Sparrow’s swipe and tap interface is a joy to use. Photo: Sparrow
Google’s Gmail app for iOS, when compared to Gmail for Android, is a disappointment. But that may soon change with Google’s latest acquisition — Sparrow.
On Friday, Sparrow’s CEO Dom Leca announced in a blog post that Google has purchased the young but successful company known for iOS and OS X email clients. Sparrow’s software looks and works more like social networking apps than traditional email clients.
Sparrow, which made its debut back in February 2011 with a desktop app, rocketed to the top slot among paid and grossing apps in its first day on sale, and has remained popular on Macs and iPhones ever since. Google officials wouldn’t comment on how much it paid for Sparrow, a small, five-employee company, but the Verge did report that it was “under $25 million.”
“We care a lot about how people communicate, and we did our best to provide you with the most intuitive and pleasurable mailing experience,” Leca write in his blog post. “Now we’re joining the Gmail team to accomplish a bigger vision — one that we think we can better achieve with Google.”
What exactly that vision is, Google and Sparrow haven’t said. In a statement emailed to Wired, Google said the startup known for its simple and intuitive apps would be working on “new projects,” but declined to elaborate beyond that.
While Sparrow is joining the Gmail team, the Sparrow apps aren’t dead yet. “While we’ll be working on new things at Google, we will continue to make Sparrow available and provide support for our users,” Leca wrote.
Expecting Sparrow to last forever, or release major new versions of its apps as standalone products, would be naive given that Google is clearly focused on Android. And Google does have a penchant for shutting down projects that don’t relate to its core businesses. The future doesn’t look rosy for hardcore Sparrow fans.
Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/07/google-buys-sparrow/
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