BLACKBIRDFor people who miss Sparrow
The Mac mail app Sparrow fans waited for.
Sparrow was the Mac mail app that felt light. In July 2012 Google bought it, moved the team to Gmail and stopped development except for critical fixes. The apps left the stores in 2015. Blackbird is built in the same spirit: fast, quiet, made for the Mac.
| Blackbird | Sparrow | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | In development. Founding Edition reservations open now. | Development stopped in 2012; removed from the App Store and Mac App Store in 2015. |
| How you pay | Once. $29.99 Founding Edition, $49.99 after launch. | Was a one-time purchase ($9.99 on the Mac). |
| Inbox order | Seven sections by what each letter wants, with Wants you first. | One inbox by date. |
| Replies you’re owed | Waiting on them surfaces a thread after three days without an answer. | Not available. |
| Accounts | Gmail, Microsoft 365 and Outlook, iCloud, JMAP such as Fastmail, your own server. | Gmail and IMAP. |
What carries over
Light and quick. A Rust core and no Electron, so it stays small and starts fast.
Quiet by design. Newsletters and receipts fold away into their own sections.
What’s new
It knows who’s waiting on you. Letters that asked you something come first, with a line saying what they want. Threads where you’re waiting on someone come back after three days.
Fakes are caught. A sender claiming to be PayPal from a gmail.com address is filed under Not who they say before it can ask for your attention.
The Founding Edition is $29.99, once. $49.99 after launch.
Reserve for $29.99Sources
- TechCrunch: Google acquires Sparrow, apps remain available but development stopped (July 2012)
- TechCrunch: Google pulls Sparrow iOS and Mac apps (February 2015)
- Wikipedia: Sparrow (email client)
Sparrow is a trademark of its owner. Blackbird is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.