IMO, it’s a case of “eye of the beholder”.
I’ve considered some really ugly programs beautiful because they worked well and made my job easier. I been using email a long time and Gmail/G Suite is my all time favorite service. I use the web interface or Mailplane on the Mac and the Gmail app on IOS because they do the job.
But that’s me. At some point, PCs, Macs, and most other platforms became just tools to get things done. I prefer some (Macs) over the others but then, like @MacSparky says, “There’s a certain amount of delight that comes with using the iPad.”
I hope Spark & Sanebox works well for you. 