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This won't help one bit. Seriously: Why do developers like those from Sketch drop the Mac App Store? Here's why: https://techcrunch.com/2015/12/01/another-pop

This won't help one bit. Seriously: Why do developers like those from Sketch drop the Mac App Store? Here's why: https://techcrunch.com/2015/12/01/another-popular-app-leaves-the-mac-app-store/ https://techcrunch.com/2015/12/01/another-popular-app-leaves... http://blog.wilshipley.com/2012/03/mac-app-store-needs-paid-upgrades.html http://blog.wilshipley.com/2012/03/mac-app-store-needs-paid-... https://www.dancounsell.com/a-wish-list-for-the-mac-app-store/ https://www.dancounsell.com/a-wish-list-for-the-mac-app-stor... https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/developers-keep-leaving-mac-app-store/ https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/developers-keep-leaving-mac-ap...

Razengan 9y ago
Speaking as a user, many developers are, pardon my French, shit, and will take every mile for any inch given to them. Look at the iOS App Store after Apple introduced subscriptions: Even the most inane apps are now asking for monthly and yearly subscriptions. Like, what is even the point of, say, a text editor having a monthly subscription? “To justify development costs”, they write elaborate blogs about. Even though they used to be perfectly fine with a pay-once model for years before. Even though everyone was perfectly happy with buying an incrementally-numbered “Text Editor N” every year, IF they needed to. Some (like Day One I think) try to justify it by charging for features that Apple can provide for free, like iCloud Sync, and reinventing that wheel with their own paid solutions for that. As a user I was happier with the weekly blog whining about Apple’s draconian walled garden, compared to this subscription-infested market now.
- prawn 9y ago
  People expect updates once they've purchased an app for a few bucks. They tend not to pay more, and developers who release v2 and v3 as completely separate apps are often criticised. Not to mention, export/importing data can be a new issue across apps. An upgrade could be released as an IAP, but asking for more once you've released a paid app is risky also. I tend to avoid subscription software too, but I can fully understand why developers lean towards it as a way of getting a strong return and justifying further development, taking on staff for support, etc. If the app isn't up to it, then consumers can find an alternative that can scrape by with a single price, right?
  - Razengan 9y ago
    Pay-once apps compete with each other for my wallet only once. I can purchase them all over a given period of time. Subscription-based apps constantly compete with EVERYTHING else that I have to pay for every month. If I’m already subscribing to many apps, it reduces the chances of me subscribing to your app, even if it does not directly compete with those apps in the same category. i.e. photo-editing apps start competing with text-editing apps and games and music apps, perpetually, if they all switch to a subscription model. How is that sane? If my monthly budget needs some breathing room and I [temporarily] cancel a subscription, I lose features or even access to my existing data. It doesn’t matter how long I had been paying for, not even if I had been a subscriber for years before cancelling. If developers demand a subscription model then users should demand a “loyalty” perk, where you get to retain access to an app for N weeks after cancelling if you had previously subscribed for X months. Also, you’d think that with the total number of computing users increasing for all platforms across the world, the overall sales of apps, or at least the potential buyers to market to, must be increasing as well, compared to when we didn’t even have subscriptions in the App Store.
    - checker659 9y ago
      Oh, ok. So, if your health insurance expires, you're still going to go ask for coverage, because your insurance only expired two weeks back and you were on it for the last 5 years?
      - sooheon 9y ago
        Try your best to step back and appreciate the differences between healthcare coverage and apps.
    - prawn 9y ago
      "Also, you’d think that with the total number of computing users increasing for all platforms across the world..." A certain percentage of those computing users are developers creating new apps. It's hyper-competitive. If you can get a subscription product off the ground, you can double down on the product and support and get some advantages over small-time developers struggling along still servicing a userbase that paid a couple of bucks, one time, years ago. (For the record, none of our apps are subscription based. I'm just saying I can completely understand the appeal from the developers' side.)

Razengan 9y ago

Speaking as a user, many developers are, pardon my French, shit, and will take every mile for any inch given to them. Look at the iOS App Store after Apple introduced subscriptions: Even the most inane apps are now asking for monthly and yearly subscriptions. Like, what is even the point of, say, a text editor having a monthly subscription? “To justify development costs”, they write elaborate blogs about. Even though they used to be perfectly fine with a pay-once model for years before. Even though everyone was perfectly happy with buying an incrementally-numbered “Text Editor N” every year, IF they needed to. Some (like Day One I think) try to justify it by charging for features that Apple can provide for free, like iCloud Sync, and reinventing that wheel with their own paid solutions for that. As a user I was happier with the weekly blog whining about Apple’s draconian walled garden, compared to this subscription-infested market now.

prawn 9y ago
People expect updates once they've purchased an app for a few bucks. They tend not to pay more, and developers who release v2 and v3 as completely separate apps are often criticised. Not to mention, export/importing data can be a new issue across apps. An upgrade could be released as an IAP, but asking for more once you've released a paid app is risky also. I tend to avoid subscription software too, but I can fully understand why developers lean towards it as a way of getting a strong return and justifying further development, taking on staff for support, etc. If the app isn't up to it, then consumers can find an alternative that can scrape by with a single price, right?
- Razengan 9y ago
  Pay-once apps compete with each other for my wallet only once. I can purchase them all over a given period of time. Subscription-based apps constantly compete with EVERYTHING else that I have to pay for every month. If I’m already subscribing to many apps, it reduces the chances of me subscribing to your app, even if it does not directly compete with those apps in the same category. i.e. photo-editing apps start competing with text-editing apps and games and music apps, perpetually, if they all switch to a subscription model. How is that sane? If my monthly budget needs some breathing room and I [temporarily] cancel a subscription, I lose features or even access to my existing data. It doesn’t matter how long I had been paying for, not even if I had been a subscriber for years before cancelling. If developers demand a subscription model then users should demand a “loyalty” perk, where you get to retain access to an app for N weeks after cancelling if you had previously subscribed for X months. Also, you’d think that with the total number of computing users increasing for all platforms across the world, the overall sales of apps, or at least the potential buyers to market to, must be increasing as well, compared to when we didn’t even have subscriptions in the App Store.
  - checker659 9y ago
    Oh, ok. So, if your health insurance expires, you're still going to go ask for coverage, because your insurance only expired two weeks back and you were on it for the last 5 years?
    - sooheon 9y ago
      Try your best to step back and appreciate the differences between healthcare coverage and apps.
  - prawn 9y ago
    "Also, you’d think that with the total number of computing users increasing for all platforms across the world..." A certain percentage of those computing users are developers creating new apps. It's hyper-competitive. If you can get a subscription product off the ground, you can double down on the product and support and get some advantages over small-time developers struggling along still servicing a userbase that paid a couple of bucks, one time, years ago. (For the record, none of our apps are subscription based. I'm just saying I can completely understand the appeal from the developers' side.)