Sparrow chirps out feature list for version 1.1
Several of the bloggers here at TUAW, including myself, are big fans of Sparrow. It's a very Twitter-like Mac email app that is fast, feature filled and has a clean user interface -- and it doesn't have a Quick Bar. Today the Sparrow team announced that Sparrow 1.1 will be submitted to the Mac App Store within a few days, and that the app should be available by the end of March.
The big change for Sparrow is that the new version will support most IMAP accounts, not just Gmail IMAP accounts. Any MobileMe, Yahoo or AOL account can now be added to Sparrow, and custom IMAP providers like Rackspace, Fastmail, Zimbra and Dreamhost are also supported.
At the present time, signatures are customizable by account. Version 1.1 adds "per alias" signatures, so that if you have multiple aliases for a single account, each alias can have a custom signature. There's a new formatting bar for helping you compose more beautiful emails. It provides flexibility in selecting fonts, font size, text color, quote levels, links and list formatting.
To retain the clean inbox that Sparrow is well known for, busy users will have a new "minimal mode" to hide the message preview in the list of messages. That'll be helpful when we do giveaways here at TUAW and get tons of comment emails.
Sparrow will also gain a bunch of multi-touch gestures, including a pinch to open or close a message and three-finger swipes to open and close the panel, navigate the message list or switch accounts. Contact groups will be supported as well.
All in all, Sparrow 1.1 looks like it will be a winner. Goodbye, Mail.app!
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Source: http://www.tuaw.com/tag/sparrow/
Several of the bloggers here at TUAW, including myself, are big fans of Sparrow. It's a very Twitter-like Mac email app that is fast,...
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The update is available now. Is there a way to list the mail accounts by name opposed to having picture's/icons? Otherwise I really regret paying for this app.
March 22 2011 at 3:31 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyHaving used Sparrow for a few days, I can't believe how (dare I say) clunky Apple's own Mail now feels. I'm waiting patiently for version 1.1 to hit the App Store, and I feel I must part with some money to get the fully featured version, it's well worth it. I have done a review of the lite edition on http://macstarter.com for those who want to see it in a little more detail.
March 18 2011 at 12:12 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThose are some neat features, but do you think it'll be enough to compete with Apple's new version of Mail in OSX Lion? I wrote about it here: http://www.creativeguise.com/2011/03/10/does-osx-lions-mail-client-make-sparrow-obsolete/
March 16 2011 at 5:35 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyIt looks great, no doubt, but then what? No unified inbox, just now IMAP works (a standard for years) and I can't use it online. I'd rather wait a bit more for services like http://unifiedinbox.com to come along or the new release of the mail app in Lion. Sure different things are made for different people. I'm fine with that, but good looks alone are not good enough for me.
March 16 2011 at 3:56 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThis is a great alternative mail app for those with very simple email needs. But comparing this to Apple's Mail app is like comparing Apple's Pages to Adobe InDesign, or Acorn to Adobe Photoshop. They're just made for different people.
March 15 2011 at 9:41 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Replysmh, ignore the grammar. Stupidly typing on my phone as I drive.
March 15 2011 at 8:52 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI actually just regret paying to this app. Great additions cause a Mail client without IMAP support is just useless. But in all truth, when Mail.app on Lion comes looks like it'll be bye bye for this application.
There's no way this will have more features than mail.app. Doesn't even have stationery support(unless I don't know how to use it).
No support for Exchange... That kills it, however nice the design may be...
March 15 2011 at 8:15 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI have been a Mac user now for just 4 years and could not ever get used to Mac's Mail app. I gave up on it for many reasons and was just using the web version of gmail. Then came Sparrow and changed everything for me. Now I finally can rely on finding my email so easily! It works beautifully and looks even better. Cannot wait for the update! Love everything Mac but wow this is the mail program they should have made.
March 15 2011 at 7:37 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Replyi hope they offer a way to disable syncing for labels of my choosing. maybe with the imap implentation this feature will be included. i really have no need to sync my entire 8GB All Mail label.
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