Apple Mail engineering manager heads to Readdle to work on Spark email client

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A former engineering manager on Apple's Mail app, Terry Blanchard, has left the company to play a key role in developing Readdle's Spark email client, according to an announcement.




Blanchard will be "building a rockstar team" at an office in Silicon Valley, Readdle said on Wednesday. Spark is currently available for iOS, Mac, and the Apple Watch -- Blanchard's work will likely involve upcoming features like automations and support for work teams. Readdle is also readying an Android port.

The manager has spent the past 6 years at Apple, overseeing both the engineering and quality assurance teams for Mail. The app comes preloaded on every major Apple device, and often receives new features -- or at least tweaks -- whenever a significant version of iOS or macOS is released.

High-profile hires and departures have become relatively common at Apple. One recent example was Swift creator Chris Lattner, who in January left to become Tesla's VP of Autopilot Software.

Indeed Apple and Tesla are thought to be regularly engaged in poaching from each other, the former for its self-driving car project, codenamed "Titan."

Earlier this month the founder of Apple-acquired WiFiSlam, Joseph Huang, left to become CEO of StartX, a startup accelerator. WiFiSlam's technology could form the basis of indoor navigation features in future Apple products.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 27
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,801member
    I'm sure he'll be a real asset to Readdle.... /s
    doozydozenmwhitecornchip
  • Reply 2 of 27
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    So by next year we can expect Spark to be running at half its current speed. 
    doozydozenmwhitejcdinkinsDavidAlGregory
  • Reply 3 of 27
    ktappektappe Posts: 823member
    Good. Mail.app is very long in the tooth and continues to lack features other email clients had a dozen years ago. Now maybe whoever takes over Mail.app will bring it out of the dark ages.
    doozydozencornchip
  • Reply 4 of 27
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,192member
    If you're wondering how such a nice looking program as Spark can be offered "free", read the Privacy Policy. The company gathers a ton of personal information about users and sells this information to affiliates.
    https://sparkmailapp.com/privacy
    edited March 2017 doozydozensmack416dysamoriacornchipSpamSandwichwatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 27
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    When goog/Facebook/others lose an employee is it front page news?
    doozydozenjcdinkinswatto_cobrajahblade
  • Reply 6 of 27
    cali said:
    When goog/Facebook/others lose an employee is it front page news?
    It is on googleinsider.com and facebookinsider.com.
    hmurchisonjSnivelydoozydozencalicornchip
  • Reply 7 of 27
    cali said:
    When goog/Facebook/others lose an employee is it front page news?
    But Mail sucks, so they can have that engineer. Good riddance, most would say. 
    caliDavidAlGregory
  • Reply 8 of 27
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,834member
    "High-profile hires and departures have become relatively common at Apple"

    Hmmm is there any actual data that shows it's more common now than previously? Or just more widely reported on now? I'm of the opinion that turnover is probably pretty similar w/ Apple as other tech companies, we just don't hear about it as much and/or care. 
    calicornchip
  • Reply 9 of 27
    Mail does indeed suck. And it's not just lacking features. It crashes so much I've given up sending crash reports. Just please don't make it Outlook Jr. Hopefully they replace this guy with someone how actually cares about mail.
    doozydozen
  • Reply 10 of 27
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,834member
    Dunno what I'm doing wrong, but my Mail has never crashed. I can't even think of the last app that crashed on me. As for functionality, it does everything I need it to -- having a conversation-view was the only feature I liked from other clients. Now with that and system-level VIPs, and decent search, I don't know what I'm missing.
    doozydozencalicornchipjax44watto_cobrajahbladestarwars
  • Reply 11 of 27
    dysamoriadysamoria Posts: 3,430member
    My only problems with the Mail application is its history of communication problems (poor support of standards). The version in Snow Leopard won't check mail unless I send something, which tells me the Internet has changed. But why does it work when i send? And why are my two friends still able to use Eudora, FFS??

    as for this guy leaving Apple... We don't know the real story. Maybe he left because he was not being allowed to work on Mail and do his job. Apple sounds like it's becoming a haven for corporate MBA BS instead being a place that makes good product (especially software; look how long it took to get RTF file support put back into Pages). Why does everyone here just presume this guy is the problem?? Have none of you worked at a corporation that had lousy leadership??
    cornchip
  • Reply 12 of 27
    paxmanpaxman Posts: 4,729member
    Certainly wouldn't say Mail 'sucks'. It has issues, but so does Spark. Enough so I came back to Mail. Mail does occasionally crash, but not so much it is a huge issue. What bugs me the most is that search, which I use A LOT, sometimes seem to 'hang', and generally behaves quite erratically. 

    Spark for IOS had a neat feature - kinda Outlookish, which was that if you had Calendar 5 working there was a button that showed calendar view. 

    Out of curiosity - what issues do people have with Mail?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 27
    I know Apple Mail has received a lot of criticism over the years, but I've always stuck with it as it got better and better, Mainly, because of the integration between Apple apps.

    Hated AOL, Hotmail, Gmail, Outlook, etc.

    Anyway, best.
    caliwatto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 27

    sog35 said:
    ktappe said:
    Good. Mail.app is very long in the tooth and continues to lack features other email clients had a dozen years ago. Now maybe whoever takes over Mail.app will bring it out of the dark ages.
    that you can't do a simple on mail is beyond ridiculous
    ?
    StrangeDays
  • Reply 15 of 27
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,834member
    dysamoria said:
    Apple sounds like it's becoming a haven for corporate MBA BS instead being a place that makes good product (especially software; look how long it took to get RTF file support put back into Pages). Why does everyone here just presume this guy is the problem?? Have none of you worked at a corporation that had lousy leadership??
    Er, unless you come to us from inside Apple corporate, how on earth can you substantiate the claim that apple is becoming MBA BS and not a place for building good products? That sounds like DOOM and "concern" to me. What evidence do you bring that things are somehow different for the worse at Apple than anywhere? Google has failed w/ all sorts of projects -- are they MBA BS too? 

    Obviously I can't speak for you, but my Apple products are the best desktop OS, smartphone, tablet, notebook, desktop, and headphones I've ever owned. I can't imagine using anything else right now. And the current iterations are quantifiably better than the older versions....So whenever I hear this "Apple is now DOOM" concern I'm left scratching my head. Have you not used an iPhone 7? iPad? AirPods? etc etc
    edited March 2017 watto_cobraDavidAlGregory
  • Reply 16 of 27
    A former engineering manager on Apple's Mail app, Terry Blanchard, has left the company to play a key role in developing Readdle's Spark email client, according to an announcement.




    Blanchard will be "building a rockstar team" at an office in Silicon Valley, Readdle said on Wednesday. Spark is currently available for iOS, Mac, and the Apple Watch -- Blanchard's work will likely involve upcoming features like automations and support for work teams. Readdle is also readying an Android port.

    The manager has spent the past 6 years at Apple, overseeing both the engineering and quality assurance teams for Mail. The app comes preloaded on every major Apple device, and often receives new features -- or at least tweaks -- whenever a significant version of iOS or macOS is released.

    High-profile hires and departures have become relatively common at Apple. One recent example was Swift creator Chris Lattner, who in January left to become Tesla's VP of Autopilot Software.

    Indeed Apple and Tesla are thought to be regularly engaged in poaching from each other, the former for its self-driving car project, codenamed "Titan."

    Earlier this month the founder of Apple-acquired WiFiSlam, Joseph Huang, left to become CEO of StartX, a startup accelerator. WiFiSlam's technology could form the basis of indoor navigation features in future Apple products.
    Maybe this has been fixed in newer versions of Mail but the biggest problem I had with it is whenever I sent an email with an an attachment of a certain size there would be no record of it in my Sent folder. To make sure I had a copy I had to copy myself on the email.
  • Reply 17 of 27
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    cali said:
    When goog/Facebook/others lose an employee is it front page news?
    But Mail sucks, so they can have that engineer. Good riddance, most would say. 
    email sucks in general.

    I wish Apple would revolutionize email but it may be too late.
    cornchip
  • Reply 18 of 27
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    Mail does indeed suck. And it's not just lacking features. It crashes so much I've given up sending crash reports. Just please don't make it Outlook Jr. Hopefully they replace this guy with someone how actually cares about mail.
    You guys must not be talking about the iOS app correct?
    because that one never crashes and is great.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 27
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    Mail does indeed suck. And it's not just lacking features. It crashes so much I've given up sending crash reports. Just please don't make it Outlook Jr. Hopefully they replace this guy with someone how actually cares about mail.
    While I'm not a fan of the mail client on both iOS and MacOS, I cannot recall ever having it crash, certainly not like how you're implying.  So do tell what makes you so special Mr. 1-post?
    cornchipwatto_cobra
  • Reply 20 of 27
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    dysamoria said:
    My only problems with the Mail application is its history of communication problems (poor support of standards). The version in Snow Leopard won't check mail unless I send something, which tells me the Internet has changed. But why does it work when i send? And why are my two friends still able to use Eudora, FFS??

    as for this guy leaving Apple... We don't know the real story. Maybe he left because he was not being allowed to work on Mail and do his job. Apple sounds like it's becoming a haven for corporate MBA BS instead being a place that makes good product (especially software; look how long it took to get RTF file support put back into Pages). Why does everyone here just presume this guy is the problem?? Have none of you worked at a corporation that had lousy leadership??
    Time to bring back Scott Forstall... or Ron Johnson?  /s
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