Moving to the new Spark on iOS and iPadOS isn’t much of a reach; the app largely works (and looks) like it did before. I would say the more assertive grouping of inbox messages into Notifications and Newsletters (Smart 2.0) changes things a bit (and, to my mind, for the better; messages that I would normally see in my inbox on MailMate are held in a category with limited visibility, but not moved completely out of sight). I also like Spark’s aggressively approach to asking me if it should block messages from potential spam senders. This dialog isn’t modal and I can respond when I have the time and inclination.

On the Mac, though, Spark Desktop is a considerably different animal from its predecessor. There are some serious limitations that early adopters will run into, but I’m forging ahead. I did email Readdle and ask them to let users turn off avatars. I have never been a fan of them in email, because they almost never impart any useful information. Companies that have bothered to create an avatar, and (internally) Gmail users who have set up an avatar have a visual identified that helps. But mostly I just see a garish blob of color with two initials. And this is why I always turn them off. Readdle’s response to my request was quick and it sounds like it’s already a feature request, so I remain hopeful.

Spark Desktop 3’s Avatars, There Whether You Want Them or Not

What does delight is the amount of time you can keep your fingers on the keyboard and just munge mail. I have been very happy with MailMate but Spark’s Command Center feature exposes keyboard shortcuts, with visual prompts to help you remember them. I am looking forward to some design changes to the Command Center, but this is a great start.

Spark Desktop 3’s Searchable Command Center