Love previous version of Spark. Footer issue is a deal breaker for me unless they do.follow.up with a “hot fix” to remove that as a paywall feature.
I’m going to test using Apple Mail 100% on iOS for a full month and hope to do the same on MacOS. Need to break habit of going right to Gmail web interface while on desktop!! Goal is to see if it works for me or if it’s limitations are too much. Already finding that a lack of Delete button on iOS inbox view or as a swipe to delete option is a major issue.
I like Edison a lot (!!) but privacy issues give me pause.
Native Gmail app feels dated and in desperate need of an overhaul.
Anyone use Protonmail?
Have looked very hard at Fastmail but goal is to reduce subscriptions, not add them!
If everyone goes to subscriptions, native Apple Mail appmay be the only choice!
Spark as indicated the footer was a mistake and it should be removed.
I’ve been using it since it came out (loved the previous version) and I think the new version is showing a lot of promise. For me, the killer new feature is the “Set Aside” feature. Previously, when I purchased something on Amazon etc, I would have to snooze the email until some future date (when I expect it to have been shipped or to follow tracking info). This was a little cumbersome since to follow-up I’d have to switch to that folder etc.
Spark’s “Set Aside” puts them in their own folder with a little button/indicator in the bottom left of the screen that opens the set aside folder. It essentially becomes a very easy-to-use follow-up part of my workflow.
While I like Spark (v2) and have used it for a while, I kept wondering how they could sustain a “free” model without somehow using your data as revenue. It’s just not sustainable.
While I can understand the distaste for a “subscription” model, it actually is the best hope for a business being sustainable long into the future.
Bottom line: If you get value from something and wish it to persist into the future, you should want to support those efforts financially! Otherwise, they disappear as failed business ventures… or, they are selling your data in some way.
For those here worried about Apple Mail.app possibly including ads… that makes no business sense. Mail.app isn’t a “paid product” and is simply a “value-add” in the Apple ecosystem. In addition, there isn’t a massive development team just for Mail.app, and they (Apple) obviously don’t put a ton of R&D into it since this is the first time we have received new impressive features in a very long time! In contrast, a product like Spark is purely focused on that product… and that has to have a profit model or it ceases to exist.
Spark v3 isn’t perfect, from what I can see so far, but also isn’t horrible. Some of my use case for using Spark v2 was the ability to get emails into my task manager and being able to get to that on any and all of my devices later. I haven’t found the task management integration yet in v3 (almost seems like v3 is trying to be that task manager - for email anyway), but I also read they are looking to add all of the v2 features to v3.
Ultimately, I’m not sure if I will stick with Spark, but I can respect the fact that they need to charge for it. Also, having the “Sent with Spark” in the signature is a small “price” to pay for a nice email client. Not sure why that bugs some people so much.
Because it’s ridiculous. I don’t have any signature “sent with” on any of my devices. It’s silly. If they had tied it to the subscription, it was not worth it to me to subscribe…maybe that isn’t true for others.
But clearly they are walking that back, which means they also recognize their mistake. Because signatures are personal.
For me, I’m not going back because I haven’t seen one screenshot of the three pane interface they once had: vertical folder view, vertical message view in the selected folder, preview pane.
Funnily enough, one of the reasons I moved to Fastmail was that Spark kept dropping connection to my blog email accounts. the identities provided by Fastmail were an added bonus. I just wish Fastmail would let you edit the title of an email to give you a quick heads up on your next step etc. I messaged them suggesting it but got a very vague we may consider this (but don’t hold your breath) type response.
I would also love this feature. Renaming email threads would help immeasurably with making things more searchable for me. Many folks are bad at email titles.
As an existing customer, you keep all features you had access to in the previous version of Spark for free
The problem with this is that it just isn’t true. The main issue I have with this ‘upgrade’ is that they’ve removed pretty much all of the functionality that turned me on to Spark 2.0 in the first place. The main one for me is integrations into other apps but also: templates, labels, calendar, dark mode (!) etc … the list is extensive and the link to the official list of “features” which are due to come at some point in the future has been posted above.
To remove those features, “reinvent” email without me asking and the demand a subscription for it is too much.
I think I just found another reason to leave. Unless I am totally missing something, I’ve lost the ability to Archive from a folder in my Gmail account. They are trying to make me do a “done”/“not done” which isn’t what I want.
