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Popular Email Client Spark Gets Major Redesign For Mac, Moves to Subscription Model
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I don't like subscriptions any better than anyone else. But the economics of software has changed. The iPhone App software, through competition, has driven the cost of software down to the point of being non-viable. This is due to a) the low initial price ($5?), b) Apple not allowing an in-app upgrade option, c) the expectation of long-term support. In order for any business to survive, they need cash-flow. And the subscription model provides regular revenue.
As I said, I don't like it; but I also do not bemoan them.
As I said, I don't like it; but I also do not bemoan them.
Spark has always been free apart from the Teams add-on?
This looks worse than Thunderbird. I just like a condensed utilitarian interface. I can quickly access my emails and folders. My most used tools are available on the toolbar. Plus I can pretty much config anything I want and use a wide range of add ons.
I really can't see the appeal of this. The interface looks pretty but inefficient.
I really can't see the appeal of this. The interface looks pretty but inefficient.
I like Spark, in particular because it is very good at sorting notification and newsletter mails from personal ones, and I also like the threaded view (something that gmail also does to some extent but only for gmail accounts obviously). I find Apple Mail or Outlook nowhere near as good in those areas. Always open to alternative suggestions though.
Otherwise, I did not need to pay for Spark so far, hopefully I will be able to keep using the free tier.
Otherwise, I did not need to pay for Spark so far, hopefully I will be able to keep using the free tier.
I'm surprised to see more and more subscription-based software lately... I know we're all in our own bubbles, and we need to check our biases, but can they not read the room?
Inflation is getting ridiculous around the world, more and more businesses are asking for tips (at least here in Canada), interest rates are being increased by central banks, the housing and rental markets are insane, and now there's a marked increase in the number of services and software asking for a subscription.
I like Spark. I find it more feature-rich, and more reliable than Apple's Mail app.
This new pricing model doesn't affect current users, so I'll remain a happy customer for now. Had they offered the new features as part of a new app with a one-time purchase price, or a one-time upgrade price on the current apps, I'd have taken a look.
No more subscriptions for me though. I've significantly cut down on the ones I do have, and I don't think I'm alone in that...
Inflation is getting ridiculous around the world, more and more businesses are asking for tips (at least here in Canada), interest rates are being increased by central banks, the housing and rental markets are insane, and now there's a marked increase in the number of services and software asking for a subscription.
I like Spark. I find it more feature-rich, and more reliable than Apple's Mail app.
This new pricing model doesn't affect current users, so I'll remain a happy customer for now. Had they offered the new features as part of a new app with a one-time purchase price, or a one-time upgrade price on the current apps, I'd have taken a look.
No more subscriptions for me though. I've significantly cut down on the ones I do have, and I don't think I'm alone in that...
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
I've just downloaded the new version, if you've been a previous Spark user then you get to keep all your old features so it didn't add a Sent with Spark signature to my test email.
$60 per year for an email client?
I pay about that for Office 365 with 6 accounts, 1 TB cloud space per account, all Office apps including Outlook, all platforms including Mac, iOS and Android.
I pay about that for Office 365 with 6 accounts, 1 TB cloud space per account, all Office apps including Outlook, all platforms including Mac, iOS and Android.
Just add a few more bucks a month and you’ll get MS Office Suite with Outlook and a lot more.I’m staying with Apple Mail. It works great for me. And the iWork Suite has all I need.
In fact, more commonly, "If I like the product, I would be willing to pay a one-time fee."
They're my go to email client on iOS. If they add the subscription BS there, I'll just go back to Outlook for free. This subscription **** needs killed off and it really depends on us (users) to make that happen.
Or you could do this crazy, new idea and pay for it once and be done with it.
Apple Mail is basic level trash.
I use Airmail. What I like about it (other than the way better UI) is mostly one particular feature; I can view all messages from a single sender ONLY in my inbox with one button. No need for rules, smart folders, etc. Just pick any email, click 'Show All Messages From This Sender' and my inbox temporarily hides all other emails and i can scroll through all messages from one person.
No other email application does anything like this. You'd typically need to do a search by email each time and you'd still get other emails where that person is CC'ed.
Good points. I also use my mail clients mostly for business/professional tasks. I give you Mail.app has problems with interoperability, and I will add another: it has terrible formatting options, it is just a pain. But all that still is not enough to sway me away from what I consider free and good enough.
The push options is another downfall that I guess Apple will never incorporate. Regarding the Conversations option, which I despise, just know that you can disable it in iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
They are, they even sent booklets and special WWDC sessions to encourage developers to use subscriptions rather than one-time payments on their apps. Apple tried to disguise it under the "continues stream of revenue for developers" but in reality they just want their 30% cut every month rather one time.
Absolutely fricking nice.
What an odd announcement.
SaaS (software as a service) isn't exactly a new concept and yet so many companies clearly fail to understand that they, the company, have to provide enough value for users to be able to justify the subscription, otherwise those users will just go elsewhere.
This is especially true when what you're providing is something as basic as an email client, (or a Password Manager... looking at you 1Password...) for which there are a multitude alternatives that are good, good enough, cheap, free or some combination of the above.
Microsoft and Adobe have sort of made it work because they already have such a dominant market positions in mission critical software that many people (and more importantly businesses) are already locked into using them, yet even they seem to be relying on frequent sales and competitive bundles that drive the year on year cost of ownership for savvy users well below what it used to cost to upgrade every 3-5 years.
IMHO, SaaS can work but this isn't what it looks like.
This isn't going to end well for Spark, but hopefully it will be a good lesson for someone.
SaaS (software as a service) isn't exactly a new concept and yet so many companies clearly fail to understand that they, the company, have to provide enough value for users to be able to justify the subscription, otherwise those users will just go elsewhere.
This is especially true when what you're providing is something as basic as an email client, (or a Password Manager... looking at you 1Password...) for which there are a multitude alternatives that are good, good enough, cheap, free or some combination of the above.
Microsoft and Adobe have sort of made it work because they already have such a dominant market positions in mission critical software that many people (and more importantly businesses) are already locked into using them, yet even they seem to be relying on frequent sales and competitive bundles that drive the year on year cost of ownership for savvy users well below what it used to cost to upgrade every 3-5 years.
IMHO, SaaS can work but this isn't what it looks like.
This isn't going to end well for Spark, but hopefully it will be a good lesson for someone.
Judging by the comments here this far, I would say that the marketing team at Readdle seriously misread its potential customer base.
As much as I dislike the subscription model as a customer, it is probably an effective way to exploit customers and to milk them dry. It is a strong temptation from the business perspective. If I am one of these mofos running a business and do not care about people even a little bit but only about money (that's business?), I would consider this model too. I would also want to exploit and manipulate my customers and milk them for all they are worth, and when they are unable or unwilling to pay anymore, then I would not care about losing them. But I would not openly admit this or phrase it this way, although this is the truth about what's behind this. Rather, I would present some noble sounding reason like having the money to pay my developers and serving the customers better with bug fixes and new features, etc. when I just want to exploit them and milk them dry before I discard them.
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That's a nice feature to have. However, you can still do something like this without much complication in both Mail.app and Outlook. Just go to search and type <From: person@email.com> and you should get the same result.
That, or they expected this, and all the customers they lose are not customers they care to keep.
Pretty soon you’ll need a subscription for oxygen! It just never ends. More subscription, more ads (in apple built in apps), more spyware. Can I just buy a phone, computer, a few apps, and be left alone?
Surely there must be a way to pay once for ad removal for the life of the product. When will companies innovate a solution?
Surely there’s something out there as an alternative to subscriptions, where you pay once and own the right to use the program forever as purchased.
Hmmmmmmm 🤔 hmmmmmmm