Popular Email Client Spark Gets Major Redesign For Mac, Moves to Subscription Model

[whatgift]

While I can understand the frustration with subscriptions, it's fair that an app like this needs to be compensated for their work, they can't just keep developing for nothing and always count on new purchasers.

The only think stopping me from using Apple Mail is not having an in-app browser - I subscribe to a lot of newsletters, and going back and forth to Safari to read articles is seriously painful and time consuming.

 

[TrancyGoose]

1-time fee? I checked out Canary Mail and it seems to be a recurring monthly subscription, forever.

I used to enjoy Sparrow but don't know of anything besides Thunderbird, Postbox and Mailbird for Windows.

My bad, appears things have changed. I purchased my pro version at a one time price for bot ios and Mac OS devices, had it ever since. It knows that my icloud account has paid for it, so it is Pro. There is a free version, without the calendar .... and PGP subscription.

Reddit post from them:

https://www.reddit.com/r/CanaryMail/comments/vhxp0n

 

[StoneyMaloney455]

Ugh! you have to pay to remove the 'Sent with Spark' Email Signature now. I'll be switching to another app I guess...

Spark Pricing Comparison: Compare Features

Compare the various premium features available and find the right Spark package for you and your team.

sparkmailapp.com

WOW. That's ridiculous. This absolutely pisses me off. I've been using this app for YEARS, now it's going into the trash bin.

 

[StoneyMaloney455]

While I can understand the frustration with subscriptions, it's fair that an app like this needs to be compensated for their work, they can't just keep developing for nothing and always count on new purchasers.

The only think stopping me from using Apple Mail is not having an in-app browser - I subscribe to a lot of newsletters, and going back and forth to Safari to read articles is seriously painful and time consuming.

The problem is they're blocking a lot of BASIC email functions and adding options to remove the "sent with Spark" footer, behind a paywall.

 

[StoneyMaloney455]

i think it's weird that people think they're entitled to get something for free... that developers shouldn't get paid for their work. Especially on a product like email that you use 800 times a day.

That's not the problem. The problem is adding basic features that users have been requesting for YEARS, then capitalizing on it by putting it behind a paywall. Wanna remove the "sent with spark" footer? Pay up.

I'm all for supporting developers, but not like this.

It's too late for me since I've unfortunately updated the app, but it's VEEEERRRRRYYYYYYY ironic how there's a massive bug regarding notifications and badges. The only way to fix it? Update.

 

[DrGroove]

I'll take your bait: Because for ages Mail.app had serious issues interacting with both Outlook-based and Google-based email accounts, including lost emails, inability to fetch email on a timely basis, and lost credentials. Those issues are lagely fixed (although not entirely), but I long ago left Mail.app behind and see little reason to come back to it. Also, I dislike Mail.app's user interface and it lacks several organizational features (particularly on MacOS) I've come to depend on in other email clients, including pinning and prioritizing email.

Spark is one of the few clients that was (and continues to be, if you read the article) free across iOS, iPadOS, and MacOS. That it now offers a Windows client is even more gravy for someone like me that likes its workflow and appreciates a unified interface across mobile and desktop devices.

Another thing to note is that Apple has never opened its private APIs for push email, and the iOS/iPadOS clients don't support IDLE, which means if Push email (and its battery savings) are important to you, you either need to use iCloud-based accounts exclusively, or use a client that has its own push implementation, like Spark.

Finally: I use email primarily for business. I have a personal iCloud-based account, and then several Google Workspace-based accounts that are high volume. Spark allows me to receive and organize that email in a way that is intelligent to me, rather than fighting Mail.app's conventions that feel very under-developed and basic.

Whether or not I will subscribe or continue to use the free version I have no idea. Need to explore the new version better and see whether the subscription-only features are important to me or not. But this knee-jerk against subscription software is tilting at windmills. Apple itself is actively lobbying developers to adopt the model. You're going to see Apple start to gatekeep more and more of their own software and services behind paywalls as well.

That's why Spark works for me. It may not work for you. Isn't it nice we both have a choice that works for us?

I fall back to Mail whenever my current favourite fails me somehow; but I don't like it. It's functional enough but the process to get a proper HTML signature with remote linked logo is a PITA, and I find its fascist workflow/feature set a little...spartan? Austere? Rigid?

Anyway I keep coming back to Airmail because it groups conversations well, and I can't do without the delayed send feature: I frequently do my business admin work after hours, and don't want people seeing send times outside of the usual hours; so I load up quotes, invoices and correspondence with delayed send for 8am the next morning.

That said, I like Spark on my phone, and it works well there.

 

[Sei Kan]

It's 2022, and you still need to pay to read your emails.

 

[HouseofG]

Ugh! you have to pay to remove the 'Sent with Spark' Email Signature now. I'll be switching to another app I guess...

Spark Pricing Comparison: Compare Features

Compare the various premium features available and find the right Spark package for you and your team.

sparkmailapp.com

Thanks for pointing that out. I was fine with the free version because I don't need them messing with my inbox, but forced email sigs are a non-starter. Really disappointing.

 

[BlairMALL]

I wish apple revamps it Mail app, especially with threaded emails, almost 50% of the users miss an email or two in the response thread.

I wholeheartedly agree. And though I fear that it might be because I am grumpy oldish man, deep down, I feel like the way e-mail works is more problematic than it should be.

 

[gank41]

Thanks for pointing that out. I was fine with the free version because I don't need them messing with my inbox, but forced email sigs are a non-starter. Really disappointing.

Again, they do note in the fine print that you can just delete the text of the signature when creating the email, but to just stop them from putting it there all together, you have to pay…

For me, using this with my work account, I’d be copying/pasting my own signature in way too many times a day for that..

 

[HouseofG]

I wish apple revamps it Mail app, especially with threaded emails, almost 50% of the users miss an email or two in the response thread.

Not being able to turn off threaded emails in Spark was my number one complaint (until this move, at least!). I was just dealing with trying to reply to the latest email in a 52 message thread and the damn app made me scroll all the way to the bottom to do that. Seriously? That I won't miss.

 

[HouseofG]

i think it's weird that people think they're entitled to get something for free... that developers shouldn't get paid for their work. Especially on a product like email that you use 800 times a day.

I think it's weird that this failure to understand people's objection happens every time.

 

[GalileoSeven]

Lol these devs obviously failed to read the room (re: subscription fatigue). Judging by some of the comments, the app obviously has fans too, but I wouldn’t make any serious bets on them gaining new users going forward

 

[SpitUK]

Well Spark uninstalled after many years and I have moved to Edison which I have been using on my phone for years as its so fast. Liking Edison on the Mac so far.

 

[kristofferR]

Well Spark uninstalled after many years and I have moved to Edison which I have been using on my phone for years as its so fast. Liking Edison on the Mac so far.

Edison sell all your emails to advertising companies though.

 

[HouseofG]

Edison sell all your emails to advertising companies though.

I was trying to remember why I deleted/moved away from Edison, and your post literally came in two seconds later. 😄

Guess I'll go back to Airmail. At least their fee structure is more reasonable for an email app.

I'd simply use Outlook but it drives me nuts that the delete button isn't on the bottom (talking iOS apps here). Small thing, I know, but it makes working through multiple emails with one hand a royal pain.

Oh, and no in app browser in Outlook. Also makes things far less efficient when you have to jump back and forth (and close the tab it opened in Safari).

 

[blaine07]

I feel like this was a decision that isn’t going to end well…🤦🏼‍♂️

 

[mluczkowski]

Not enough value for me to justify paying a subscription for it. Also does not support Apple's Custom Email Domain capability, at least not in a usable way. Doesn't appear any 3rd party email clients are supporting it.

 

[TightLines]

Another developer on a power trip that will turn into a suicide mission for its product… I don’t care what software it is, the moment i see subscription in its pricing i look elsewhere and always find something that will take its place. I will not rent software, period. I will own it, and if i can’t upgrade it at reasonable cost, then so be it, i use old software without the bells and whistles they try to push… Adobe is a company these developers should look at… they have lost a huge portion of their user base due to their Wall Street driven greed and pricing structure… too bad, they get what they deserve as will all the others.

 

[Zest28]

What’s wrong with Apple Mail, Gmail and Outlook app (which is included in Microsoft 365)?

I don’t see why I should pay for that ****.

 

[fenster44]

Spark has one killer feature (for me) that I haven't found in other mail clients... the ability to move a message out of the Inbox by searching for a folder name. If you have loads of folders like I do, you can start typing the folder name and it will quickly locate it. This is so much better than dragging/dropping, and so much better than scrolling through folder lists. Is there another client that handles folders like this?

 

[cateye]

Another developer on a power trip that will turn into a suicide mission for its product… I don’t care what software it is, the moment i see subscription in its pricing i look elsewhere and always find something that will take its place. I will not rent software, period. I will own it, and if i can’t upgrade it at reasonable cost, then so be it, i use old software without the bells and whistles they try to push… Adobe is a company these developers should look at… they have lost a huge portion of their user base due to their Wall Street driven greed and pricing structure… too bad, they get what they deserve as will all the others.

err, what? No such thing has happened to Adobe. They’ve grown both users and revenue.

 

[svish]

Don't like subscription model. Prefer one time payment.

 

[tcatsninfan]

Came here to say what many others have said: just say no to subscriptions. If all these tech companies had their way, we'd be paying a subscription for every single piece of software or service known to man. I was a happy 1Password user for many years, but then they switched to a subscription model. When they did that, I moved to Bitwarden. The interface isn't as nice, but it gets the job done.

 

[RRZEurope]

5-8$/month for an Emailclient - the subscription-pest on steoroids ...