Sparrow is a revolutionary new Mail client that was released earlier this year. According to the developer, he has made over $500,000 with the application.
In a recent interview with Business Insider he claimed that people clearly use the iOS App Store more frequently than the Mac App Store. To reach success he will need to have an iOS application too.
BI: Isn’t one of Apple’s rules for the mobile App Store that you can’t “duplicate functionality”?
DL: Yes, but on the Mac, they can’t really apply it, so you’ve got a way out. You can license your software without being considered a rogue developer, like you might on Cydia [the jailbreak app store for iPhone].
Developers have been selling Mac apps long before the MAS was introduced, whereas for most people, the only want to get content on an iPhone is through the App Store. It was a walled garden from the very beginning.
We’ll see what happens with Sparrow for iPhone. We’re just starting on this, but it’s still far far away. But we’ll give it a try, Apple be with us.
BI: So do you think they’ll approve it?
DL: I think they will. They’re accepting third party browsers, so why not mail? This would be really inconsistent. Opera has a browser out there, and I think Mozilla has one coming too.
The developer, Dominique Leca released the application first for $24.99, but later decided to cut the price to $9.99, which would reach more people.
You can download Sparrow for Mac here. (iTunes link)
You can also use the lite version to try the app out. (iTunes link)
