- Readdle launched an new version of its Spark email app for iPhones and Mac computers on Tuesday.
- The new features turn the email client into a communication hub. You can share emails with a URL and discuss messages with your coworkers without starting a huge email chain.
- Spark is free but it also has a $8-per-month subscription for power users.
Email is probably one of the oldest online messaging systems you still use, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be improved.
Most people read and send emails in their browser, but Spark, a new email app for Macs, adds a bunch of new features into its desktop client.
In a recent 2.0 update, Spark now does several things that could be very useful for teams and groups that need to work on important emails together.
For example, you can share an email with a single URL. Your team members can also privately discuss emails in threads below the original note without creating a super-long email thread. Teams can also collaborate on replies simultaneously, sort of like Google Docs. Those are features you can’t do in Gmail.
The new Spark features are part of a new emphasis on email from Readdle, one of the oldest iPhone app companies that's best known for utility apps such as PDF Expert and Scanner Pro. Readdle even hired one of the top Apple engineers working on Mail to lead its push as VP of engineering.
Spark is free, but there is a premium subscription for $7.99 per month with extra storage space and some additional features for power users.
Here's how it works:
Spark is currently available for Mac and iOS. Web, Windows, and Android versions are in the works.
Most of the time, it's a clean and fast email client.
But it's got some tricks that you won't find in the built-in Mac Mail client, like adding your teammates to get notified on important emails.
Once you've added other Spark users, you can discuss an email right below the note in your inbox.
Here's what a thread looks like:
The discussions can be read and shared from an iPhone, too.
There's an iPad version, too.
You can also simultaneously draft a response together, as a team. It looks a little bit like Google Docs.
One of the niftiest features is that Spark generates a unique URL for emails you want to share. You can decide whether everyone can see it, or if you limit access to your team members.
This feature could be super handy for sales teams or customer service.
Even though the features make Spark feel a little bit like a Slack competitor, it still integrates cleanly with Slack and other major services.
Check out the entire video:
You can download Spark for MacOS here and for iPhones and iPads here.
