Google discontinues Sparrow email, hopes to migrate users to Inbox

Google has decided to discontinue Sparrow for iOS and Sparrow for Mac, which is purchased back in 2012 for nearly $25 million. Even after the purchase, Google continued to charge the $2.99 for the email client on the Apple App Store, so it won't stop supporting customers who purchased the app.

After its debut, Sparrow quickly rose to become one of the top apps on the iOS platform. However its popularity has declined over time due to alternatives from competitors.

Google now hopes it can migrate Sparrow users over to its own GMail and Inbox apps. Inbox in particular, which is available only through invites is a highly regarded and much sort after service. Inbox for iOS manages your email like a to-do list, offering sorting, snoozing and scheduling based on the users needs. It will even allow you to retract a sent email before it is read.

According to Google, currently 70% of Inbox users are on the Android platform, while only 28% of them are from iOS. Google will obviously like to see more iPhone and iPad owners switch to using its own services, rather than have them pick up what Microsoft is offering. So if you want to try out Inbox by GMail, just sent an email over to inbox@gmail.com and keep your fingers crossed.


source - TechCrunch