![]() There’s one huge omission you may have noticed: Reply. Hover over any one of those rows, and you’ll get a series of six icons: set aside, mark as priority, unread or done (which archives it), pin it to the inbox, trash it and snooze it for later. There’s no visible left pane showing your email accounts and no reading pane to let you quickly look over an email. The default is an all-inclusive inbox, blending mail from all your addresses. The inbox is a series of rows, each containing the sender’s name, subject line, a content snippet and the time the email arrived. Spark 3 attempts to rethink email by dramatically simplifying the design. You can use it as an email app, but there are so many things missing and so much that is promising but poorly executed. I don’t want to say that Spark 3 is a disaster, but it kind of is. That excitement dimmed when I got my hands on the beta version, and it was snuffed out with the official release Oct. ![]() ![]() So I was excited to hear that Readdle was ready with Spark 3 at, a followup that would also bring the long-promised Windows version. There are even social media-style “like” responses if an email doesn’t need a full-on reply. It also has features you’d expect in modern email apps, including smart filtering of important email, scheduled sending, templates for quick responses, a built-in calendar and the ability to integrate services from other apps, such as OneNote and Zoom. There’s a left sidebar featuring inboxes and folders, a center well with email headers and a mini-summary of the content, and a right-hand reading pane. Spark 2 uses the design conventions that Outlook and other venerable email apps have long established, so it’s familiar. I reviewed it last November on my personal blog. It’s free for individuals, with a paid version for corporate teams. The company, based in Ukraine, promised that a Windows version was coming soon. It is a Mac app, but there are mobile versions for iOS and Android. I found it in Spark 2, an email app from Readdle that has drawn praise from reviewers and users. ![]() I went in search of software that was Outlook-like but without the price tag. I am one of the few who will admit to actually liking Outlook but not enough to start my life as a freelancer by paying for it.Īs a Mac user, I could have adopted Apple’s Mail desktop app, but I’ve never cared for it. I had used it for years as a Houston Chronicle staff member and in my brief dalliance with Forbes. When I retired, kinda, I no longer had access to Microsoft Outlook, the email app that’s ubiquitous in corporate environs. I believe the developers’ hearts are in the right place, and there’s a seed of something new and interesting here, but this is the kind of thing for which the word “botched” was invented.įirst, a little background. I like them and the challenge that comes with figuring out all the new things.īut I want to tell you about an upgrade gone horribly wrong. My answer: No, Windows 8 was awful, but do give Windows 10 a try!įor the most part, I welcome new versions. It’s why I still get emails from people running Windows 7 who ask whether it’s finally safe to switch to Windows 8. It’s why a lot of folks avoid updates and upgrades at all costs. ![]()
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