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I’ve abandoned many apps because of subscription push. Subscriptions are somewhat like credit cards. I wonder if people realize the monthly increase in prices t

I’ve abandoned many apps because of subscription push. Subscriptions are somewhat like credit cards. I wonder if people realize the monthly increase in prices to their bills is like signing up for cable back in the day. Sometimes the simplest app having a subscription seems like pure greed from the developer. The excuses are generally that of increase in development costs. But maybe that is equivalent to increasing the cost of development like increasing the cost of living when there is extra money coming in.

chihuahua 5y ago
Yeah I decided a long time ago that I'm not playing that game, adding subscriptions for all kinds of things. The only recurring charge I pay for is Amazon Prime, because I don't want to think about shipping costs and I like Prime Video (replaces Netflix) and Fresh (free grocery delivery, no need for Instacart) Other than that, anything that requires a subscription, I can do without. I've bought one mobile app in my life: Backcountry Navigator. It lets me download detailed maps for hiking and then use them where there's no cellphone towers. The free version was good enough, but it was so useful that it felt better to pay the developer his $7 for lifetime usage (no recurring charge)
- pedalpete 5y ago
  I hadn't heard of Backcountry Navigator before. Just looked at their website which states "some maps require an additional subscription." you maybe you got in on the app before they moved to subscription?
  - chihuahua 5y ago
    It's true that I bought it about 5 years ago and things may have changed since then. But I think the sentence you're quoting is referring to the following: BC Navigator allows you to download maps for offline use from a variety of sources. Most of these sources are free (e.g. Open Cycle Map [related to OpenStreetMap], US Forest Service, etc) and some require a paid account with the map provider (e.g. CalTopo). So if you want to use the CalTopo maps, you need to pay CalTopo. But it's perfectly fine with the free maps. The UI used to be pretty difficult to figure out. After a year I got used to it and it's fine. But they released a new version for iPhone which is supposedly quite different from the early Android version, and they claim they put more effort into making it easier to use. Another thing that's very useful about BC Navigator is that you can easily import GPX tracks (e.g. planned routes) and overlay them on the map in different colors. So you can have your main route for the day, and maybe some alternate routes for a section where you're not sure if the original route is going to work out. You can keep an entire library of routes in the app, and select which ones you want to show that day. It's just a perfect app for what I love to do - mountain biking in places where few people go.
    - matkoniecz 5y ago
      > Open Cycle Map [related to OpenStreetMap] To be more specific https://www.opencyclemap.org/ https://www.opencyclemap.org/ is generated from OpenStreetMap data and some terrain data, likely SRTM.
- cudgy 5y ago
  Why should app developers even care about the opinions of non-paying customers like yourself that never buy apps? It’s obviously not sustainable.
  - chihuahua 5y ago
    That is correct, they should not care about my opinion on this subject. I'm happy that I can get by without paying for monthly subscriptions. I am also happy if there are lots of other people who find enough value in these services to make it worth paying for.
jolux 5y ago
Why do people always call this greed? Folks need to eat, and I don’t think it’s wrong to want to be able to support a living writing software. Developers should price their software as they see fit, it’s a reflection of their business decisions, not their personal vices. You don’t have to pay them for it if you don’t want to. That’s the way capitalism has always worked, people are looking out for their rational self-interest.
- LocalH 5y ago
  I don't think that taking something that was once "pay once and get a perpetual license to that specific version" and turning it into "pay $X per month or lose access to the software" is a good thing when it becomes the dominant form of software access. It's fine for that to be an option, but not as the only way.
  - jolux 5y ago
    I mostly agree, I think the JetBrains model where your subscription also buys a perpetual license to the last year you paid for is the best (I’m a happy customer of their all products subscription). But Apple hasn’t made that model easy in the App Store.

chihuahua 5y ago

Yeah I decided a long time ago that I'm not playing that game, adding subscriptions for all kinds of things. The only recurring charge I pay for is Amazon Prime, because I don't want to think about shipping costs and I like Prime Video (replaces Netflix) and Fresh (free grocery delivery, no need for Instacart) Other than that, anything that requires a subscription, I can do without. I've bought one mobile app in my life: Backcountry Navigator. It lets me download detailed maps for hiking and then use them where there's no cellphone towers. The free version was good enough, but it was so useful that it felt better to pay the developer his $7 for lifetime usage (no recurring charge)

pedalpete 5y ago
I hadn't heard of Backcountry Navigator before. Just looked at their website which states "some maps require an additional subscription." you maybe you got in on the app before they moved to subscription?
- chihuahua 5y ago
  It's true that I bought it about 5 years ago and things may have changed since then. But I think the sentence you're quoting is referring to the following: BC Navigator allows you to download maps for offline use from a variety of sources. Most of these sources are free (e.g. Open Cycle Map [related to OpenStreetMap], US Forest Service, etc) and some require a paid account with the map provider (e.g. CalTopo). So if you want to use the CalTopo maps, you need to pay CalTopo. But it's perfectly fine with the free maps. The UI used to be pretty difficult to figure out. After a year I got used to it and it's fine. But they released a new version for iPhone which is supposedly quite different from the early Android version, and they claim they put more effort into making it easier to use. Another thing that's very useful about BC Navigator is that you can easily import GPX tracks (e.g. planned routes) and overlay them on the map in different colors. So you can have your main route for the day, and maybe some alternate routes for a section where you're not sure if the original route is going to work out. You can keep an entire library of routes in the app, and select which ones you want to show that day. It's just a perfect app for what I love to do - mountain biking in places where few people go.
  - matkoniecz 5y ago
    > Open Cycle Map [related to OpenStreetMap] To be more specific https://www.opencyclemap.org/ https://www.opencyclemap.org/ is generated from OpenStreetMap data and some terrain data, likely SRTM.
cudgy 5y ago
Why should app developers even care about the opinions of non-paying customers like yourself that never buy apps? It’s obviously not sustainable.
- chihuahua 5y ago
  That is correct, they should not care about my opinion on this subject. I'm happy that I can get by without paying for monthly subscriptions. I am also happy if there are lots of other people who find enough value in these services to make it worth paying for.

jolux 5y ago

Why do people always call this greed? Folks need to eat, and I don’t think it’s wrong to want to be able to support a living writing software. Developers should price their software as they see fit, it’s a reflection of their business decisions, not their personal vices. You don’t have to pay them for it if you don’t want to. That’s the way capitalism has always worked, people are looking out for their rational self-interest.

LocalH 5y ago
I don't think that taking something that was once "pay once and get a perpetual license to that specific version" and turning it into "pay $X per month or lose access to the software" is a good thing when it becomes the dominant form of software access. It's fine for that to be an option, but not as the only way.
- jolux 5y ago
  I mostly agree, I think the JetBrains model where your subscription also buys a perpetual license to the last year you paid for is the best (I’m a happy customer of their all products subscription). But Apple hasn’t made that model easy in the App Store.