sparrow to Discourse and now back to the built-in Mail.app, with the introduction of gesture-based actions.

 

[friedmud]

• Option to open in Safari by default (will probably never happen)

This is my one biggest pet peeve about the Inbox app. I am constantly having to click a link... then say "Open in Safari"... especially for stuff like GitHub where I'm already logged in Safari...

I also hope that they start supporting Safari on inbox.google.com. For now I use the "Developer" menu in Safari to switch user agents over to Chrome to make it work ;-)

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No dude, the app does not need open in safari support. You can copy the link using the share button in chrome. Google's focus should be to add full support for interlinking all its apps in its ecosystem on iOS. Linkable phone numbers still do not open in hangouts.

You don't have to use the share button in Chrome. Just let Inbox open websites with its own "internal" browser and then it has a "Open In" button that can open Safari. Still more annoying than being able to set a preference to automatically open in Safari... but not terrible.

 

[Batman89]

I use Mailbox on iOS, but still use Sparrow on my rMacBook.

Have tried Mailbox (desktop), native mail app, Unibox, Air Mail 2, Mail Pilot, none of them fit the bill.

Shame that Sparrow is not just no longer being updated, but also being wiped from existence.

 

[citi]

I use Mailbox on iOS, but still use Sparrow on my rMacBook.

Have tried Mailbox (desktop), native mail app, Unibox, Air Mail 2, Mail Pilot, none of them fit the bill.

Shame that Sparrow is not just no longer being updated, but also being wiped from existence.

That's funny. Airmail is the only thing that works for me and I tried all of those also.

 

[baller1308]

Have been using Airmail v1 since Sparrow was bought out. Haven't upgraded to the v2 release yet, old version is working well at the moment. Have been reading there are still a lot of issues and I don't want to shell out $10 for something that might not work as well.

 

[technosix]

I enjoy new things especially Apple and Google innovation.

Nothing stays the same in a very fast paced Internet environment. Having been in the first group to receive an invitation, I've enjoyed Google Inbox since its introduction. Fast streamlined and very reliable its a very nice way to handle email and related tasks.

I do understand why some don't like it, as it does require a short time to learn the new conventions. Approached negatively, the outcome is already predetermined.

 

[AlecZ]

Dude, what's the point of Gmail Inbox anyway? Mail.app exists for a reason. These other email clients are always crippled or evil in some way.

P.S. I'm really PO'd that Gmail does its own spam filtering and doesn't have any option to disable it without some weird workaround that I only discovered after it was too late. Our school email service is Gmail, and it filtered out an important email from a professor about getting in off the wait list to a class, so I missed it. So yeah, I might be hosed now.

 

[C DM]

Dude, what's the point? Mail.app exists for a reason.

Probably because the default Mail app doesn't always have all the features that some might be looking for. There's also no push support for Gmail when using it either. So certainly various reasons for various people to care.

 

[citi]

Have been using Airmail v1 since Sparrow was bought out. Haven't upgraded to the v2 release yet, old version is working well at the moment. Have been reading there are still a lot of issues and I don't want to shell out $10 for something that might not work as well.

I've been using it for about 2 weeks now. There are no NEW issues. The same issues that were in V1 are in V2. Not sure what people are talking about. At least the fixed the search feature.

 

[vsp]

Have tried Mailbox (desktop), native mail app, Unibox, Air Mail 2, Mail Pilot, none of them fit the bill.

I've been trying to find a nice combo of desktop and iOS mail apps that are reliable with some basic interactions with other apps. I've tried all those you mentioned and found, for one reason or another, they weren't what I needed. I also tried Boxer, Postbox, Cloudmagic, and Dispatch.

So far the best match is Sparrow on my desktop and Dispatch on iOS. Mail Pilot is still a bit flaky, even with the rewrites. I like the functionality of Mailbox but it's a bit limited and I don't like having to sync through Dropbox.

When Sparrow finally stops working I guess I'll return to Postbox. It's not very elegant, but it is reliable with a lot of functionality.

If the Airmail folks pull it together I might try that again. They really seem to be trying to jam too many features into their app and UI design.

I don't typically think of myself as a particularly picky user of software, but man, these email apps are starting to get the better of me.

 

[76ShovelHead]

One thing I dislike about all Gmail apps is that if you 'delete' an email it is archived, and once archived it appears that the only way you can access it via the webmail client. Other than that, absolutely love using Inbox on my G2.

 

[C DM]

One thing I dislike about all Gmail apps is that if you 'delete' an email it is archived, and once archived it appears that the only way you can access it via the webmail client. Other than that, absolutely love using Inbox on my G2.

My Gmail app deletes emails.

 

[charlieegan3]

So I take it, in future, should I want to download the app again (despite paying for it) I won't be able to. This is kind of annoying.

 

[Zendokan]

I'm seeing the QuickOffice ******** all over again

I've got no problem with Google acquiring other software and integrating it into their own software, but I've got a problem with them discarding software just as easy.

Nowadays I'm keeping my use of Google software to a minimum.
Only Google Search and Gmail, with Google Docs/Drive/Chrome as an extension of Gmail.

Will "Inbox for Gmail" stay a seperated app? Will it be integrated into Gmail? Will it dissapair in 2016?
You could almost say that I have Google trust issues.

 

[Smith288]

Siri

TestFlight

Swell

Lala

Spotsetter

Prss

Matcha

Pure evil. Look at all these companies Google acquired and shuttered.

TestFlight wasn't shuttered by Apple. They just shuttered the Android side and moved it into iTunesConnect.

 

[69Mustang]

TestFlight wasn't shuttered by Apple. They just shuttered the Android side and moved it into iTunesConnect.

Is that not shuttered or does it not count because it's Android? Even if that is what you contend, my point remains. Companies do it all the time. Just from that poster's point of view it's evil since Google did it.

 

[76ShovelHead]

My Gmail app deletes emails.

I wonder if I have a setting switched on then. If I swipe an email to either side it archives it.

 

[CFreymarc]

On their money-stuffed mattresses, of course

I'm remembering that quote. Prefer gold coins under my bed.

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So money makes people right? Rich people never make poor decisions? A poorer person is incapable of a better decision than a rich person? Bad decisions have never been made in rich companies?

...

Doesn't make them right but it makes them more able with successful actions around them. Question you have to ask, why are not no so rich while being so "right" my friend?

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Yeah, comparing a giant corporation's wealth to a single person's is reasonable.... He's right too. Google attempts a ton of stuff and then abandons things quickly when they don't work out fast. It's their prerogative but it frustrates users.

And they laugh to the bank doing it. A great rich man will have money flow in and out like water after a spring thaw. They use it for the strangest items and things while critical "we must pay the mortgage" types call them idiots. That one crazy thing pays off well and makes up for all the other shenanigans. Then the rich man sleeps with your daughter since she doesn't want the life you grew her up in.

 

[verpeiler]

I'm really curious... what do you guys do with your email that the apple mail client can't handle? I never had any issues with the the standard mail client even with multiple mail accounts...

Or are we talking about business use?

 

[k1121j]

They have a billion in cash. They must be doing something right. How about you?

didn't say they are doing anything wrong simply stating my opinion didn't mean to make you go on the offensive