I've used this client for years. It was the one app I never thought about switching away from. The new version changed that.The redesign is bad, and the advertising makes it worse. Two problems that would each be annoying on their own, shipped together.Start with the UI. Everything has been softened, muted and rounded until it stopped being readable. Contrast is gone. Nothing separates from anything else. It has the look of something generated rather than designed, all surface polish and no understanding of how the thing is actually used. Given how eager they are to sell me AI features, one could almost think they let their own do the redesign.Then the ads. Upgrade prompts, banners for the paid tiers, badges pointing at AI features, panels I didn't ask for and can't permanently dismiss. Sidebar, above the message list, inside settings. A real share of my screen is now spent selling me things instead of showing me email. Put that on top of an interface that already lacks contrast, and the marketing ends up being the most visible thing on screen. I understand the free version has to earn its keep somehow, but this is the point where the selling gets in the way of the product doing its job.The specifics, since they're the reason I can't work in it:Color coding on inboxes is gone in everything but name. It used to be a simple colored line next to each inbox, readable at a glance. Now the color is a thin ring around an avatar, and the avatar in the middle, photo or two-letter placeholder, is full of colors that clash with the coding color. I set up color coding so I could tell my inboxes apart without reading anything. That no longer works.Unread counts got the same treatment. White on blue, impossible to miss, replaced by small grey numbers that disappear into the background.It's an email client. A tool you stare at all day. Not a portfolio piece and not a storefront.Give me a way to hide the avatars, restore the old indicators, and turn off the promotional clutter, and I'll happily revise this. As it stands, I can't use it.
Hi! Thank you for taking the time to share such detailed feedback. We truly appreciate your long-time support and the thoughtful suggestions you've provided. We'd love the opportunity to discuss your feedback in more detail and add the points you've mentioned to our internal wishlist. Please contact us at support@sparkmailapp.com, and we'll be happy to make sure your suggestions are shared with our product team. We can also let you know if these improvements are implemented in future updates. Mariana