Sparrow for iPhone • Hacker News Board

Re: Sparrow for iPhone

#41

Post by mike-cardwell » Thu, Mar 15, 2012, 9:29 AM UTC

Xuzz wrote: post #10

bgentry wrote: post #2

I've been waiting for a decent iOS Gmail client for so long. This is an excellent first release, far better than Google's own half-hearted attempt. Let's hope they get some traction petitioning for an acceptable method to send push notifications: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3706993

I think the issue here is that it isn't really "push" they want to do. From what I can tell, they want to do is simply "run all the time so we can keep a connection open to receive new messages immediately". Which, to be fair, is pretty similar to what Apple does for their push notifications. However, allowing this would be a bad move. It'd mean that rather than once centralized connection that knows about the device…

Re push, I use an IMAP client called K-9 Mail on Android which has support for IMAP IDLE, which is basically the IMAP version of push. It keeps a constant connection open to my IMAP server and is immediately informed of any new mail. I have not noticed any reduction in battery performance since moving from 15 minute polls. I still get 1.5 to 2 days use out of it (HTC Desire Z).

There's nothing inherently wrong with this on mobile devices. If Apple can't do it for iOS, that is a flaw in their design, or their thinking.

Re: Sparrow for iPhone

#42

Post by martind81 » Thu, Mar 15, 2012, 9:35 AM UTC

This app's really awesome. 2 small annoying things though, that I hope will be fixed later is: › the freeze for a few seconds when I open the app (on an iPhone 4S) › the lack of push

Re: Sparrow for iPhone

#43

Post by squadron » Thu, Mar 15, 2012, 10:09 AM UTC

joelg87 wrote: post #40

freshfey wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same thing happened to me. To be fair though, I had issues with the app around a year ago and they promptly answered. It seems like they are a bit swamped with support issues now.

I can say from my experience so far with Buffer, that it is easy for this to get very hard to keep up with. Seems like they had similar great intentions like us to be amazing at support as well as build a fantastic product. We had a period where our support response time lagged as we reached a certain scale. We've since hired a freelancer for a few hours a day to help us and that's really transformed things to the po…

Buffer is excellent btw. It's become a must use app for me. The iPhone app is seriously awesome too. Very user friendly. You nailed it.

I have two Buffer subscriptions, one for myself and one for a client and it has become a must use app.

Good work!

Re: Sparrow for iPhone

#44

Post by ropiku » Thu, Mar 15, 2012, 10:26 AM UTC

mike-cardwell wrote: post #39

Has anyone tested this client with The Email Privacy Tester yet? https://grepular.com/email_privacy_tester/ - I'd do it myself, but I don't have an iOS device.

Here's my result: http://cl.ly/1p2M3C462Y0E0u0F0w3b

Re: Sparrow for iPhone

#45

Post by Tyrannosaurs » Thu, Mar 15, 2012, 10:29 AM UTC

mike-cardwell wrote: post #39

Has anyone tested this client with The Email Privacy Tester yet? https://grepular.com/email_privacy_tester/ - I'd do it myself, but I don't have an iOS device.

Leaks on 12 out of 32.

Re: Sparrow for iPhone

#46

Post by railsjedi » Thu, Mar 15, 2012, 10:52 AM UTC

Sparrow on iPhone is amazing. Takes an app like this to really show how old and crusty the default mail app has become for power users.

I really hope this trend continues and we can see power user replacements for Safari and Calendar as well.

Re: Sparrow for iPhone

#47

Post by lloeki » Thu, Mar 15, 2012, 10:59 AM UTC

Pheter wrote: post #28

drivebyacct2 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand that page at all. It doesn't explain why the app was rejected or why they can't use the native iOS pushing. In fact, I'm quite unsure of what is unique about their use-case for push notifications that is different than... any other similar task in iOS.

The iOS push notification service works by having a remote server determine when a push notification needs to be displayed to the user. The only way for Sparrow to do this would be to store the gmail credentials of every user who uses their application on a server (instead of each individual users iPhone). This would obviously introduce a lot of security considerations that Sparrow don't want to have to deal with. Al…

When Apple announced the various background task "modes" available (push, call placing, audio recording/playing, task completion) I immediately noticed that one use case was missing, and that's something like cron/at. Just like Apple allows tasks to run for a few moments for completion, they could allow tasks to run at scheduled times or intervals for a very limited time span, and maybe limit the number of apps/triggers allowed.

This would cover many use cases, such as alarm clocks, calendar notifications, and various poll-based background checking like new email count, maybe even headers fetching, while retaining control of watt usage.

In the meantime, I suppose Sparrow could integrate with Prowl.

Re: Sparrow for iPhone

#48

Post by Tyrannosaurs » Thu, Mar 15, 2012, 10:59 AM UTC

tomkr wrote: post #29

vpdn wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's something that they can do, it's written as the first option: "On our side: if Sparrow was to do Push today, we would have to store your credentials (login/password) on our servers to frequently poll your accounts, and send you notifications. This is a responsibility we're not ready to take. As a startup focused on iOS/OS X development, we do not have the skills to secure your data on our servers and we do no…

I like that they're being honest about this and are focussing on what they are good at. The request push option, useless as it may be with Apple in charge, might be just what is needed. As they already state, allowing an e-mail app into the app store in the first place is a step in the right direction. Why not try to prod Apple to take another one.

The problem is focusing on what they're good at leaves the user with only half a product.

I've just downloaded the app and it's awesome from a UI perspective, but it's never going to be an option as my primary mail app in it's current form which means I really can't recommend it to anyone.

Yes Apple might change their policy on this but it seems unlikely, at least in the short term. I think their best hope would be a new mechanism that allows something like this in OS6 rather than Apple just going "OK" but pragmatically they need to be looking at what they can do rather than crossing their fingers and waiting for Apple.

Re: Sparrow for iPhone

#49

Post by railsjedi » Thu, Mar 15, 2012, 11:00 AM UTC

dawson wrote: post #31

I'm using (and loving) it, until notifications are available then boxcar is a temporary solution, for me at least.

Would love to see a writeup on how to set up boxcar for as a replacement. Maybe Sparrow should implement their push notifications by just integrating with Boxcar and making it idiot proof.

Re: Sparrow for iPhone

#50

Post by dsplittgerber » Thu, Mar 15, 2012, 11:01 AM UTC

mike-cardwell wrote: post #39

Has anyone tested this client with The Email Privacy Tester yet? https://grepular.com/email_privacy_tester/ - I'd do it myself, but I don't have an iOS device.

I was seriously shocked to see that the iPhone's native client leaked that bad. 2 questions: 1) Is it possible for an app to leak less? 2) Is the 'leakage' already commonly exploited by firms for specific means? (proving you saw something etc.)

If anyone could help, that'd be awesome!