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I'm the sole developer of InstaPDF (https://instapdf.com https://instapdf.com) and have been so for 4.5 years. It's a completly self funded project that I am wo
by mmackh 10y ago
I'm the sole developer of InstaPDF (https://instapdf.com https://instapdf.com) and have been so for 4.5 years. It's a completly self funded project that I am working on in my spare time. Even then, my cost do not exceed $35 a month.
However the things I've learnt during building and maintaining it have been invaluable and helped me in so many other projects.
I don't get how running a sync server or adapting the product with in-app purchases would require too much time. When it is a labour of love and you still use it every day - why shut it down? Is he going to reverse his decision once it gets all the attention with the news of it shutting down? How can it cost so much when all it does is sync text? Why not hook into CloudKit for sync?
These are questions I would much rather prefer that he addressed
- ww520 10y agoAs mentioned elsewhere, the developer left. I think we developers tend to forget how seemingly simple things to us can be real barriers for others.
- mmackh 10y agoI don't think the developer left - he's a part owner. He wrote a whole blog series about sync. Here's his latest entry about Vesper: http://inessential.com/2016/08/21/more_notes_on_vesper http://inessential.com/2016/08/21/more_notes_on_vesper With all the effort going to export - he could have added CloudKit.
- mmariani 10y agoAnd here's the link with the complete series about syncing http://inessential.com/vespersyncdiary http://inessential.com/vespersyncdiary
- markdown 10y agoOT, I'm always reluctant to sign up for products/services that hide their pricing. I looked for it on your website and found nothing. You should fix that.
- mmackh 10y agoThanks for the suggestion - I will. It's free so there's no pricing table but I'll add some information. Here's why https://instapdf.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/16000001663-why-is-instapdf-free- https://instapdf.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/16...
- markdown 10y agoThat's helpful, thanks. I have now downloaded your app.
- criddell 10y ago> Even then, my cost do not exceed $35 a month. And how about the opportunity costs of working on your project? One of the big selling points of Vesper was the design aesthetics. There's a very real cost to that in the form of license fees for fonts. So sure, they could replace the fonts with free fonts, turn off sync, and keep distributing the app. At that point it's a different product, one that they aren't proud of.