Sparrow e-mail Client Flies to Google, Apple Continues to Receive Updates

Sparrow, a leading third-party Mac and iOS email client, has been acquired by Google to work with its Gmail team. The news was announced by chief executive Dom Leca on 20th July, 2012 on Sparrow’s site, its Twitter account and as an email to its existing users. In addition, Leca also said thanked its users for their relentless support and feedback stating that while Sparrow continues to work on new things at Google, it would continue to provide support for its existing users.

Although, Sparrow app remains unchanged for iPhone and Mac and Apple continues to receive updates and support for its present app, it has discontinued development of new features and no new versions are likely to be released. While working on iOS and Mac, this minimalist mail app streamlined and simplified traditional mail experience of the users. This is considered as the key reason behind Google’s acquisition of this star email client.

Google has been struggling with its iOS app, and it has brought the Sparrow team in to improve its existing app and provide better Gmail experience on Mac and iOS. It expects to have the same competency within its Gmail app that Sparrow provides to Mac and iOS. While the Mac version of Sparrow was integrated with DropBox and CloudApp and featured POP and IMAP support, iOS version made use of iPhone’s intuitive UI for multiple functions that included labeling messages and switching between mailboxes. It was also noteworthy for displaying messages and was particularly regarded for its capability to turn from a single pane viewer like Twitter to a three-column view that is similar to Microsoft’s Outlook.

Regarding the purchase, sources say there wasn’t a bidding war that surrounded the deal. However, none of them was sure of the exact number but, according to The Verge the deal closed under $25 million. The discontinuation of app following the purchase evoked criticism from some tech sites. However, the final verdict of the tech critics will have to wait until a new Sparrow app is released and tested.