If you want Push notifications for your email, but you’re using Sparrow on your iPhone, you’ve been out of luck up until this point. The native Sparrow application does not support Push email at all. But don’t run out and blame the Sparrow team for the lack of Push support in their application.
From the Sparrow FAQ:
Apple provides an API that allows an app to be woken up in case of a network event meaning it is virtually connected at all times like Sparrow on the Mac. For example, VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) apps take advantages of this specific API so you can receive calls even when the app isn’t opened … This solution is the most secure because Sparrow iPhone will be directly communicating with your mail providers via secured protocols … We submitted a first version of Sparrow iPhone using this API but it was rejected.
Enter Jailbreak developers from side stage.
Sparrow Push, a jailbreak tweak released yesterday and now available on the Cydia store, gives Sparrow back its Push support. So now, instead of manually going out and retrieving your emails, you can have Sparrow Push your email to your device.
I don’t really get the hubbub over the lack of Push email in Sparrow. Sure, getting your email automatically is a nice feature, but hitting the refresh button isn’t exactly a time consuming event. Personally I have Push turned off in Mail.app because I got tired of notifications and email alerts buzzing in my pocket every couple of minutes. No offence, but your emails aren’t that important. They can wait 20 minutes until I get to them.
Sparrow Push is available for free on the Cydia store.
