Apple Confirms Aperture to Be Removed From Mac App Store After Launch of Photos for OS X

[samcraig]

Photos for OS X is such a huge improvement over iPhoto and Aperture this makes sense. It's just incredible that Apple is going to be giving away the world's most advanced photo application. I hope nobody complains.

And yet right in the article it states that Photos for OS X doesn't have all the features that Aperture does. So explain to me how it's an improvement?

Then you can quantify how Photos for OS X is "the world's most advanced photo application"

Thanks!

 

[Paradoxally]

Photos is free.

How is that "chasing the money"?

I know: Even though it's free, they'll still make money on it.
How?
VOLUME!

It's not technically free because if you are serious about Photos, or even a casual, 5 GB of storage isn't enough. Also, iCloud backups take space already if you choose to not use iTunes.

 

[apple_iBoy]

I don't get why simple Aperture tools like the loupe have to I go away, to perhaps be reincarnated as "new features" in Photos down the line.

Is such a tool really that hard to code? When you already have an app written that has done it for years?

Do they think no one uses the tools they're scrapping?

Did Jonathan Ive not like the look of the button?

 

[bmac89]

That they still sell Aperture today seems highly unethical to me.

It would be nice if they gave it away as a free download with a bold note saying that the product is now discontinued and will not be supported in the future.

 

[steve123]

Just so long as Aperture continues to work in future versions of OSX until Photos is at least on a par functionally.

Switching to an alternative like Lightroom is not as simple as all that, not just because one needs to learn a new program, any edits to RAW files that have been made will be lost unless you're prepared to make TIFF copies of your whole edited library and import that into the new software's library. Even then one cannot go back and alter those RAW edits in the baked in TIFF files.

Photos must also be able to import these RAW edits, otherwise the whole paradigm of nondestructive adjustments is eradicated. I foresee a class action suit...

Good point. It is going to be comparatively difficult to use PS and LR with iCloud Photo Library and sync across all your devices. The market will force Pro's to change to workflow to stay competitive.

 

[bluespark]

Photos is free.

How is that "chasing the money"?

I know: Even though it's free, they'll still make money on it.
How?
VOLUME!

iCloud, actually.

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The Aperture pages reads: "When Photos for OS X is available this spring, Aperture will no longer be available for purchase from the Mac App Store."

That seems more than just an implication. Photos is replacing both.

It's not even an implication. It's a straightforward statement that Apple will sell Aperture until it releases Photos, then it will cease selling Aperture. Nowhere does that statement imply that Photos is intended to replace the functionality of Aperture.

 

[colorspace]

the world's most advanced photo application. I hope nobody complains.

You have an amazingly dry sense of humor. Congratulations!!

(if not, watch smoking?)

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I hope there is integration with Google Drive /Google Photos for storage.

Are you seriously asking about this? If so, photos=a way of pushing paid iCloud accounts. Apple did the math and seems to have come to the conclusion that there is more money to be made from this than by selling Aperture. Other ways to storing your files will NEVER be supported.

 

[StoneJack]

What I think is that we see complaints from Aperture users, but the truth is that the new app gives much better options to iPhoto users, they receive for free semi-pro level app. Its a great thing and far better than any freeware on Windows side. So as an iPhoto user, I have nothing to complain about.

As for Aperture users, the truth is that we don't know yet if there will be Photos Pro app. I think its very possible, because Apple likes to bundle it that way: see Logic Pro and Garageband which is dumbed down Logic Pro, iMovie a dumbed down Final Cut. So something tells me that once Photos is settled and plugin architecture is clear, we will see significant boost through plug-ins (paid apps) maybe from third parties. There you will a reborn Aperture

 

[numlock]

iWork is fantastic. You have to remember, it's not directly competing with Word. It does most things very well. But can't do a lot of the things Word can... but most people just need simple text editing and drop and drop ability.

Using Word to write a letter is like using a shotgun to open a peanut shell.

I suspect iMovie will be the next app to get updated tech behind it.

not sure if by iwork you mean pages since you compare it to word but there are enough people on this board that use iwork a lot (pages especially) to attest to its dip in quality. ij reilly is one.

imovie has been going through changes since 2007 and has yet to match imovie 06 and its plugin support

i wasnt comparing iwork to office or imovie to avid but to previous versions of themselves. what i do sometimes mention is that google has done more with their google drive apps than apple in the last 8 years or so.

You're funny, but the burden of proof currently rests on the first poster to make the opposite claim. As soon as he provides it, I'll be happy to oblige.

one post is number 76 in this thread and the other number 92. you can figure out the rest.

but i just have to say that this notion that the second, third or fourth posters dont have to prove counterclaims as much as the first guy is a new one to me.

thanks for the compliment.


whats the origin for all the comments about plugins for photos? i dont find any mention on apples website

 

[steve119]

Of course apple will make money on the photo apps....they're probably going to charge for separate plugins that will probably end up costing in total more than the aperture app.

 

[OneMike]

Excellent. Now replace iTunes with something that works.

What's wrong with iTunes

 

[StoneJack]

I use iWork regularly, also use new Garageband and I didn't notice any dip in quality (nor any serious progress either). Why you say its so bad?

 

[dilbert99]

Photos for OS X is such a huge improvement over iPhoto and Aperture this makes sense. It's just incredible that Apple is going to be giving away the world's most advanced photo application. I hope nobody complains.

I'd like to complain about the dictionary you use, mine has a different definition of advanced

 

[Daysight]

Aperture user here, fairly large amateur family/hobby photo library. When I switched from Windows I gave up my folder structure for our photos and surrendered into Aperture's managed library approach, with some trepidation. But it has worked out reasonably well, although I find the albums/projects/folders hierarchy clumsy, so won't miss that. I don't think I will miss the advanced tools in Aperture that will not be in the first version of Photos; hopefully the tools in Photos will be enough for me. My main worry is what will happen when I import my Aperture library into Photos. I plan to wait and see what others smarter than me experience, then run them in parallel for a while.

 

[Tech198]

Well.. that stinks...

A clear move to Photos,when u know Apples not even keeping this one.

The same thing happened when Apple moved from "boxed" versions of iLife to being on the App Store too..... They forgot no one uses iDVD

..Except I did..... I guess Apple didn't count on that.

 

[jacg]

Seeing stars?

I've been rating photos with stars for years, firstly in iPhoto and then in Aperture. Will this metadata simply be thrown away if I import?

How about keywords?

How does Photos handle multiple libraries?

How does Photos utilise a second display?

I think that this is just a sample of my anxious questions. Sounds like I will be using Apeture for a while. I would welcome a rethought Photos Pro X.

 

[FieldingMellish]

Apple figured out they can make a lot more money going lowest common denominator. If not by sheer population of users, but also by less training and support costs. Couple it with the need to have a companion IOS app as eventual follow up. And couple it to the boon it should prove to be for iCloud signups. You conclude that the pro photographer market is no longer being courted. Not that it ever was over the long term of Aperture stagnation anyway.

 

[Mazeman]

Photos will exceed the needs of 99% of Mac users.

Allow plug-ins for the remaining 1%.

I don't see the problem.

 

[maflynn]

Photos will exceed the needs of 99% of Mac users.

Allow plug-ins for the remaining 1%.

I don't see the problem.

99% do you have any source material to back up that assessment or is that your opinion. I disagree that 99% of mac users will be fine with Photos.

Btw, plugins/extensions won't be available in version 1. I don't have the link but I read somewhere that will be in a future version.

 

[malexandria]

iTunes 12

So... replace iTunes 12 with iTunes 9?

Is just awful..... Does Genius ever work anymore?

 

[roadbloc]

Excellent. Now replace iTunes with something that works.

This. iTunes is a bloated mess. Borderline unusable. A mere shadow of what it used to be. I still use iTunes 4.

 

[lcseds]

I would hate to leave Aperture, throw all my effort into Lightroom only to find out in two years Lightroom is subscription only and many are raving about Photos and it's plug-ins. Or the opposite, Photos becomes the ultimate selfie DAM and editor and I will have wasted a few years waiting for it to be something else while I could have become a Lightroom expert.
What to do, what to do.........

 

[maflynn]

I would hate to leave Aperture, throw all my effort into Lightroom only to find out in two years Lightroom is subscription only and many are raving about Photos and it's plug-ins. Or the opposite, Photos becomes the ultimate selfie DAM and editor and I will have wasted a few years waiting for it to be something else while I could have become a Lightroom expert.
What to do, what to do.........

LR6 is rumored to have a boxed version, but there's no guarantee future versions will offer this.

There's also other options such as Phase One's Capture One, I suggest you visit the Photography forum as there's plenty of advise there on how to proceed.

 

[jdag]

Photos will exceed the needs of 99% of Mac users.

Allow plug-ins for the remaining 1%.

I don't see the problem.

Then you are likely not an heavy Aperture user. Because it is a problem for Aperture users.

And please don't tell me that "you can keep using Aperture for as long as you want, it won't stop working on your Mac, you won't lose what's there already, etc...". It actually MAY and likely WILL stop working with a future release of OS X, possibly as soon as October (assuming Apple's recent OS X upgrade schedule). And with no continuing Apple development, minimally new cameras will lack RAW support, essentially making Aperture useless.

Aside from ceasing of Aperture development, photographers that use and RELY on Aperture simply don't know Apples plans! Maybe Photos becomes a full Aperture replacement...maybe. But when? 6 months when new plug-ins fill the gap? 2 years? Ever?

And don't kid yourself, people RELY on Aperture as the primary tool for their photography business and/or hobby. Primary tool, not some "app" that can simply be replaced. Moving from Aperture to Lightroom is as, or even more, significant that moving from a Mac to Windows.

Again, if you use iPhoto or some other program and will find value in Photos, that's awesome for you. If you use Aperture, the new Photos program and the eventual/likely/necessary move from Aperture is a real problem.

 

[dilbert99]

A lot of people here seem to be missing the fact that Aperture really wasn't making the money it needed to stay viable anymore.

What makes you say Aperture wasn't making money, it was always in the top grossing app list - Apple has removed it I assume so that it doesn't show any more