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Adobe Lightroom Returns to the Mac App Store

MacPDiddy said:
Too many decent alternatives for less and without a subscription. Adobe isn't getting any more of my business, including ditching Acrobat in favor of PDF Expert.

Why people stick with Lightroom is beyond me - perhaps just laziness to identify an alternative.
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Agree. Perhaps for professionals this is no big deal. But EVERYTHING is subscription based now. From media consumption to content creation. And all these subscriptions add up! I can understand it makes sense for media consumption apps like netflix, but for my content creation apps, i much prefer a one time payment. I have dozens and dozens of content creation apps, and if they were all monthly subscription based, it would get out of hand. Case in point, most gif creation apps are subscription based now which is really annoying. $10 or more a month for a gif creation app? Come on.
 
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SoyCapitanSoyCapitan said:
We pay less for software than we ever have done. We pay less for watching movies than we ever have done. Be a little grateful in life.

BTW, you don't own software you pay for once. You only pay for a license to use it. not ownership. That license doesn't give you perpetual rights to bug fixes and updates.
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Yeah, I don't subscribe to this construct. Software and movies SHOULD be cheaper today. There is no cost post development of content, and it still has to compete with every movie and software made prior.

Many people never agreed to trade their rights for the potential for updates. Why? Because these software companies have shown over and over that they don't fix issues unless it directly results in increased profits. Fixing and issue by releasing a new version is criminal. If a car crashed every time the left blinker and radio were on at the same time then their lawyers would be working triple time. Sofware companies don't get a pass on making a defective product just because there is less risk associated with product failure.

Also, I own the software so much as I retain the rights to sell it or use it as I see fit. Subscriptions seek to revoke that right via artificial means.

I have no reason to be grateful to a company for selling me their wares. They should be grateful I considered them.
 
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Greenmeenie said:
Agree. Perhaps for professionals this is no big deal. But EVERYTHING is subscription based now. From media consumption to content creation. And all these subscriptions add up! I can understand it makes sense for media consumption apps like netflix, but for my content creation apps, i much prefer a one time payment. I have dozens and dozens of content creation apps, and if they were all monthly subscription based, it would get out of hand. Case in point, most gif creation apps are subscription based now which is really annoying. $10 or more a month for a gif creation app? Come on.
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I'd love to take you back to when we paid $1500 every year for one Adobe app or $250 for Microsoft Word. I remember $10,000 for Maya. $2500 for Lightwave. $5000 for 3D Studio basic version. $129 for Mac OS. $250 for Windows.

If you factor in inflation those prices would be even more massive today, but instead you are paying MUCH less.

If you want lower prices you need subscriptions. It's the only way to beat piracy that hurts all paid users and avoid malware. If you're a pro user you chalk it up as expense. If you're not chalking it up as an expense you're not a pro user and you don't know anything about accounting. Go use something cheaper in that case.
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4jasontv said:
Yeah, I don't subscribe to this construct. Software and movies SHOULD be cheaper today.

I have no reason to be grateful to a company for selling me their wares. They should be grateful I considered them.
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OH ok. So write your own software if you're not grateful for all the hard work people do for you.
 
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BasicGreatGuy said:
I am not against subscriptions. I have a few. In this case, I wouldn’t use the product enough to warrant the $10 monthly fee. I think Adobe should offer an alternative.
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I see lightroom as an accessory for illustrator and photoshop. So I agree it isn't worth $10 a month, but I also question it's value at $150 one time. I would likely pay $50 to get it without cloud services.
 
MacPDiddy said:
Too many decent alternatives for less and without a subscription. Adobe isn't getting any more of my business, including ditching Acrobat in favor of PDF Expert.

Why people stick with Lightroom is beyond me - perhaps just laziness to identify an alternative.
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What are some good alternatives?
 
At first glance, this seems like a good thing... especially since family sharing lets you run LR on up to 6 Macs... But, this price for just Lightroom (cloud version requiring decent internet service - which I don't have) is the same as the Adobe Photography Plan that includes Lightroom Classic (desktop app), Photoshop CC as well as this cloud based Lightroom.

So, for people in the Adobe ecosystem (after Apple killed off Aperture), the Adobe CC Photography plan at 9.99/month is a better deal. (For those that recommend Affinity Photo etc... yes, for certain levels of photographer those apps are fine...but Lightroom Classic has organizational and nondestructive features not present elsewhere. If I'm wrong, I'd like to hear about the alternatives.)

Karl

PS. Totally agree with everyone's comments on the annoying always running Adobe Creative Cloud applet and the awful update / uninstall / etc processes vs App Store updates (including download caching/sharing on Mojave and later).
 
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SoyCapitanSoyCapitan said:
I'd love to take you back to when we paid $1500 every year for one Adobe app or $250 for Microsoft Word. I remember $10,000 for Maya. $2500 for Lightwave. $5000 for 3D Studio basic version. $129 for Mac OS. $250 for Windows.

If you factor in inflation those prices would be even more massive today, but instead you are paying MUCH less.

If you want lower prices you need subscriptions. It's the only way to beat piracy that hurts all paid users and avoid malware. If you're a pro user you chalk it up as expense. If you're not chalking it up as an expense you're not a pro user and you don't know anything about accounting. Go use something cheaper in that case.
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OH ok. So write your own software if you're not grateful for all the hard work people do for you.
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I was there. We didn't pay $1500 every year for one app. Some bundles cost that much (and others more) but you could upgrade suites of core apps for about $500. Still, we skipped releases if the added features didn't translate to revenue. Cost of entry has gone down, but we are paying far more by maying monthly than we ever did. I could use a program like lightroom for 3 or 4 years without needing an update. That's $480 vs $150.

Windows still costs $200 retail. MacOS is "free" because the cost of updates is now baked into hardware. For what it's worth, MacOS and Windows were about the same cost, the difference was Apple had a habit of updating the OS yearly while Microsoft updated every two years.

Subscriptions increase the longe term costs of using the software.

Again, I am not going to be grateful for someone selling me something. Work should be hard. That's why it's called work. But the price increase due to subscriptions isn't a reflection of more work but rather more marketing.

Oh, and subscriptions don't go on clearance. You can't even wait for a new release and buy last years version. Another reason the subscription model hurts customers.
 
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BraiCrai said:
I got the subscription via an in-app purchase on the iOS App Store through my iPad Pro. That one doesn't also cover the Mac App Store subscription. I guess you subscribed to Adobe through their web store? Instead of going through Apple?
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ah yep. In app purchase will get you Lightroom CC plan. I got mine via adobe that covers Classic and CC with 20gb cloud space. I also buy discounted one year plans and just top my account off with them.
 
macduke said:
Don't get too excited, folks. This is just Lightroom CC—not the real deal. Not Lightroom Classic.
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Assuming the App Store version is only the CC version, I'll stay with the Adobe sub. I've been using LR since the beta. The Classic UI is almost second nature. I really don't like the CC UI.
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4jasontv said:
Also, I own the software so much as I retain the rights to sell it or use it as I see fit. Subscriptions seek to revoke that right via artificial means.
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Read your license agreements. Odds are nearly 100% that you don't own anything and don't have any right to sell it or use it in any way that contravenes your license terms.
 
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MacPDiddy said:
Why people stick with Lightroom is beyond me - perhaps just laziness to identify an alternative.
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Or perhaps it's because there is no other product out there that does everything Lightroom does or Adobe's ecosystem provides. I'm talking things like having great DAM and syncing across multiple devices and multiple platforms with desktop, iOS, and web based access.

Yes, I'm a subscriber and pay annually for mine. I have no issue supporting them as they are constantly working on updates and new features. Plus, I just like Lightroom overall.

You're comment assumes people are wanting an alternative.
 
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kalex said:
ah yep. In app purchase will get you Lightroom CC plan. I got mine via adobe that covers Classic and CC with 20gb cloud space. I also buy discounted one year plans and just top my account off with them.
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Out of curiosity, where do you purchase your discounted annual plan?
 
ipedro said:
I’m switching to this model. I’d rather have updates come through the Mac App Store than through some adobe applet that’s always running in the background 24/7, doing god knows what.
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I like the way you think! ;)

That’s pretty much the reason I prefer getting my apps on the MAS whenever possible. I just trust Apple’s delivery methods so much more than getting it elsewhere.
 
This is good news for everyone I think. Adobe's software (standalone) has always been sketchy. Good to see we can get it straight from the Mac App Store now.
 
So to clarify, if I purchase the in-app 9.99 subscription, will I get access to Lightroom for Mac and iPad, or just on Mac? If it's just Mac then that doesn't seem like a very good value, since the 9.99 subscription from Adobe gives access to Mac, iPad and Web versions.
 
Does lightroom CC support multiple screens/windows yet? I was vaguely excited about CC but it was so cut down to begin with it wasnt any better than just running Photos for my use.
 
Is that right you can no longer buy a standalone version of Lightroom, I bought Lightroom 6 about a year ago as a standalone direct from Adobe, I upgraded an older version of Lightroom 4 I had. Agreeably It isn't something they were going out of their way to advertise on their website, but with a little perseverance I was able to find a link.

As for their subscription model, like others I just wouldn't bother, because there are other companies out there who are doing just as good apps if not better for a one off payment, I refer to Serif of course, with the full list of professional photographic, design and now a publishing app with what they call StudioLink technology. Plus they have full versions of AffinityPhoto and AffinityDesigner on iPads, where are Adobes full apps for iPad?
 
 
I used Aperture faithfully since it was released and then switched over to Lightroom when Apple announced the termination of development of Aperture. When Adobe ceased developing the stand-alone version I switched over to Capture One. Simply blows Lightroom out of the water. I'm thankful Adobe forced me to switch. Adobe has gotten all the money they're ever going to get from me. I'd just don't appreciate predatory software development.
 
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