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Is this as good as an admission that Apple doesn’t have the chops to make the kind of software their users demand?

Edit: I forgot they acquired FCP too back in the blue and white G3 days
A lot of their software was from acquisition even the original iTunes
 
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What do they have that apple couldn't figure out?
Does Pixelmator have any benefits over photoshop?
Of course Apple could "figure out" what they need but it would cost them some money because engineers need to be paid. Many times it is cheap to buy a product then to build it yourself. Apple has along history if buying. In fact they bought MacOS. The OS came to Apple when they acquired Next. (They also bought Steve Jobs from Next) Apple bought Siri too and lots of other software.

Is Pixelmmator better then PS?. Yes and no. Pixelpmater has a better UI and is written more like a real Mac App. PS is really only of use to people who are willing to devote huge amounts of time to learning to use it. PS is also much more than "just" a photo editor. It is a general-purpose graphic arts tool
 
Oh no

Hope they don't ruin it

My thoughts exactly (photomator user).

The reason Pixelmator has been so good and popular is that they are more agile than Apple and their product team doesn’t have to please some corporate senior executives which have 10 other priorities ahead of making a great app for photographers.

Unless Apple keeps it as a completely separate and autonomous business, those advantages will be gone.
 
Would’ve loved to see Aperture get resurrected.

But I’m not mad about this acquisition at all. Not at all.
At this point Aperture's codebase is probably too old, and there is no iOS version. This is probably the best decision as they get a good photo editing app, and a fantastic illustration app.
 
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Err it's not a weather app. A weather app is a pretty client over a data API.

Pixelmator/Photomator is about 1000x larger than that. I don't think there are even parallels.
Sorry but disagree.

The UI / UX can make or break an application, and is also a key reason why many of us choose one editor over another. If Apple applies their UI language (the current photos application) to Pixelmator, I will have zero interest in using it.

There are many other apps that use Core Image, Metal, their own, and many other fundamental Apple APIs that I have zero interest in using. it is how they build their pretty client over these core APIs that makes it a joy to use.

We all can get weather information in pure text, with ASCII graphics, get weather the way NWS presents it, or something better like how Dark Sky, Carrot, and other applications present and produce information to us.
 
Is Pixelmmator better then PS?. Yes and no. Pixelpmater has a better UI and is written more like a real Mac App. PS is really only of use to people who are willing to devote huge amounts of time to learning to use it. PS is also much more than "just" a photo editor. It is a general-purpose graphic arts tool

Pixelmator is the Temu of Photoshops.

It's good for merging with macOS Photos app. It's not a serious workhorse application. Nothing competes with Photoshop at the high end and even the anti AI hysteria and mania early this year had ZERO effect on Adobe subscriber numbers. Subscriptions actually increased to record high. All that embarrassing teeth gnashing on the internets for nothing.
 
Sorry but disagree.

The UI / UX can make or break an application, and is also a key reason why many of us choose one editor over another. If Apple applies their UI language (the current photos application) to Pixelmator, I will have zero interest in using it.

There are many other apps that use Core Image, Metal, their own, and many other fundamental Apple APIs that I have zero interest in using. it is how they build their pretty client over these core APIs that makes it a joy to use.

We all can get weather information in pure text, with ASCII graphics, get weather the way NWS presents it, or something better like how Dark Sky, Carrot, and other applications present and produce information to us.
I don't see them taking it in the direction of photos. I think theses will become two additions to their pro software: Logic and FCP, both of which are very full featured. I could see them creating a "pro bundle" subscription, similar to Adobe, that has Logic, FCP, Pixelmator, and Photomator.
 
I really hope they keep this a separate app and don't absorb it into an existing one like they did to Dark Sky. I'll never forgive Tim for that.
Ever since the integration, Apple weather is atrocious. It can't even get live weather correct. It will say it's sunny when it's raining and cloudy. Dark Sky had rainfall predicted to the minute.
 
I don't see them taking it in the direction of photos. I think theses will become two additions to their pro software: Logic and FCP, both of which are very full featured. I could see them creating a "pro bundle" subscription, similar to Adobe, that has Logic, FCP, Pixelmator, and Photomator.
I sure hope not!

One of the reasons I use Final Cut is because it is one of the few editing applications that I can buy and simply use. Fully support them releasing upgrade packs for purchase, but am so over subscription based software.

I am a reluctant adobe subscriber for Lightroom and P$, but have gotten more comfortable with independent applications (like Pixelmator) to where I am thinking about dropping my subscription.
 
Disappointing.

Check out Affinity products.

Affinity is what I use, but I think Apple buying it would have brought them into conflict with Adobe and probably would have constrained Affinity's future growth. I haven't used Pixelmator for a few years, but it's a fundamentally different kind of product as I remember it. This move is probably good for both companies.
 
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Are you freaking kidding me?!?!

Did you lose your Aperture binaries or something? Wrecking the Aperture / iPhoto combo first, empty promises for years about how missing functionality will come back and be delivered through 3rd party plugins… and now this?

Been using Pixelmator since launch, paid for all versions of their app so have decent understanding what they do. Unless Apple wants to get back into pro photography game (please give Randy Ubillos a call & bag of $$$ to supervise those Baltic boys in case you’re serious) I don’t see the point of this acquisition. There’s a bit of a learning curve behind their apps compared to what is currently in Photos app.

Will be shame to see their iPad apps go :/
Right!? It seems that no one here even remembers 'iPhoto'. It had a lot of basic photo editing features that we lost when they discontinued it and came out with 'Photos'. We never did get any of the useful features back.

I switched to Pixelmator since it was the most similar app at the time. Hopefully this means they'll integrate some of the features back into the Photos app (finally)...but yeah, still odd that they couldn't have done this from what they already had in Aperture and iPhoto.
 
Pixelmator is the Temu of Photoshops.
Have you ever used it?

Apple has a bad trackrecord with acquired software and their companies. I don't think Pixelmator or Photomator will stay or get any development after the acquisition is complete. It is over. Affinity under Canva will stay alive for a little longer but I don't think it will stay like that forever.

This won't compete with Adobe, just solidify Adobe's market position because nobody will invest in a software which will be just acquired when it is successful.
 
Oh please, let this be the beginning of the end of Lightroom on Mac. Apple, focus on the basics: proper organization, ie proper tagging, album organization and easy album sharing (why can’t you share an existing album???). And better support for (compressed) Raws. The cherry&personal fav: fujifilm simulations. Admittedly, Lightroom just kills Apple Photos on all these fronts.
Photomator just introduced 1-5 star rating and flagging. So cautiously optimistic. Love both their products!
 
I could almost see it coming, like if they had been growing a company specifically to get acquired by a larger one in future. Well, at least it’s not Adobe, Shazam still works nice+ no ads
 
I sure hope not!

One of the reasons I use Final Cut is because it is one of the few editing applications that I can buy and simply use. Fully support them releasing upgrade packs for purchase, but am so over subscription based software.

I am a reluctant adobe subscriber for Lightroom and P$, but have gotten more comfortable with independent applications (like Pixelmator) to where I am thinking about dropping my subscription.

Wait until the Apple Pro Apps subscription bundle come out!
;)
 
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I actually miss iTunes now
Apple Music is such a junk piece of software

Was still running iTunes with Retroactive until Sequoia -- where it no longer works 😣
Exactly this, iTunes was the Rolls Royce of Music players, I too still use it, an older version, it was perfect until a certain version, it got bloated in later versions.
 
I have no clue why folks think this "big news" or "good" or "exciting!"

Apple is mostly quite mediocre at first party software in the last decade plus and awful on actual long term support commitments if you're all in.

The fact we are bringing up Aperture is example A1 of why one shouldn't trust them over the long term. All of this is ancillary for them and they'll rug pull you anytime with no care, for their own reasons.
I think you just answered your own question (at least for "big news") - big news ≠ good news necessarily.
 
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