Apple Discontinues Free Trials of Aperture and iWork

To date, none of Apple's apps in Mac App Store (and iOS App Store) had received a major upgrade. I presume a major update to at least some of the apps is coming. So my questions are:

• Is Apple going to charge full retail price for major version upgrade?
• If so, any grace period for recent purchases (and how that would affect third party vendors)?
• Or is Apple going to give away all of their major upgrades for free?
• Is Apple going to introduce upgrade pricing model for Mac App Store (and iOS App Store)?
• Is Apple going to introduce trial period for paid apps?

I am on the fence from purchasing aging apps like iWork suites until some of these questions get answered.

nutmac said:

[*]Is Apple going to charge full retail price for major version upgrade?

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That's what it looks like.

nutmac said:

[*]If so, any grace period for recent purchases (and how that would affect third party vendors)?

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We don't know for sure, but Apple has done stuff like this in the past. I wouldn't gamble on it, though.

nutmac said:

[*]Is Apple going to introduce upgrade pricing model for Mac App Store (and iOS App Store)?

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I think you have your answer in Aperture changing from $200 to $80 and Final Cut changing from a $1200 suite to a $300 single program.

That's Apple's new upgrade plan...just spreading the cost out over all versions instead of front-loading the major cost onto the first version you buy.

princigalli said:

In fact this might be a signal. I saw what happened to FCP and I am very nervous about being an Aperture user. I still like Aperture very much but I can't trust them. I might have to get used to Lightroom or Capture One. They both have trials.

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LOL

You saw Final Cut Pro finally move to a modern codebase. Aperture doesn't have as much to travel as Final Cut Pro 1-7 did. Relax

iWork in particular is something that new Mac users are wary of switching to because Microsoft Office is so ubiquitous, so it doesn't seem like a good idea.

Perhaps they need a lite version with in-app purchase?

HarryKeogh said:

When I downloaded Aperture I didn't use the free trial link so paid full price for it. When I realized it was more software then I needed I sent Apple a message that I would like to discontinue the trial. They then told me "dummy, you didn't buy it through the trial but we'll give you a one-time credit to cover the cost."

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I tried Aperture, completely failed to figure out how it worked, couldn't get a halfway reasonable print to save my life. Fired up Lighroom and found it rather more sensible. I suspect that Apple's slashing of Aperture's price is an attempt to get market share.

swingerofbirch said:

I really wish the App Stores had trials. I hate to be cynical, but I wonder if they don't want versions to have trial-to-buy functionality because it could nearly halve the number of apps they say they have in the store, with many being duplicates (a free/lite version and a paid version). The current model is certainly not intuitive, and having fewer apps would actually make the store easier to navigate. Right now it's like the WWW before Google indexed it.

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Yeh that, and you'll be more likely to buy the Apple branded software for your Apple device. And once you've invested into one software because it didn't have a trial and you had no choice, there is a large chance you aren't about to go and invest more time and money elsewhere.

wow. I was just in time downloading it last week!

But I was wondering (as I have iWork'08), when is iWork or so '12 arriving... because I don't see any mayor differences with '09.

is there any news on the new iWork version which is overdue to be released?

Small White Car said:

While the lack of trials is bad, I feel like it's less like flash on iOS (a hard line they etched out) as it is more like copy and paste on iOS (something they'll do, but want to take their sweet time to make sure they do it perfectly).

So while I don't like the current state of affairs it doesn't particularly worry me all that much.



What "happened to FCP" is that they made it a hell of a lot more like Aperture.

So since you already like Aperture, I'm not sure what the problem is.

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That FCP is a very bad "iMovie pro". I don't want to see Apple turn Aperture into an "iMovie pro" concentrating more on Titter sharing than proper rendering of RAW files and handling of professional features.

Skin of my teeth

Wow, I just downloaded iWork '09 a week ago to try out Keynote. Otherwise, I probably would have used my old copy of Keynote from iWork '05 (or maybe it was even '04) or use PowerPoint.

*LTD* said:

iWork gets regular updates, some notable ones occurred with the release of Lion.

Upgrades to new versions, however, are less frequent. We'd *like" an iWork (particularly Pages) update, but it isn't drastically necessary at the moment. There is nothing dated or long-in-the tooth about, say, Pages. It in fact does what it's supposed to do spectacularly well and has gotten excellent reception even now, considering the last major upgrade was in 2009.

That being said, I'd certainly be quite happy with a new Pages, for instance, that hopefully adopts some features found in Mellel. But I'm not exactly clamoring for them. Perhaps others are, though.

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Have you tried editing equations in Office? Yes, Pages is dated.

I'd love an iWork update. It's been rumoured to be right around the corner for years (at least before the MAS even existed).

It would be nice to see an update for iWork. Hasn't been seeing a lot of love lately...

nutmac said:

To date, none of Apple's apps in Mac App Store (and iOS App Store) had received a major upgrade. I presume a major update to at least some of the apps is coming. So my questions are:

• Is Apple going to charge full retail price for major version upgrade?
• If so, any grace period for recent purchases (and how that would affect third party vendors)?
• Or is Apple going to give away all of their major upgrades for free?
• Is Apple going to introduce upgrade pricing model for Mac App Store (and iOS App Store)?
• Is Apple going to introduce trial period for paid apps?

I am on the fence from purchasing aging apps like iWork suites until some of these questions get answered.

Click to expand...

Developers have had these issues for ages. I'm glad they're starting to affect Apple, too. Maybe we'll see answers to some of these.

Mr. Retrofire said:

Apple is way too big. Another USDOJ investigation would not suprise me.

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If you don't like it, you can always get the free trial of MS Office.

aurichie said:

Consumers don't want complicated and messy trials cluttering their Macs. They just want great software that is easy to use and setup. Consumers are already assured Apple makes the best software, and with the App Store there's no easier or more affordable way to put the most powerful applications such as Aperture and iWork suite to work.

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Copy and paste from an Apple PR text?

Sounds like consumers are too stupid to operate even an iPad, let alone a computer. Most of them are even too stupid not to miss the toilet when they pee.

Mr. Retrofire said:

Apple abandoned consistency & user friendly manners.

Apple is way too big. Another USDOJ investigation would not suprise me.

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LOL

An investigation into what? Into some of their users' massive sense of entitlement?

Yeah, I'd kinda like to know how *that* got so big, too. Probably from being spoiled by Apple all these years.

WardC said:

And this is news? Why???

Apple stock is down $21.04 today, that is news.

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Apple stock usually takes a dive a week or so before quarterly reports are issued. Now's your opportunity to buy befor it starts heading North again.

Apple, you're loosing me

I recently bought my first Apple product (the new iPad). It seems that I will not be buying iWorks if I can't try it first. No free trial, no refunds? Really?

Actually, I find the applications purchasing much less, how shall I say it.... confidence inspiring than the way it's handled on my Android device (24 hour return policy, no questions asked). With Apple, I am limited to claims by the vendors, and a few reviews by folk whose opinions I cannot trust. In the end it just ends up being money spent in good faith with no means of getting it back if the app is not right - not the way to encourage repeat business in my book.

It's hard to believe this is the accepted system of doing business.

I am thinking of purchasing my first iMac but may have to reconsider.

eyebex said:

I recently bought my first Apple product (the new iPad). It seems that I will not be buying iWorks if I can't try it first. No free trial, no refunds? Really?

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You never could. They never had trials for the iOS versions. Probably never will.

nutmac said:

To date, none of Apple's apps in Mac App Store (and iOS App Store) had received a major upgrade. I presume a major update to at least some of the apps is coming. So my questions are:

• Is Apple going to charge full retail price for major version upgrade?
• If so, any grace period for recent purchases (and how that would affect third party vendors)?
• Or is Apple going to give away all of their major upgrades for free?
• Is Apple going to introduce upgrade pricing model for Mac App Store (and iOS App Store)?
• Is Apple going to introduce trial period for paid apps?

I am on the fence from purchasing aging apps like iWork suites until some of these questions get answered.

Click to expand...

I purchased the boxed set of iWorx aome time ago. I'll buy the next upgrade from the App Store since I feel it's worth the added convenience. Apple application pricing sure beets the heck out of MS an Adobe.

eyebex said:

I am thinking of purchasing my first iMac but may have to reconsider.

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Based on what? iMacs don't run iOS so you're free to go to multiple vendors and see if they make trial software. Even on iOS some developers offer "lite" versions so you can get a sense for how the application runs.

I'm not in favor of automatic refund like you mention with Android. It opens the door to "renting" applications. The consumer needs to do proper legwork as well to figure out if an application will meet their needs. Both parties bear some responsibility in the transaction.

clukas said:

is there any news on the new iWork version which is overdue to be released?

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This is what I want to know. I haven't purchased iWork '09 since April '10 because I thought they were going to come out something that summer. Two years later now, I'm still waiting for them to just get rid of the '09 name at least... Because I know that a month after I buy it, that they will come out with the new version.

I am not a huge fan of the MAS. I find the whole idea of downloading files as the primary purchase stream odd and dysfunctional. Having separate prices for digital download and shipped disk is a means to complete this. How are we to buy software from our local stores if the only option is to download them from the MAC? This is going to hurt a lot of third party sellers.

I travel in many regions of the world where internet is but a dream. At those times the DVD and CD disk become very important to reinstall a program or OS.

Christopher

nuckinfutz said:

Based on what? iMacs don't run iOS so you're free to go to multiple vendors and see if they make trial software. Even on iOS some developers offer "lite" versions so you can get a sense for how the application runs.

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based on the misguided direction this move seems to indicate Apple is heading

The consumer needs to do proper legwork as well to figure out if an application will meet their needs. Both parties bear some responsibility in the transaction.

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Preventing me from trying the software is essentially severing a major way of my ability to do my homework.

Also, the cheap apps (<$20 say) do not warrant the time investment needed to research it. Best to let me try it and return it if I don't like it.

"Apple discontinues free trials of ancient software." I hope this also means they will have updates soon.