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This is just the reality of iOS software development, the amount of work required to keep it working on newer versions of iOS costs more than the initial purcha

This is just the reality of iOS software development, the amount of work required to keep it working on newer versions of iOS costs more than the initial purchase from the users who then get a perpetual licence. Only routes to sustainability is this ship new version, support it for a few months then start working on a new version that will be another purchase, or well you know subscription which I'm sure we all agree is the less preferred of the two.

huhtenberg 6y ago
> the amount of work required to keep it working on newer versions of iOS costs more than ... My educated guess would that this is simply not true. It's a convenient excuse, but a bullshit one. Either covering up engineering incompetence or the good old desire to sell the same thing more than once. And that's even if Prompt weren't a relatively expensive app with a large user base. In any case, this is not my problem as their client. My fairly basic assumption is that what they sell will last a reasonable amount of time and it's entirely their headache to work out the details behind that.
- whywhywhywhy 6y ago
  It’s not engineering incompetence when the floor is constantly changing under your feet. How many apps coded 5 years ago even run on modern iOS. Apple expects engineers to ship at least one new version a year and don’t care about backwards compatibility. Have a ton of apps on my phone that no longer launch for various reasons. Not saying I endorse it or agree with it. Just saying this is the world Apple built and don’t intend to change.
  - MAGZine 6y ago
    I don't know why you're excusing their behavior. Apps on Android and windows run regardless of how many years ago they were written with very few exceptions. Let's call a duck a duck: Apple choose this right because it was easier and made them more money, at the expense of their users. It's a fact. It just is.
  - huhtenberg 6y ago
    I am not saying that iOS doesn't change in a breaking way. That's given. I am saying that the upkeep is not as expensive as you said it was. I've lived through the W10 launch and that was a fucking dumpster fire. Still, adapting to whatever Microsoft broke with their brand new "update" wasn't that difficult even though these were genuine surprises. Things. Just. Broke. In comparison iOS changes are announced well in advance and they aren't too drastic. So while you can't compile an iOS app today and expect it to work in few years, keeping it updated is not that hard or time-consuming. Unless the code is a mess to begin with.
hinkley 6y ago
I know a guy who works on a team that makes productivity apps for iOS, and there is a coupon system, but not many people use it (logistically it sounded a bit tricky). There are ways to let someone upgrade to the new version for less than retail price, but you just don’t hear if that many people doing it. Or maybe we don’t hear because so many apps are made by very small companies, or as a loss leader for other services. And maybe the latter should give them/us pause.

huhtenberg 6y ago

> the amount of work required to keep it working on newer versions of iOS costs more than ... My educated guess would that this is simply not true. It's a convenient excuse, but a bullshit one. Either covering up engineering incompetence or the good old desire to sell the same thing more than once. And that's even if Prompt weren't a relatively expensive app with a large user base. In any case, this is not my problem as their client. My fairly basic assumption is that what they sell will last a reasonable amount of time and it's entirely their headache to work out the details behind that.

whywhywhywhy 6y ago
It’s not engineering incompetence when the floor is constantly changing under your feet. How many apps coded 5 years ago even run on modern iOS. Apple expects engineers to ship at least one new version a year and don’t care about backwards compatibility. Have a ton of apps on my phone that no longer launch for various reasons. Not saying I endorse it or agree with it. Just saying this is the world Apple built and don’t intend to change.
- MAGZine 6y ago
  I don't know why you're excusing their behavior. Apps on Android and windows run regardless of how many years ago they were written with very few exceptions. Let's call a duck a duck: Apple choose this right because it was easier and made them more money, at the expense of their users. It's a fact. It just is.
- huhtenberg 6y ago
  I am not saying that iOS doesn't change in a breaking way. That's given. I am saying that the upkeep is not as expensive as you said it was. I've lived through the W10 launch and that was a fucking dumpster fire. Still, adapting to whatever Microsoft broke with their brand new "update" wasn't that difficult even though these were genuine surprises. Things. Just. Broke. In comparison iOS changes are announced well in advance and they aren't too drastic. So while you can't compile an iOS app today and expect it to work in few years, keeping it updated is not that hard or time-consuming. Unless the code is a mess to begin with.

hinkley 6y ago

I know a guy who works on a team that makes productivity apps for iOS, and there is a coupon system, but not many people use it (logistically it sounded a bit tricky). There are ways to let someone upgrade to the new version for less than retail price, but you just don’t hear if that many people doing it. Or maybe we don’t hear because so many apps are made by very small companies, or as a loss leader for other services. And maybe the latter should give them/us pause.