Sparrow Mail - How I Manage Email on My iPhone

I'm a fan and user of the Sparrow mail app for Mac. So I was too geeked to learn that the popular Mac app finally made its way to iTunes for the iPhone. So I quickly downloaded the app, and after a couple of days, I can say this will be my go-to way for managing my email inbox.

More Control

Even after setting up the native app to pull in my Gmail/Google Apps email using Microsoft Exchange, I still don't have control over my priority inbox and labels - Features that are available if I were using Google interface. Sparrow now gives me those management features. Additionally, navigating through threaded email messages is as easy as swiping up/down in the message area. Similarly, quickly managing individual messages and jumping between messages, inbox/folder options, and accounts is as easy as swiping from left to right. The latter function is not as smooth as I would like, but after messing with it for a while, I learned the mechanics. If you choose not to mess with the swipes, the old-school method of tapping the navigation tabs is still intact.

Sparrow also gives me quick setup of my email aliases. In other words, I have one main email account, but several email addresses tied to that account. So if I get email via those aliases, I can reply from those aliases versus defaulting to the main email account address. Another little personalization trick that I favor in Sparrow is the ability to control email signatures per accounts. For every account, I can set up its own signature, versus only having one signature option with the native app.

Drawbacks

I mentioned using Microsoft Exchange to set up my accounts via the native app. Sparrow doesn't tap into Microsoft Exchange. I am assuming that's the reason why my email hits the native app first before ever appearing on Sparrow.

*Doubles checks delivery options*

I don't even see any delivery options with Sparrow (manual, check every 5, 10, 30 minutes, etc.). So whether it is Microsoft Exchange or the default Sparrow options that I can't access, email hits my native client noticeably faster than Sparrow. Also, it would've been awesome if Sparrow offered push notification support, but I'm assuming either Apple's gatekeepers shut that option down (emphasis on the word assuming), or Sparrow has that feature in the works (more plausible, but less exciting).

Overall, Sparrow definitely offers more pros than cons and just make email on Apple devices cool again. At $2.99 it's a definite "buy" so check out Sparrow Mail for iPhone and let me know what you think in the comments section.