In Sparrow 1.2, we added a lot of new features but also made sure that hard core minimalists and shortcuts lovers could keep a streamlined Sparrow.

Here is how to keep it minimal: 

Go into Sparrow Preferences and you’ll have all the option you need:

• ‘Hide pictures’ will allow you to hide avatars in the message list
• We’ve added an option to 'hide the selection bar in the inbox’
• You can also hide the unified inbox avatar if you like