In the era of Slack and Microsoft Teams, the relevance of Email remains intact to this day. Especially on mobile devices, modern Email apps are not limited to just retrieving mails or composing new ones. Apps like Microsoft Outlook, Spark, and Airmail offer more than a basic email experience on a small device.
On iOS, Apple improves the default Mail app with every iOS interaction. With iOS 13, the company added a number of features to level up against its competitors.
The competition stands out with frequent updates and more customization options with better organization and more.
Spark and Airmail are two of the most feature-rich email apps for the iOS ecosystem. Both apps focused on the shortcomings of the default iOS Mail app to improve the user experience.
In this article, we will compare Spark vs Airmail and decide which email app is more suitable for your use. The comparison will cover differences in user interface, features, email organization, usability, and more. Let’s jump.
Application Size
Airmail is approximately 131MB in size while Spark Mail weighs 173MB.
Cross-Platform Availability
After years of being on iOS, Spark recently made its Android debut, making it truly cross-platform against its rivals. It also has native apps for Mac and iPad.
Airmail is only available in the Apple ecosystem. The app is available on iOS and macOS.
user interface
In terms of UI, it looks like the same team designed both apps. Let’s talk about Spark first. The app uses standard iOS design guidelines with a hamburger menu and main options at the top. The Smart Inbox, calendar, and search menu are at the top, and the compose mail button is at the bottom.
It uses a white theme and supports iOS 13 dark theme.
Airmail is the same. It follows the hamburger menu with main options like create and search at the top. Airmail should explore the possibility of using the bottom bar menu for the main options.
Theme options include Aura, Ruby, Neon and Dark theme from Settings. It’s a paid feature that I’ll explain later.
Email Organization
This is where Apple’s default Mail lacks compared to third-party apps. A clean and efficient organization is where power users start looking for alternatives.
By default, Spark enables Smart Inbox, which is similar to Outlook’s Focused Inbox.
Smart Inbox categorizes emails by subject and content. There are different tabs for notifications, newsletters, pinned posts and reads. I like. Keeps me busy with the most relevant emails.
Airmail doesn’t offer anything like that, but it has a quick trick to get things done.
Tap the account name at the top and the app will show a series of options at the bottom like Unread, Add, Topics, Star, and Sort. Tap on it and review important emails in seconds.
Features
Both Spark and Airmail come loaded with a number of functions. Spark integrates a full calendar functionality and allows you to connect Gmail, Family and Vacation schedules within it.
You can snooze an email to receive notification at the designated time. Open an email and you can give quick replies, mark it as spam, and even add services like Dropbox, Google Drive, Evernote, Trello, and more.
Go to Settings and you can use every option of Spark. The Personalization menu allows you to change the appearance and behavior of the application. Siri shortcuts let you search, compose a mail or open a folder with voice commands.
Other functions are email scheduling, Face ID protection, adding email templates for quick replies to common emails, and more.
Airmail is moving here. First, it supports iCloud sync and lets you backup every possible setting to the cloud platform. The list of services is also larger than Spark’s and includes Google Tasks, Asana, Instapaper, iA Writer, Drafts 5, and more.
Apart from that, you can snooze a mail, apply a sticker, create a pdf, use Siri shortcuts, unsubscribe from a mail with one tap, and more from mail options.
Create New Post
The spark is a nail. You can add media on the compose screen, use post templates to add general replies, set the app to remind you not to reply on the other hand.
You can also set it to send emails later at a fixed time. Spark allows you to create teams from the setting and you can invite team members to compose an email.
The compose mail screen is a hit and miss in Airmail. It’s loaded with functions, but the menus and icons are too small for precise input.
Airmail offers convenient word processing options like Bold, Italic, Paragraph alignment and more.
Other options are send later, remind me functionality, signature, templates, and the ability to attach files and documents.
Price
This is where Spark comes to the fore. The application is completely free to use, no conditions are added. It is surprising considering the options and functions it provides.
Airmail is free for the basics, but you’ll have to pay $12 a year to get the most out of it.
Reach Inbox Zero
As you can see from the comparison above, both apps offer many reasons to prefer one over the other. Spark is feature-packed, looks good, and is completely free to use. Airmail offers better organization and mail creation screen.
Next: Apple Mail can also do nifty tricks. Read the post below to find the best tips and tricks for Apple Mail on iOS.
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