Mac mail app Sparrow hits iOS: swipe-centric UI, costs $2.99
Sparrow is one of the most popular email clients for Mac and that’s partly the reason why it’s advent on iOS was anticipated by many. Now, it’s finally arrived on the App Store and it costs $2.99. The official iOS email application works well for most, but lacks the sophistication of clients like Gmail for Android that really take it up a notch.
That’s where Sparrow steps in and it does it starting from the looks. User interaction is fun and intuitive - you swipe to get additional options, pull down to refresh. One swipe to the right and you get to your account settings, and an additional swipe takes you back to all your email accounts. The app was designed by Loren Brichter, the man behind the popular Tweetie client for iOS, which was acquired by Twitter itself.
Going through your emails is also a simple and straightforward process - you just scroll up and down and you can add attachments straight from the application.
The biggest omission in Sparrow for iOS is push notifications. The Sparrow mail app doesn’t support them and it blames Apple for it. Here’s the official explanation:
- On our side: if Sparrow was to do Push today, we would have to store your credentials (login/password) on our servers to frequently poll your accounts, and send you notifications.
- This is a responsibility we're not ready to take. As a startup focused on iOS/OS X development, we do not have the skills to secure your data on our servers and we do not want to put sensitive information at risk. That's why Sparrow iPhone 1.0 doesn't do push.
- Directly from your mail provider: on Sparrow for Mac, your credentials are secure because we communicate directly with your mail provider via SSL.
You can hit the source link below to ask Apple to change it, and if you like the app, it’s available on the App Store and works with iOS 5.0 and later versions.
Download Sparrow for iOS [iTunes link]
source: Sparrow
FCC OKs Cingular\'s purchase of AT&T Wireless
Things that are NOT allowed: