Sparrow was an
email client for
OS X
macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...
and
iOS. After a 4-month beta period, Sparrow went on sale in the
Mac App Store on February 9, 2011 and became the top paid and top grossing app in less than one day.
On July 20, 2012, the company announced that it had been acquired by
Google and was ceasing continued development of the application except for critical bug fixes.
Versions
Desktop
Sparrow uses a simplified
user interface reminiscent of
Twitter clients such as
Tweetie
Tweetie was a client for the social networking website Twitter. There is a mobile version that runs on iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, and a desktop version runs on Mac OS X Leopard, Snow Leopard and Lion (respectively 10.5, 10.6 and 10.7).
Bot ...
or
iOS apps, as opposed to a more traditional email style such as Apple's
Mail or
Mozilla Thunderbird. Sparrow currently works with
Gmail and
Google Apps accounts, along with other
IMAP email accounts. It also includes features such as
drag-and-drop attachments,
Dropbox or
Box.net
}
Box, Inc. (formerly Box.net) is a public company based in Redwood City, California. It develops and markets cloud-based content management, collaboration, and file sharing tools for businesses. Box was founded in 2005 by Aaron Levie and Dylan S ...
support for uploading attachments,
Growl
Growling is a low, guttural vocalization produced by predatory animals; producing ''growls''.
Growling or growl may also refer to:
Sounds
* Death growl, the dominant singing style in death metal music
* Stomach growl, or borborygmus, noise prod ...
support, Gmail labels and keyboard shortcuts, as well as quick replies,
threaded replies and easy switching between accounts.
iPhone version
In March 2012, Sparrow for iOS was released in the
App Store.
Acquisition by Google
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.
The purchase and subsequent discontinuation prompted criticism from some tech sites, who were uncertain about the future of the apps. Sean Gallagher of
Ars Technica
''Ars Technica'' is a website covering news and opinions in technology, science, politics, and society, created by Ken Fisher and Jon Stokes in 1998. It publishes news, reviews, and guides on issues such as computer hardware and software, sci ...
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 as
reMail,
Meebo
Meebo (often stylized as meebo) was an instant messaging and social networking service provider. It was founded in September 2005 by Sandy Jen, Seth Sternberg, and Elaine Wherry, and was based in Mountain View, California. Initially the company o ...
and
Quickoffice.
Rafe Needleman
Rafe Needleman is a magazine and website editor and published author. He wrote a Star Trek trivia book in 1980 and has covered technology and business since 1988. Previously a co-host of CNET's Buzz Out Loud Daily Podcast with Molly Wood, and C ...
of
CNET
''CNET'' (short for "Computer Network") is an American media website that publishes reviews, news, articles, blogs, podcasts, and videos on technology and consumer electronics globally. ''CNET'' originally produced content for radio and televi ...
wrote that the purchase combined with the ceasing development of
Mozilla Thunderbird meant there was a growing lack of quality desktop mail clients.
Rob Beschizza
Rob Beschizza is a British-American writer, artist and journalist, the editor of the culture website Boing Boing and the founder of txt.fyi, a publishing platform described by ''Wired'' as an example of "antisocial media". His works include mi ...
of
Boing Boing created a satirical video instructing users to prepare for the acquisition by deleting the app from their computer.
However,
TIME noted that the acquisition may lead to better apps for Gmail.
Adrian Covert of
Gizmodo
''Gizmodo'' ( ) is a design, technology, science and science fiction website. It was originally launched as part of the Gawker Media network run by Nick Denton, and runs on the Kinja platform. ''Gizmodo'' also includes the subsite ''io9'', whic ...
expressed excitement about a possible official desktop client for Gmail.
Related development
In 2014, Google released
Inbox by Gmail, an email app with functionality similar to Sparrow. Inbox was shut down by Google on April 2, 2019.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sparrow (E-Mail Client)
MacOS email clients
MacOS-only software
Google acquisitions
Discontinued Google acquisitions
Discontinued software