10 Mac Apps in Summer 'Name Your Own Price' Bundle and MacBook Air in Giveaway

Some pretty neat apps in this bundle!

The one app that seems worth having in there is Fantastical, and I already have it.

It's interesting how much crap in the bundle is built around the idea that you still care about your iTunes library. I'm curious how many people still do - I used to, then I was introduced to Spotify. I plain stopped buying music recordings when Spotify became free for mobile. The only time I buy music now is for tickets to see live performances.

ArtOfWarfare said:

The one app that seems worth having in there is Fantastical, and I already have it.

It's interesting how much crap in the bundle is built around the idea that you still care about your iTunes library. I'm curious how many people still do - I used to, then I was introduced to Spotify. I plain stopped buying music recordings when Spotify became free for mobile. The only time I buy music now is for tickets to see live performances.

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I am not familiar with any of these apps. But I still buy music. I still want to carry my music with me and be able to play it even when I do not have service, like on a plane. Or, as an ex DJ, when I want to play specific songs and mix them together in a specific way and do not want network issues or commercials to get in the way. If you never fly and always have perfect network access, I guess you really never need iTunes. That ain't me, and frankly even if it was, I still like to own versus rent. I own my home, don't rent. I own my car, don't lease.

Pathfinder

Of the apps featured, the one I really love is Pathfinder. To me, a mac is more or less unusable until it has pathfinder installed.

ArtOfWarfare said:

The one app that seems worth having in there is Fantastical, and I already have it.

It's interesting how much crap in the bundle is built around the idea that you still care about your iTunes library. I'm curious how many people still do - I used to, then I was introduced to Spotify. I plain stopped buying music recordings when Spotify became free for mobile. The only time I buy music now is for tickets to see live performances.

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Some of this stuff is built into iTunes too...

I still care about my iTunes library, I gave Spotify/Rdio a try, but it's not for me.

And yeah, I have Fantastical too.

I would advise people against the bundle though, a lot of these apps have updates right around the corner. Remember, we're in the path of a new OS release.

My PathFinder activation code didn't work. Mailed support - hope they sort it out soon.

Cuban Missles said:

I still like to own versus rent. I own my home, don't rent. I own my car, don't lease.

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I agree with you on all of that (although I don't own my home - I'm currently renting an apartment but plan on moving into a home once my one year at my apartment is up).

But this isn't a matter of owning versus renting. This is being able to listen to any song you want, at any time, for free (with a short ad between every 3-5 tracks) versus only being able to listen to only songs that you have purchased. Spotify offers more value (every song in their library versus every song you buy) for what most people would consider a lower price (~1 second of ad per minute of track versus ~$1 per track... it's by no means an apples to apples comparison so each individual will have to decide what the conversion rate of time spent listening to ads to dollars are).

ArtOfWarfare said:

I agree with you on all of that (although I don't own my home - I'm currently renting an apartment but plan on moving into a home once my one year at my apartment is up).

But this isn't a matter of owning versus renting. This is being able to listen to any song you want, at any time, for free (with a short ad between every 3-5 tracks) versus only being able to listen to only songs that you have purchased. Spotify offers more value (every song in their library versus every song you buy) for what most people would consider a lower price (~1 second of ad per minute of track versus ~$1 per track... it's by no means an apples to apples comparison so each individual will have to decide what the conversion rate of time spent listening to ads to dollars are).

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Even if i agreed to all you say, it would be totally worthless in an airplane unless I pay to get wifi on the plane at some ridiculous price. It would be totally worthless if you are out camping in areas where cell service is not available. It would be worthless when on a cruise. It would be worthless when traveling abroad unless you could find a free wifi hotspot. My current library is about 12,000 songs and those are available to me in any of the situations I mentioned unless my device was damaged and that would be a problem either way. I have no issues with Spotify or iTunes Radio or Pandora or any other service to explore and listen in general, but there are still too many use-cases where owning is really the only option. And if you are a professional DJ trying to mix music in a club, well forgetaboutit.

Is Gemeni any good? I could use a dupe file finder, but I'm also skeptical of many tools like this

Let's see...what's the big app most people buy it for this time... Parallels...no...Diskw...hmm

MacRumors said:

Path Finder 6 ($40)

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Aha, There it is!

Cuban Missles said:

Even if i agreed to all you say, it would be totally worthless in an airplane unless I pay to get wifi on the plane at some ridiculous price. It would be totally worthless if you are out camping in areas where cell service is not available. It would be worthless when on a cruise. It would be worthless when traveling abroad unless you could find a free wifi hotspot. My current library is about 12,000 songs and those are available to me in any of the situations I mentioned unless my device was damaged and that would be a problem either way. I have no issues with Spotify or iTunes Radio or Pandora or any other service to explore and listen in general, but there are still too many use-cases where owning is really the only option. And if you are a professional DJ trying to mix music in a club, well forgetaboutit.

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I'm pretty sure Spotify Premium lets you listen to music offline, but don't quote me on that.

Some good apps here.

I used to love the idea of Bundles and bought some years ago. But for the most part they include too many novelty type apps I really don't need. And with the MAS it is easier to find good apps at good prices.

arkmannj said:

Is Gemeni any good? I could use a dupe file finder, but I'm also skeptical of many tools like this

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I love Gemini. The great thing is that you choose which files you want to delete individually(The program also gives info on file type and file directory) or in groups, so there is no shady auto deleting like a cleaner program. It's purely manual, Gemini just does the work of finding duplicate files for you.

Cassady said:

My PathFinder activation code didn't work. Mailed support - hope they sort it out soon.

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I've bought from StackSocial in the past and never had a problem. If your code doesn't work then I'm sure they will sort it out quickly for you.

ArtOfWarfare said:

The one app that seems worth having in there is Fantastical, and I already have it.

It's interesting how much crap in the bundle is built around the idea that you still care about your iTunes library. I'm curious how many people still do - I used to, then I was introduced to Spotify. I plain stopped buying music recordings when Spotify became free for mobile. The only time I buy music now is for tickets to see live performances.

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This.
Spotify all the way.

Cuban Missles said:

Even if i agreed to all you say, it would be totally worthless in an airplane unless I pay to get wifi on the plane at some ridiculous price. It would be totally worthless if you are out camping in areas where cell service is not available. It would be worthless when on a cruise. It would be worthless when traveling abroad unless you could find a free wifi hotspot. My current library is about 12,000 songs and those are available to me in any of the situations I mentioned unless my device was damaged and that would be a problem either way. I have no issues with Spotify or iTunes Radio or Pandora or any other service to explore and listen in general, but there are still too many use-cases where owning is really the only option. And if you are a professional DJ trying to mix music in a club, well forgetaboutit.

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This whole discussion is moot anyway, since Spotify allows you to download music for offline use. I frequently use this feature while riding the subway and to save data on my favorite songs.

Also, I can't fit all my songs on my 16GB iPhone anyway.

mscriv said:

I've bought from StackSocial in the past and never had a problem. If your code doesn't work then I'm sure they will sort it out quickly for you.

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Also bought from StackSocial before - but the only support email address I could see this time(?) round, was to the individual App developers. Pretty sure it will get sorted - although it has now been several hours without even acknowledgment of the email- but will wait it out until tomorrow.

All the others worked - been playing around with with Pathfinder's trial - it looks really useful, so want to get it sorted asap.

$8 for Fantastical, PF 6 and Flux 4 - pretty good bargain, imo.

On that point - who here has used Flux? Any good? Looks decent!

Great deal imho. Apps of note are Gemini, Fantastical and Path Finder. And if you're a dev or webpage designer, the $130 price tag of Flux4 alone is a big steal in this bundle. And the fact that a percentage of the money goes to charity, for the cost of a meal, I'd be happy supporting this.

Just purchased my bundle - thanks MR

ArtOfWarfare said:

a short ad between every 3-5 tracks

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And there's your problem right there. I hate subscription TV for the same reason.

Spotify's $10/month (I presume ad-free) plan is just fine, but for the same reasons other posters have listed I'd prefer to own DRM-free, lossless-encoded, music in perpetuity rather than rent my music.

Also--how universal is Spotify's library? Does it have particular recordings of classical music? (There is a difference!) Bootlegs? Unauthorized covers? Multiple live version recordings? Crazy rare imported mixes once only on vinyl?

For the record, I have and enjoy iTunes Match (well, "90% match"). My only real gripe about iTunes Match (other than stability) is that I have more than 25,000 tracks, so iTunes sees only a subset of my library. Apple throws in iTunes Radio ad-free, but that's not really why I subscribe.

If Spotify were $25/year, like iTunes Match, I'd probably subscribe. At $120/year it's more than I want to pay.

Something tells me after the Beats acquisition, Apple will improve their subscription offerings.