Sparrow, an e-mail client for Mac OS made its way over to the iPhone. The app is now available in the iOS App Store for $2.99 (approx Rs.150). Sparrow uses what they call a 'pane navigation' concept for their interface and the app has full IMAP support. This means you can ditch your native Apple Mail client and access your Gmail. Google apps, iCloud, Yahoo, AOL and custom e-mail address right from Sparrow itself. However, the application doesn't support POP or Push, yet. Not having Push might be a turn off for avid phone e-mail users, but Sparrow explained why they left out Push in a blog post.
The e-mail client said that them not supporting Push has to do with data security. They explain that in order to provide Push service, they need to store user credentials, so they can patrol users' inboxes to provide notifications as necessary. Sparrow, being a start-up, doesn't want to take the responsibility of holding on to user information, especially since they feel they cannot hold on to that information securely. They do however, store Mac users'credentials because Sparrow communicates with mail providers directly over SSL.
This means that the big difference between Sparrow for iOS and Sparrow for Mac is that the Mac version stays awake all the time but the iOS version goes to 'sleep' after ten minutes of inactivity. However, like applications like Skype and Fring, which allow you to receive calls and messages even when the app has been inactive for a while, Sparrow is trying to use an API which Apple provides to allow this activity during inactivity. Sparrow has already submitted an app using this API, but it was rejected by Apple.
Sparrow across platforms
The e-mail client said that them not supporting Push has to do with data security. They explain that in order to provide Push service, they need to store user credentials, so they can patrol users' inboxes to provide notifications as necessary. Sparrow, being a start-up, doesn't want to take the responsibility of holding on to user information, especially since they feel they cannot hold on to that information securely. They do however, store Mac users'credentials because Sparrow communicates with mail providers directly over SSL.
Sparrow on iOS
This means that the big difference between Sparrow for iOS and Sparrow for Mac is that the Mac version stays awake all the time but the iOS version goes to 'sleep' after ten minutes of inactivity. However, like applications like Skype and Fring, which allow you to receive calls and messages even when the app has been inactive for a while, Sparrow is trying to use an API which Apple provides to allow this activity during inactivity. Sparrow has already submitted an app using this API, but it was rejected by Apple.
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