Thank you for taking the time to construct a well reasoned argument for why you moved away from Mail.app and the advantages you have found using other clients - genuinely appreciated.
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Popular Email Client Spark Gets Major Redesign For Mac, Moves to Subscription Model
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As long as I get to keep using all the features I already have at my disposal, I'll keep Spark for now. But this is a bad sign and I'm already starting to look for alternatives.
That "Sent by Spark" signature is really egregious. I'm going to run a few tests over the next few days to see if that appears on emails I send, because I have no intention of having all my work emails sponsored by someone else's company.
That "Sent by Spark" signature is really egregious. I'm going to run a few tests over the next few days to see if that appears on emails I send, because I have no intention of having all my work emails sponsored by someone else's company.
Happy to see so many against subscription model. We must stop the agenda that says in his slogan "You will own nothing and you will be happy". If we don't subscribe we send them this clear message: "We want to own things us much as possible, we believe in property" .
This.
I also do this, moved away from many applications (both on iOS/iPadOS and on macOS) for that reason. And I am not paying any subscription for software. Therefore, the only subscription I have is the mid-tier iCloud data plan (and it is fair that this is a subscription as cloud servers need upkeep and renewal).
I don’t remember Spark costing money? I thought they made money selling a premium tier to businesses/teams?!
I'm sympathetic, but people don't understand that this just isn't a sustainable business model. I'd love to be able to buy a coffee at Starbucks for a one time fee and then get free coffee for life. Any serious app requires ongoing development and operational costs.
Readdle never charged for Spark before (just a subscription for some optional business/collaboration features.)
Funding etc has changed nowadays, prior funding (e.g VC) didn't demand sustainable income on a continuous roll, nowadays, there's a real push for everyone to extract as much value from customers, and the only current half-sane for companies is to continuous charge users (ie subscriptions).
I don't like it, others don't like it, but it also means for businesses that opex and capex is easy to justify.
I'm more than happy to pay for a lifetime version, that is tied to a specific version, maybe even something like JetBrains has with a fallback if you stop the subscription.
Spark uses their own servers which they put through all your correspondence. Giving full access of all my information to the dudes from Ukraine? I’ll lass, thanks.
The popular email client Spark today announced a significant redesign for its Mac app, introducing new features to make it easier for users to manage their emails, reduce distractions, and have a more streamlined emailing workflow.
Spark on the Mac now has an entirely new design that maintains the same elements as before, such as a unified inbox, but with new additional features. Now, the new design introduces bundles for different email categories such as newsletters and notifications. Emails can now be marked as "done" rather than unread in the new Smart Inbox as part of Spark's goal to rethink how people interact with emails.
Spark is also introducing a new feature called Gatekeeper, which automatically scans all incoming emails from new senders and displays them as cards at the top of the inbox. Users can now choose to accept the incoming email from the sender or block the sender entirely.
Unlike before, Spark is moving to a new subscription-based model. The free version of Spark now includes the same features as before, along with the unified inbox, the new smart inbox, and the updated design. Spark Premium users will gain access to addtional new features, including Gatekeeper, a new Home Screen that helps users take a break from emails, muting threads, and more.
For new individual users, Spark Premium will cost $59.99 for an annual subscription, which is the equivalent of $4.99 per month. The monthly subscription will cost $7.99 for individual users. Existing users of Spark will get a lifetime 30% discount on an annual subscription, while the monthly price remains at $7.99. For the first time, Spark is now available on Windows.
Article Link: Popular Email Client Spark Gets Major Redesign For Mac, Moves to Subscription Model
So the news is that new sign ups now have to pay for the basic tier? I just updated the app and the up-sell pitch was decent.
I hope it doesn’t devolve into one of these apps that makes you dismiss an up-sell every time you open the app or with every update.
Maybe a quarterly pitch to me is acceptable but much more than that and I’ll have to move back to Apple Mail, which, the only reason I ever sought an alternative for was lack of push notifications for Gmail.
I’ve become addicted to Spark’s nifty pinning emails feature and smart inbox but I can let that go.
Spark was never an app that felt like it belonged on the Mac but this new UI reeks of Electron something fierce
Not surprised it’s also available on Windows now…
Not surprised it’s also available on Windows now…
I believe so - but I guess with time, they may restrict new features to subscribers.
I really appreciated your reply-to-my-reply, and I'm quoting this portion and boldfacing it to amplify it since the people who seem the most vehemently opposed to the SaaS model also seem to be the least informed about who is driving that trend within their (closed) ecosystem.
People have no idea how hard Apple is encouraging developers to move in this direction. It is an all-encompassing push and core to Apple's relationship with both developers and users.
I would caution you from drawing any conclusions or representation of a whole from the userbase of MacRumors.
Remember when Adobe's downfall was heartily predicted when they went SaaS? Or Things? Or Fantastical? Or any one of a number of software companies? All have continued to grow their user base. Adobe in particular has added users and revenue at a faster pace than at any other point in their history.
Meanwhile, Serif (maker of the Affinity suite), struggles financially. You'll see them get in line with SaaS sooner or later. They won't be able to survive otherwise.
People who actively buy third party software (to use the tongue-in-cheek term, "whales") and businesses don't mind SaaS. There are budgeting and tax advantages, particularly to businesses, that do not exist with single-payment models. One customer who pays is worth 100 who use your product for free. You may not like this equation, but it's the reality of being a software developer in 2022. This metric won't change.
The alternative is to embrace the Linux/OSS model. Both models have their own pros and cons. But expecting a small but very vocal set of users on a place like MacRumors to influence an industry is not realistic.
Exactly. That’s why so many developers (and Apple itself) are pushing towards subscriptions: more money.
As long as they don't force "Sent from Spark" below any of my emails, I'll hold on. But this is the first domino, there is no way they will honor this commitment to their current users forever.
In the eyes of those running the company, that's just wasted resources that need to be culled.
I agree. I think some developers are responsible in adding a significant amount of value with their subscription switch as evidenced by the increased frequency of updates and increased pace of good and new features (eg Fantastical) and that makes it somewhat justifiable especially if there's server side services included with a subscription, while others it's pretty easy to see that it's just a cash grab (1Password). Particularly irksome to me is 1Password's switch that has seen not only seen a lack of value added with subscription but an actual decline in app quality and has forced users into their server-side services while removing the option use your own cloud (Dropbox worked brilliantly for more than a decade). *slap forehead emoji*
And the advertised discount for existing users is nowhere to be seen either. I checked out of curiosity and it shows full price.
Exactly
maybe I’m just an old-head, but paying $49 for a nice boxed version of Spark email client version 2022, that will be supported with bug fixes until 2024 version comes out, sounds reasonable. And the 2022 version will still be supported and able to be used if you don’t want 2024.
And yah know what? My photoshop CS6 still works great and I don’t need to buy anything new. Adobe forcing everyone to support the upkeep of every new version is BS. they’re just forcing people to have the most up to date version and not giving choices.
Annnnd if you decide “oh I don’t need the new version” I just want to stay on the old one, guess what? You’re still paying subscription fee.
F subscriptions.
I started using Spark years ago because Apple Mail didn't support push notifications on Gmail. If Apple Mail DOES support that now, I'd switch back, but I'm fairly certain it still doesn't support it (based on a very quick Google search).
hmm, I actually use gmail in the browser, and I do not see ads, maybe I'm just tuning them out but there are no popups and such ... but to each their own, be happy paying them
I believe Gmail / Google is preferring to use the Gmail API over IMAP for notifications, hence it doesn't exist? Whilst Spark does polling on their servers.
Spark is way better than stock mail app. Specially because you can customize your bottom toolbar.
I use email to get RSS feeds.
I put the delete button in the bottom middle of the toolbar, and use Spark as an RSS reader. Easiest way to go through articles.