Oh my god. Forcing "Sent with Spark" for the free tier is such an aggressive move. Well I guess I have to find a new tollerable email client...
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Popular Email Client Spark Gets Major Redesign For Mac, Moves to Subscription Model
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With subscription based software you are essentially renting it… you own nothing tangible and can’t resell it and transfer the license if you decide you don’t need it. And it matters not what Adobe used to charge for its software, if the consumer felt it was worth the price they would pay, and if it got too out of control then people would rebuff and look for alternatives, including pirating and black markets… or gasp, a competitor would emerge… what happens to the adobe software and your cloud stored content on day 366 of your subscription if you have not renewed? Compare that to what happens to a software that has a perpetual license and the content you have produced…. So, you don’t have the latest version… but does the software you paid for still function and produce a product? Of course it does… there is never a good value in renting/leasing a product… thats why I say leasing is fleecing… Adobe, and others are shooting themselves in the foot… and if they claim they can‘t make money on traditional licensing, then they are the ones not doing things right… like perhaps not charging enough for their products, but yet, keeping it acceptable to the customer… what they are really doing is trying to provide value to the gamblers in the great casino - which don’t provide any value to the Adobe Company or the product… they are just there to bet on the ups and downs of the companies product cycles and future advancements and look for the next greater fool… but thats another subject for another day…
Hi there!
I am Nikita, a Community Manager from Readdle and Spark. Sorry for being late to the party, but I'll do my best to cover the most popular questions in this thread.
1. "Sent with Spark" signature
We're terribly sorry you faced the issue with it. As an existing customer, you maintain free use of all the features you had access to in the previous version of Spark, including disabling the Sent with Spark tagline. Our development team has identified a bug that forces existing users into a paywall and will be releasing a hotfix shortly.
2. Why did we add an Individual Premium subscription
In fact, all the basic email functionality of Spark remains free, with a premium subscription granting access to tools that allow you to streamline your inbox for priority conversations, and really cut out all the noise. With the old Spark still available, and the new Spark with all the same free features, there's plenty to use for free if that's your preference.
3. Mac AppStore / Windows Store
As for now, you can download the Desktop app for Mac and Windows from the https://sparkmailapp.com website. We’re going to add Spark Desktop to Windows Store and Mac App Store later, but that’s definitely on our roadmap.
4. Original Spark
We plan to continue supporting Spark 2 for Mac for the next year (it will still be available on Mac App Store, and we will still fix critical problems that might arise). When we are confident that Spark 3 covers the needs of our users - we will suggest Spark 2 users switch to Spark 3.
5. Dark Mode, Calendar, 2-pane view, Always-on sidebar, and other features
It will be added in future versions! Our goal is to reach feature parity with the Original Spark on Mac. Spark Desktop development is far from over and a lot of amazing updates are coming soon. Check out this page to learn more about upcoming features: https://sparkmailapp.com/help/en_US/general/upcoming-features-in-spark-3
6. Going Electron
We have expanded our development platform rather than switched to a new platform. For a long time, Spark had a swift-built cross-platform core that runs on Android, Windows, macOS and iOS and ipadOS, and we have an interface layer, built on Javascript and Electron, in the new Spark Desktop (we use Electron as a wrapper), which allows us to create a cross-platform app which runs both on Windows and on Mac. Simply put, it’s a native core, with the interface built on Javascript in the Electron wrapper on Spark Desktop.
I want to thank all of you folks for sharing the feedback with us. If you have any ideas or insights please don't hesitate to drop us a line at support@sparkmailapp.com 🙌
I am Nikita, a Community Manager from Readdle and Spark. Sorry for being late to the party, but I'll do my best to cover the most popular questions in this thread.
1. "Sent with Spark" signature
We're terribly sorry you faced the issue with it. As an existing customer, you maintain free use of all the features you had access to in the previous version of Spark, including disabling the Sent with Spark tagline. Our development team has identified a bug that forces existing users into a paywall and will be releasing a hotfix shortly.
2. Why did we add an Individual Premium subscription
In fact, all the basic email functionality of Spark remains free, with a premium subscription granting access to tools that allow you to streamline your inbox for priority conversations, and really cut out all the noise. With the old Spark still available, and the new Spark with all the same free features, there's plenty to use for free if that's your preference.
3. Mac AppStore / Windows Store
As for now, you can download the Desktop app for Mac and Windows from the https://sparkmailapp.com website. We’re going to add Spark Desktop to Windows Store and Mac App Store later, but that’s definitely on our roadmap.
4. Original Spark
We plan to continue supporting Spark 2 for Mac for the next year (it will still be available on Mac App Store, and we will still fix critical problems that might arise). When we are confident that Spark 3 covers the needs of our users - we will suggest Spark 2 users switch to Spark 3.
5. Dark Mode, Calendar, 2-pane view, Always-on sidebar, and other features
It will be added in future versions! Our goal is to reach feature parity with the Original Spark on Mac. Spark Desktop development is far from over and a lot of amazing updates are coming soon. Check out this page to learn more about upcoming features: https://sparkmailapp.com/help/en_US/general/upcoming-features-in-spark-3
6. Going Electron
We have expanded our development platform rather than switched to a new platform. For a long time, Spark had a swift-built cross-platform core that runs on Android, Windows, macOS and iOS and ipadOS, and we have an interface layer, built on Javascript and Electron, in the new Spark Desktop (we use Electron as a wrapper), which allows us to create a cross-platform app which runs both on Windows and on Mac. Simply put, it’s a native core, with the interface built on Javascript in the Electron wrapper on Spark Desktop.
I want to thank all of you folks for sharing the feedback with us. If you have any ideas or insights please don't hesitate to drop us a line at support@sparkmailapp.com 🙌
Spark 3 is an abomination compared to Spark 2 on Mac. It is like a totally new client and not in a good way. No dark mode, clunky UI all around, it takes me 10x longer to do things than previously. A true step backwards.
My idea would be to roll back those changes. If you want to have a sub model, hard to blame you for wanting to make money since it is a business. But the new software is AWFUL and it also is a resource hog.
You're talking nonsense.
Adobe are making money from subscriptions as its the only way to obtain a large portion of their software so you really need to get your facts straight. Plus Adobe apps were simply unaffordable to most outside of the enterprise or education sectors before subscription services became an option.
Office 365 is another one. Full fat Office professional used to cost a fortune per license and the home versions literally didn't include half of what Office 365 does, not to mention 1TB of storage for your stuff that you also get as part of the sub. Are you going to argue that Office 365 is worthless as well?
Just because you are too old fashioned to understand the benefits of subscriptions (that *can* be cancelled when you want) then you are most definitely not speaking for everyone.
The benefit of getting software that is always updated is huge, not to mention important security updates and fixes that are frequently made available which is absolutely vital in this day and age.
Times have changed.
I was horrified after the first 24 hours with it but once you learn where stuff is then some of their design decisions make sense. I'm already up to full speed with it but I think the Home Screen adds little benefit and should be disabled, which takes one click in the settings to kill it.
The lack of full dark mode though is ridiculous and needs to be implemented ASAP.
As I noted Here, what you're reporting to us all here as a "bug" is in fact documented as expected behavior.
This is from your OWN web page:
Spark Pricing Comparison: Compare Features
Compare the various premium features available and find the right Spark package for you and your team.
sparkmailapp.com
So, for your Point on #1, is this a "bug" or are you going to change your web page to reflect this? As for your #5 point here, that same page also says that Dark Mode will only be available on iOS and Android. So you're being very slick in your wording. You say here in your post that Dark Mode will be coming to the Mac, too, but fail to note that users will be required to pay $60 annually for that "privilege". And as for your #6 point here, you might find Electron to be better for YOU, but for the rest of us that actually use Electron Apps, read the room.. almost everyone hates Electron apps and there's plenty of reasons why.
What you are looking at is the sales page for new clients. For those of us that already own Spark, look at the bottom of the page, it says "** Existing Spark users: all free features you had remain free for you" So that means dark mode, no tagline at the bottom of emails etc. otherwise they fall foul of App Store guidelines.As I noted Here, what you're reporting to us all here as a "bug" is in fact documented as expected behavior.
This is from your OWN web page:
Spark Pricing Comparison: Compare Features
Compare the various premium features available and find the right Spark package for you and your team.sparkmailapp.com
So, for your Point on #1, is this a "bug" or are you going to change your web page to reflect this? As for your #5 point here, that same page also says that Dark Mode will only be available on iOS and Android. So you're being very slick in your wording. You say here in your post that Dark Mode will be coming to the Mac, too, but fail to note that users will be required to pay $60 annually for that "privilege". And as for your #6 point here, you might find Electron to be better for YOU, but for the rest of us that actually use Electron Apps, read the room.. almost everyone hates Electron apps and there's plenty of reasons why.
It's a little bit like when Notability changed to a subscription model, in order to pass app store guidelines they weren't allowed to remove features that people had already bought. With Spark it's a little harder to argue against because we never actually paid for the app!
++ It’s the usual MacRumors myopia: If I don’t like something, if I don’t find value, then no one is allowed to, and I will shout you down to make my point. Beyond what you laid out in terms of value for individual users, for the primary licensors of software, businesses, subscriptions offer real and tangible tax and financial benefits. I am a business owner and I would never want to go back to boxed licensing. Ever. What a nightmare that was.
But whatever. Some people want it to be 1989 forever. I’m old enough to remember the dawn of accessible computing. As someone who makes money with my technology, there’s almost nothing about the “good old days” I would want back, especially when it comes to software.
I am a longtime Spark user and trying the new Spark I am getting bug after bug even after updating to the latest version 3.0.30.
Every time I load the app I get this pop up...
When I click on start trial I get this error:
If I click on get more with premium nothing happens.
I still cannot turn off sent with Spark tagline despite me using Spark for years.
I have not even started to try and use it yet due to these bugs.
Every time I load the app I get this pop up...
When I click on start trial I get this error:
If I click on get more with premium nothing happens.
I still cannot turn off sent with Spark tagline despite me using Spark for years.
I have not even started to try and use it yet due to these bugs.
...And as I noted here, I'm not seeing any way to do this as you or Spark says it can be done. I've also since then deleted the app from my iPhone & iPad. Does that mean that I'd still be able to take advantage of this as being an "Existing" Spark user?
You have to click "Always Allow". Otherwise it'll show up every time.
That is of course if you want to allow it.
1. Existing (previous Spark users) won't need a subscription to disable the "Sent with Spark" signature. Many of our customers used to put the "sent with" tagline to show they’re part of the Spark community.As I noted Here, what you're reporting to us all here as a "bug" is in fact documented as expected behavior.
This is from your OWN web page:
Spark Pricing Comparison: Compare Features
Compare the various premium features available and find the right Spark package for you and your team.sparkmailapp.com
So, for your Point on #1, is this a "bug" or are you going to change your web page to reflect this? As for your #5 point here, that same page also says that Dark Mode will only be available on iOS and Android. So you're being very slick in your wording. You say here in your post that Dark Mode will be coming to the Mac, too, but fail to note that users will be required to pay $60 annually for that "privilege". And as for your #6 point here, you might find Electron to be better for YOU, but for the rest of us that actually use Electron Apps, read the room.. almost everyone hates Electron apps and there's plenty of reasons why.
2. According to point 5: On our pricing page with features comparison, you can see that Dark Mode is now available in Spark on iOS and Android. However, we're actively working on it for Spark Desktop on Mac/Windows as well as stated here. And of course, it will be free for everyone.
3. As for the Electron: we have expanded our development platform rather than switched to a new platform. For a long time, Spark had a swift-built cross-platform core that runs on Android, Windows, macOS and iOS and ipadOS, and we have an interface layer, built on Javascript and Electron, in the new Spark Desktop (we use Electron as a wrapper), which allows us to create a cross-platform app which runs both on Windows and on Mac. Simply put, it’s a native core, with the interface built on Javascript in the Electron wrapper on Spark Desktop.
Performance and battery issues - it’s something we are looking for proactively and as we find something we fix it. Right now we don’t expect Spark to have lower performance on Macs, or drain more battery. The core is a native core, it runs natively, it’s a swift core, and it doesn’t have anything to do with Electron.
Some could occur - but other than that it should perform as well as previously. Electron's performance in terms of UI might be a bit slower than a native UI, but we are not building a game, we are building an email app, and Electron's performance in that regard is pretty good. Additionally, we invest a lot of time making the UI on Electron faster, and sometimes it’s even faster than our current Spark 2 native app.
May I ask you what issues did you face with Spark Desktop performance?
Sorry for the difficulties you've faced! Your case needs a bit more technical digging, please drop us a line at helpspot@readdle.com, add “from MacRumors” in the subject line, and copy your post into the email 🙌🏻
Nikita, that canned response that you gave is the exact same response that your support team gives to every single person whether on Twitter or the App Store. I should know - I’ve submitted several issues regarding your apps (battery drain, badge count, etc.) and always feel like I’m the first person reporting the issue, which totally is false. I’ve interacted with different companies on Twitter and, more often than not, have at least received a response (along with an invitation to DM them my issue) that shows their concern for my issue. If you really want to address the needs of your customers, please give us something a little more personal than a canned response.
Totally this.. Same canned responses on Twitter that I've seen. I find that to be normal for a lot of companies, though.
As for performance issues, well.. macOS and iOS and iPadOS never seem to reflect the same number of emails in various folders, including the Inbox, Trash, and Junk folders besides any other custom folders. Doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. A few months ago I even reinstalled macOS & iPadOS on a MBP & an iPad Pro, reinstalling the app from scratch. After days, maybe even weeks.. Different folders showing a different amount of mail. Meanwhile I can go to Apple's Mail app on ALL of my devices, and also check WebMail, and everything is accurate. I can check in Edison Mail on multiple devices, boom. Everything's there ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Also, the Red Badge is always inaccurate, showing me I have a number of new emails, but alas there are none...
I did find thru my weekly system reports that Spark was a big factor in Battery drain across all of my devices.
And as for your pricing & policies and whatnot, you are free to do as you wish. I've been a Spark user for quite a while come to think of it, and have always found it to be the best to fit what I wanted. But now after reinstalling the app, it's prompting me to set top as new, and not allowing me to have my own signature as opposed to your sent with Spark stuff.. I can't use that if that's the case. And that's alright. You all will move on, just as I have. I'm actually just going to continue using Apple's Mail app instead across the board. After all of this stuff happening, I decided to revisit their app and it's much better! Bravo..
Anyway, have a great day.
@Nikita Tanchuk I wish you and the company well, but your replies here only made me even more sure of my decision to delete Spark from my phone and computer.
You new to the Internet?
One of Outlook's major problems is that, even though we are here in 2022, Microsoft doesn't want to admit CardDAV and CalDAV exist at all, and barely admit that IMAP exists.
Kindly go away with your crap.
I used to be a Spark 2.0 user, i deleted my account, and removed my data, patiently waited for a 3.0 release. When it got released, right now, you are charging for a half a***ed piece of software that is buggy as hell and is missing core features of a productivity app. Honestly? Why charge, when half the stuff is missing? Really?
I get request to "Keychain" access every time i open the app.
I also need to right click now to get formatting options for my text.
And you are really wondering, why your community is pissed? It is though.
As for your 5th point, on adding new features "on the roadmap", I am sorry, but your roadmap is very long, as in veeeeeeery long. I think it took you 4 years to release 3.0?
Even with PDF expert, I paid for it, and thought that would be it, now, i have a bunch of features hidden yet again, behind another paywall.
And think of your robotic responses, you write same crap in you CS responses, Twitter, everywhere, you just copy and paste, you think we are idiots?
I am all for paying devs for their work, i really am, but when there is value for money, what value is in an email client, that can only send and receive emails, has no integration for other apps and is missing a freaking calendar?
I have tons of subscriptions, youtube premium, google drive, Apple Music, Apple storage, MS 365 and all of them are used by me, my family and kids daily. Right now, you are saying, pay me a monthly fee for a half done product. P***s off!
Spark 3 for iOS now forces you to pay $50/year or to send a tagline with every email saying "send by spark" to everybody you email. Sending out SPAM/Advertisement is totally unacceptable to me. Would be bad for my buiness and reputation
It has taken a bit of tweaking the default set up for the new Spark to be comfortable for my use case and I’m ok with it now so I’ll see how it all pans out.
Things I like:
Things I don’t like:
Things I like:
- The desktop client is responsive
- It educates the user about keyboard shortcuts as you use it. I’m already getting the hang of them, where I didn’t even touch them in Spark 2
- The set aside feature is very handy and saves leaving emails in the inbox for later
- The ability toggle on and view previously archived emails in the inbox is nice to have when I need it
- Blocking senders is fantastic, but I don’t understand what’s happening behind the scenes with that. Is it sending a bounce back or is it just deleting it before we see it?
- Very grateful to have it on Windows. I had been using a side loaded android app of it until now. Mail clients on Windows have been lacking for a long time.
Things I don’t like:
- I don’t like the app’s default philosophy of email should only be checked twice a day, and that newsletters and notifications should be bundled up because they’re noise. I will check my email when I choose, thank you, so I have disabled the Home Screen. Newsletters and notices are 95% of the emails I receive too so I don’t want them bundled up. IRL people contact me via other means these days. Thankfully I can toggle that bundling behaviour off.
- I don’t like having both a hidden sidebar and a ‘more’ button under it. That’s 2 clicks to get to some things. I’ve discovered I can hold shift and click the things I want to show on the main sidebar, but even that has its flaws such as if it’s a folder with nested folders under it (like many gmail labels are) it won’t show the nest.
- I don’t like that you’ve renamed the archive button as ‘done’. Everybody knows the archive button for email, so why rebrand it? But I’ll live lol.
- I don’t like that there’s no ability to toggle a preview pane. Apparently that’s coming. It’s a shortcoming under the guise of helping us focus more but, guys, don’t tell me what to do or how to focus! Offer it, even make it default, but allow users who have their own workflows and methods to keep using them. It’s not up to you tell us we’re using email wrong.
- Email specific notification sounds are gone on desktop. Probably another thing under the guise of focus so we don’t jump to check our inboxes when we hear an email specific sound. PLEASE add those back in. I for one want to have a unique sound for email, just as I do for messages. Useless app notifications can keep the default sound which Spark is currently adopting.
- I don’t like the large disparity between desktop features and iOS features, it really confuses things.
You have to understand that they can't give full personalised responses to everyone. A canned reply is more than enough if it answers a question or helps.
Despite all your crying you can still use Spark 2.0 as you were doing before v3.0 launched so nothing has changed for you if you are not happy with version 3.