Just some Punq

I was inspired by MinimalMac writing on Sparrow, to share my experience with said application.

On a whim, I had purchased Sparrow, which was linked from (I think) DaringFireball, before seeing the above-linked commentary; after only a short time using it, I’m a big fan. But it’s not obvious from Sparrow’s site why it’s awesome (at least to me), so…

Summary

Definitely a 1.0 application. The key features work outstandingly well, with overall good polish; but there are little nits throughout. For example, there is a preference for deciding whether the Sparrow icon will appear in the menubar, the dock, or both. It doesn’t work correctly.

That said, it’s an incredibly efficient way to deal with mail. I’ve removed Mail.app after using Sparrow for only a day.

Some details

1. Sparrow starts up incredibly quickly; on my machine, about 30% faster than Mail.app with the same accounts configured.

2. With the message preview pane opened, processing email (ala the Inbox Zero method) is almost too easy. Keyboard shortcuts are provided for everything, and you have the option of using the same keyboard shortcuts as the GMail web application, if you’re used to that (this is off by default). There are some nice little touches for processing: for example, the Backspace or Delete keys archive messages, while Cmd-Backspace moves them to GMail’s trash — this latter is Finder’s behavior, and so is very easy to remember.

3. Replying in full is relatively easy, but the “quick reply” feature is incredibly convenient for dealing with those messages that require only a short answer or simple acknowledgment.

4. Using From: aliases (which I use to handle mail to organizational addresses, which may forward elsewhere when I hand off duties) is incredibly simple, and has very smart defaults.

5. Using multiple GMail accounts (I have a separate one for work) is also well-thought out, allowing for clear, easy (optionally keyboard-driven) switching between accounts.

6. The interface is wonderfully minimal — the controls largely stay out of your way and let you focus on the messages themselves.

Conclusion

This is the first time I’ve ever paid for a Mail application. For GMail use, I find this one far superior to all of Mail.app, Entourage, Outlook, and the GMail web app. That said, there are definitely tiny annoyances that need to be worked out (though the developers are responsive to support emails, which helps). Even so, it’s so good, and helps me be so efficient — while staying nicely out of my way — that I don’t hesitate to recommend it.

If you’re not a GMail user, it’s not ready for you yet, but you can look forward to 1.1, which will add support for generic IMAP accounts.