Spark entered our lives in 2015. Led by Readdle, an old acquaintance for his work with applications such as PDF Expert, Documents or Scanner Pro, the initial idea was to give a twist to e-mail for the make smart thanks to its searches, your notifications, your inbox… Even today, your main inbox is called “Smart Inbox” in heritage of this beginning.
The next big update was all about teamwork, pushing team-focused features. Yes now, in its third major release, Spark is focused on productivity, understanding it first and foremost as reducing distractions and increasing efficiency: do more in less time when we get to our inbox. And we tested it.
new features
This new Spark brings, despite its much clearer and more streamlined interface than the previous one, several new features that change the experience of using email.
- Emails as Tasks. we can do a Check, with the same interface as performing a task, to process an email. This gesture will archive it (without deleting it) and it will disappear from our inbox. The goal is to make it easier for us, through an interface, to access the inbox zero.
- a home screen. There we will see a summary with the most important emails we have received (and only those), or none, if we prefer it that way. The idea is to avoid distractions through this screen that hides all the unimportant emails that reach us. We can schedule specific sessions in which we check our mail during the day (for example, at 9:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.) and the rest of the time we only see this screen. If our work allows us, of course.
- Porter. A genius. When we receive an email from a new sender, it stands out from the rest of the messages, giving us two options: accept it or block it. The first will make you see yourself as a trusted sender. The second will send it to spam without even having to enter the message.
- priority mail. Until now, we could pin emails to always have them at hand. These priority emails are clearly visible in our inbox, highlighted in light orange and with a specific icon.
- And others. For example, being able to group e-mails from the same sender or send attachments beyond the usual limit of 25 megabytes. It’s the same as the native Mail app via AirDrop: it uploads it to its own server and then generates a download link. In this case, to the Readdle server. It also allows you to mute chat threads, something designed for message chains where we are CC or BCC and no longer interested.
The interface arrives with a more than remarkable change, with a marked tendency to minimalism, clearing the window a lot and grouping elements to see the space as empty as possible. So much so that perhaps more than one feel some confusion at the start of its use if it comes from the previous Spark. The learning curve, in any case, is very low.
The new prices
These developments also come with a change in Spark’s pricing system. Until its second version, Spark offered all of its features for free to private users and only charged business users who wanted to work in teams.
Spark 2 will still be available, both for current users and for those who want to download it for the first time, and will continue to receive updates. Spark 3, however, closes most of its features to paid users, who will be able to choose between a monthly or annual subscription. Existing Spark users will be eligible for a 30% lifetime discount on the annual plan. The prices have been communicated only in dollars, we will update them in dollars as soon as we have the information.
monthly |
Annual |
|
---|---|---|
new spark users |
$7.99 |
$59.99 |
former spark users |
$7.99 |
$41.99 |
Those who want to try these novelties before deciding whether to pay for them or not, can take advantage of a seven-day free trial. Team Plan users will continue with regular pricing and receive all these new Spark 3s.
These are the differences between what the free version and the paid version allow private users. Paid for Teams adds communication features between members, unlimited shared templates and drafts, and more.
Free |
bonus (individual) |
|
---|---|---|
priority mail |
Nope |
Yes |
gatekeeper – sender blocking |
Nope |
Yes |
group by sender |
Nope |
Yes |
dumb sons |
Nope |
Yes |
home screen on desktop |
Nope |
Yes |
unified inbox |
Yes |
Yes |
synchronization between devices |
Yes |
Yes |
smart inbox |
Yes |
Yes |
smart notifications |
Yes |
Yes |
smart search |
Yes |
Yes |
complete as done |
Yes |
Yes |
put aside |
Yes |
Yes |
report |
Yes |
Yes |
send later |
Yes |
Yes |
reminders |
Yes |
Yes |
desktop command center |
Yes |
Yes |
hang tags |
Yes |
Yes |
attachments up to 5 GB |
Nope |
Yes |
delete “sent from the spark” |
Nope |
Yes |
dark mode |
Yes |
Yes |
quick replies on ios |
Yes |
Yes |
calendars in ios |
Yes |
Yes |
In our experience, after two weeks of testing the new Spark 3, it’s a one-way ticket. The best, without a doubt, is this way of managing emails as if they were tasks: no interface has encouraged me so much to leave my inbox at zeroto remember the emails in limbo and to feel like I’m dominating my email instead of it dominating me.
For many people, it will not be possible to pay for a subscription to an email manager. For those who do, there can hardly be a better option than Spark.
The welcome screen is perhaps more apparent than convincing, though that surely also depends on each person’s work and how well their day can be structured to make just a few daily requests to their mailbox. That said, if he inspires those who can, even if they haven’t practiced it so far, to do so, he will be welcome.
Something similar happens with the ability to accept or block new senders with one touch. It does the same thing we could do before, but saving us steps and making us more aware that this option is there and can be very useful. (Have you heard of people putting other people on databases without their permission?).
As we said, it’s a one way ticket. A lot of people won’t even want to hear about having to pay a subscription fee for an email manager that isn’t even the actual provider or someone that lets you use your own domain. And that’s completely logical. For anyone willing to pay for an app that really enhances the experience of something as everyday as email, I don’t think there’s a better option than Spark right now.