this post was submitted on 20 Aug 2023
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Not looking for a server as I use fastmail currently but a client would be nice. I am currently using spark on iOS and Mac OS and just fastmail website on my Linux desktop. I’m realizing spark is nothing special and would rather not renew my subscription.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (14 children)

I hope you're aware that Spark is not a normal email client. They store your emails and your email login credentials on their servers, snoop on your emails and share their findings with Google Analytics, Facebook and Amplitude. I hope you ditch them ASAP.

Not sure what kind of app you're asking for, webmail app, desktop app or mobile app?

Just to clarify, email clients don't work the way Spark does, you don't install it on a server and connect to it with an app. An email client is a standalone app that connects directly to your email provider with nothing else in-between.

An email client can be a web app, which is hosted on a webserver, but then you can and should use the one already offered by your email provider, which is Fastmail, not a third-party like Spark.

So what's the difference between the webmail offered by Fastmail, Spark, and an independent web app like Round Cube?

  • A web app like RoundCube is a tool that can be used to get and send your email. Being a web app it is served from a server, but the app runs in your browser. Your emails and login are not stored on the server that holds the web app, that server's job is just to hold the app. Once you load the web app on your device (PC or phone) it must only talk to your email provider. Emails must be stored either on your device or on the provider server, never on the server that holds the web app.
  • Spark breaks that rule. They offer a web app as well as mobile app etc. but emails she logins good through their server and then to your provider. They're essentially an intermediary who controls and snoops on your email.
  • Fastmail is your provider, they already have your email and your credentials. They also provide a web app as a convenience. In this case the web app comes from the same place that holds your emails, but only because this is your provider. Nobody else should get between you and your email.
[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Thank you for great information! Yeah I let spark sucker me into their nice apps when I was using Gmail. I’ve since “degoogled” myself as well as removed my reliance on majority iCloud services with my own cloud services. So abandoning spark and changing my info should suffice. So yeah I am ditching them asap.

I wasn’t sure if there was a client like roundcube which I’m looking into now, that works and looks good both on desktop and mobile. I do understand now that might not be a 1 app solution. Roundcube could be a good webmail for desktop and mobile but I’d likely want an official desktop and mobile app that isn’t spark and doesn’t store my info. I’ll take a look at the other 2 you mentioned in your other comment.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

The other two are also webmails. If you're looking for native apps:

  • For Windows and Linux: Mozilla Thunderbird is excellent and also supports syncing address book and calendar to the email server.
  • For Android: Fair Email and K-9 Mail.
  • For iOS: use the builtin email app.
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