Sparrow Developer Working on iPhone Version

Dominique Leca, the co-founder of the much-loved Sparrow mail client, tells Business Insider that his team is working on an iPhone version of Sparrow.

BI: Isn't one of Apple's rules for the mobile App Store that you can't "duplicate functionality"?

DL: Yes, but on the Mac, they can't really apply it, so you've got a way out. You can license your software without being considered a rogue developer, like you might on Cydia [the jailbreak app store for iPhone].

Developers have been selling Mac apps long before the MAS was introduced, whereas for most people, the only want to get content on an iPhone is through the App Store. It was a walled garden from the very beginning.

We'll see what happens with Sparrow for iPhone. We're just starting on this, but it's still far far away. But we'll give it a try, Apple be with us.

BI: So do you think they'll approve it?

DL: I think they will. They're accepting third party browsers, so why not mail? This would be really inconsistent. Opera has a browser out there, and I think Mozilla has one coming too.

Leca also notes that Sparrow has generated more than $500,000 in revenue in the six months it's been available on the Mac App Store. Sparrow was originally going to be priced for $24.99, but they decided on $9.99 as a price point in order to reach more users. "People don't wake up in the morning thinking they want to change their mail client."

Sparrow for Mac is available for $9.99 on the Mac App Store. [Direct Link]

There is a free "Sparrow Lite" version as well, that restricts users to one email account. [Direct link]

Top Rated Comments

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iDuel

97 months ago

I am content with the Mail.app from Apple:cool:

Rating: 8 Votes

LoganT

97 months ago

There's no way the iOS version will get approved :rolleyes:

I think they are in for a rude awakening, I will be shocked to see this approved.

People said the exact same thing about Opera Mini.

Rating: 4 Votes

Rudy69

97 months ago

There's no way the iOS version will get approved :rolleyes:

Rating: 3 Votes

QuarterSwede

97 months ago

I am content with the Mail.app from Apple:cool:

So am I. Honestly, I can't really think of any way it could be improved for my usage when I'm mobile.

An alternative certainly could bring features that I never knew I needed though. Hopefully this will get approved (I don't see why not) and spur some competition.

Rating: 3 Votes

andi242

97 months ago

Dom hinted to this quite a while ago:

https://twitter.com/#!/domleca/status/80628559856672769

Rating: 2 Votes

vjl323

97 months ago

I highly doubt it gets any traction on iOS devices. Why spend $'s when the stock app is already an excellent one?

For most users, you are correct. However, there are people who will purchase a different browser and a different calendar client for iOS. Those people are power users who need more features. Apple's Mail app is very basic and not useful for folks who get a volume of e.mail. Unfortunately, e.mail apps are still banned from the App Store [many developers, including myself, have tried to submit better e.mail apps and we've all been rejected].

A few features that power users would pay for:

* sending to groups
* optional inline/bottom quoting replies
* flag a message [iOS 5 Mail has this]
* custom signatures based on account used
* filter support
* bounce/redirect support
* multiple attachment support
* auto-prune support
* custom X- header support
* alternate compose editor support
* sigdash support
* FCC support
* signature at bottom option
* custom sorting
* nested folder creation support
...

I have a list of over 100 features that I'd like a mail client to support. Many of them are simply preferences and wouldn't clutter up the UI of the mail client. All the features in my personal list are features I use all the time, that's why I built an alternative e.mail app for iOS - it filled a need I had, but until Apple decides to allow alternate mail apps like they do for browsers and calendars, the app will only live on my iOS devices.

There are some amazing browsers and calendar apps on the App Store that really show how creative developers are in being able to pack so many additional features into an app that has a simple looking UI. I think the same can be said for developers of iOS mail apps as well.

/vjl/

Rating: 2 Votes

Bernard SG

97 months ago

I highly doubt it gets any traction on iOS devices. Why spend $'s when the stock app is already an excellent one?

Rating: 2 Votes

vettori

97 months ago

There are already some apps that can read mail, the problem is that they can't be integrated with the operating system.
All apps and links will always open Apple Mail even if another mail app is installed.

Rating: 1 Votes

NAG

97 months ago

Sparrow rules for the Mac, especially in terms of UI. There's just no comparison, IMHO. Using multiple accounts (especially Gmail) is a seamless experience with Sparrow.

However, the iPad and iPhone Mail apps are superb. I don't see Sparrow as a replacement in these two instances.

They could get rid of the horrible pop over interface when in portrait mode. Apple needs to learn that pop overs like that are the new drawers from OS X (Apple, just copy the Twitter app interface already).

As far as Sparrow for mac, I'm messing around with the demo of 1.3.2 with a temporary gmail account (craigslist stuff) and I don't really see the appeal over OS X Mail. Admittedly, I don't really use gmail beyond the occasional throw away account so maybe I'm missing something. So the better gmail support doesn't make up for the lack of multiple signatures. And I oddly like OS X Mail's way of conversation handling better (although it would be nice if there was an easy way to include your replies in the threads).

Sparrow easily beats 10.6 Mail, but 10.7...not so much for me.

Rating: 1 Votes

itickings

97 months ago

And your point is? They still support it, which invalidates your original post.

Please enlighten us, how does that invalidate the original post?

The lite version is limited to a Gmail account, so unless you already have a Gmail account you would have to create a Gmail account to test the application.

Rating: 0 Votes

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