| Sparrow | |
|---|---|
 | |
 User interface, depicting the quick reply feature | |
| Original authors |
|
| Developer | Sparrow SARL |
| Initial release | February 9, 2011; 14 years ago (2011-02-09) |
| Final release | 1.6.4 / October 5, 2012; 13 years ago (2012-10-05) |
| Written in | Objective-C |
| Operating system | |
| Size | 12.6 MB |
| Available in | English |
| Type | Email client |
| License | Proprietarycommercial software |
| Website | www |
Sparrow was anemail client forOS X andiOS. After a 4-month beta period, Sparrow went on sale in theMac App Store on February 9, 2011 and became the top paid and top grossing app in less than one day.[1] On July 20, 2012, the company announced that it had been acquired byGoogle and was ceasing continued development of the application except for critical bug fixes.
Sparrow used a simplifieduser interface reminiscent ofTwitter clients such asTweetie,[2][3] as opposed to a more traditional email style such as Apple'sMail orMozilla Thunderbird. Sparrow worked withGmail andGoogle Apps accounts, along with otherIMAP email accounts. It also included features such asdrag-and-drop attachments,Dropbox orBox.net support for uploading attachments,Growl support, Gmail labels and keyboard shortcuts,[4] as well as quick replies,[1] threaded replies and easy switching between accounts.[5]
In March 2012, Sparrow for iOS was released in theApp Store.[6]
On July 20, 2012, Sparrow and Google jointly announced that Sparrow had been purchased by Google and the company's employees would be added to their Gmail team. Due to this, they also announced that development of both of Sparrow's apps would be ended except for critical bug fixes.[7][8][9]
The purchase and subsequent discontinuation prompted criticism from some tech sites, who were uncertain about the future of the apps. Sean Gallagher ofArs Technica wrote he was concerned for the app's future given Google's previous history of buying out and subsequently abandoning development on other startups such asreMail,Meebo andQuickoffice.[10]Rafe Needleman ofCNET wrote that the purchase combined with the ceasing development ofMozilla Thunderbird meant there was a growing lack of quality desktop mail clients.[11]Rob Beschizza ofBoing Boing created a satirical video instructing users to prepare for the acquisition by deleting the app from their computer.[12]
However,TIME noted that the acquisition may lead to better apps for Gmail.[8] Adrian Covert ofGizmodo expressed excitement about a possible official desktop client for Gmail.[13]
In 2014, Google releasedInbox by Gmail, an email app with functionality similar to Sparrow. Inbox was shut down by Google on April 2, 2019.
