Tell me about Scrivener since I am now very interested in it. How does it compare to Ulysses?
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Mac and iOS Writing App 'Ulysses' Transitions to Subscription Model
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Subscriptions make total sense to me: Pay only as long as the software is maintained, and no sunk costs if you want to switch to something better!
Imagine paying 100 bucks for software and then an OS update makes it unusable, or the developer removes features, or you find software that's much better for you, or you just realize it sucks. Subscriptions eliminate all these problems. Competition also increases. It's really a win-win.
The only problem, and it's a HUGE problem, is that almost every app switching to subscription pricing effectively doubles or triples in price. Instead of paying 50 bucks for a major upgrade every 2-3 years, it's suddenly 50 bucks per year. That sucks and rightfully annoys customers (who then blame subscription pricing for their anger).
A 50$ app should turn into a 2$/month or 20$/year subscription at the most. And there should always be a small discount for continuous subscription after a year or two.
Imagine paying 100 bucks for software and then an OS update makes it unusable, or the developer removes features, or you find software that's much better for you, or you just realize it sucks. Subscriptions eliminate all these problems. Competition also increases. It's really a win-win.
The only problem, and it's a HUGE problem, is that almost every app switching to subscription pricing effectively doubles or triples in price. Instead of paying 50 bucks for a major upgrade every 2-3 years, it's suddenly 50 bucks per year. That sucks and rightfully annoys customers (who then blame subscription pricing for their anger).
A 50$ app should turn into a 2$/month or 20$/year subscription at the most. And there should always be a small discount for continuous subscription after a year or two.
Was just about to purchase Ulysses this past Friday for some course work on iPad Pro and Mac. So glad I waited to research options! I do not rent software.
The subscription pricing of today is similar to the way pricing used to be when software was sold in boxes at retail stores. Many of the programs I bought in the 80's and 90's didn't have an "upgrade" version available at a lower cost than the full version. The software developer simply sold their latest major release in a box on the shelf and you paid the same price whether you were upgrading the software or buying it for the first time.
Sure, with the ability to transmit software over the internet, software companies don't have to pay for retail space on store shelves any longer, so that lowers their cost to an extent; but the cost of living for the developers has certainly gone up from what it was 20 or 30 years ago. There are hosting and bandwidth costs to be factored in, as well, though those costs are probably negligible in the grand scheme of things.
So, all-in-all, I understand why the subscription pricing model has to exist. I gladly pay for subscriptions on software that my livelihood depends on because I know I will make many, many times more than the cost of the subscription back in profits in my business. I suspect that most people who depend on Ulysses for their business will gladly pay $40.00 per year in exchange for having it on all their devices and having upgrades included automatically. For people who don't want to pay every month or ever year, they have other options.
Sure, with the ability to transmit software over the internet, software companies don't have to pay for retail space on store shelves any longer, so that lowers their cost to an extent; but the cost of living for the developers has certainly gone up from what it was 20 or 30 years ago. There are hosting and bandwidth costs to be factored in, as well, though those costs are probably negligible in the grand scheme of things.
So, all-in-all, I understand why the subscription pricing model has to exist. I gladly pay for subscriptions on software that my livelihood depends on because I know I will make many, many times more than the cost of the subscription back in profits in my business. I suspect that most people who depend on Ulysses for their business will gladly pay $40.00 per year in exchange for having it on all their devices and having upgrades included automatically. For people who don't want to pay every month or ever year, they have other options.
They want me to subscribe to a text editor? I'm out.
You know, in only recently started using this app and really like it. It's solid and well designed. I love writing and paid for the macOS and iOS duo and would pay every few years for upgrades, but I'm not sure it's worth $40 a year for me when there are alternatives I love (like scrivener)
Maybe if it was the only one, but so many apps and services are going in this direction that it's really adding up and getting old. What happened to the good old days of just buying and using software.
I hope scrivener doesn't go this route.
Maybe if it was the only one, but so many apps and services are going in this direction that it's really adding up and getting old. What happened to the good old days of just buying and using software.
I hope scrivener doesn't go this route.
Actually, you will have to keep paying forever even if the developer never ever updates or maintains his software again, because your files have now been taken hostage.
Stop paying = Stop having access to your saved files.
Exactly! In the past, you could choose to continue to use an old version because it didn't expire.
I'm certain some developers here read my hostile comments and think "this guy is crazy, he has no idea how expensive maintaining software is" I am aware but I also am a salaried employee. If I subscribe to every piece of software I use, I'd be spending $200 a month just to get things done on my computer and that's before giving money to Apple Music and iCloud Drive.
I push back so aggressively because I'm afraid one day it's going to cost me a dollar just to open up my MacBook and another dollar to plug into the wall and another buck to launch Photoshop.
Over and done, one user less, me. Subscription sucks!
It's the main reason why I'm using Affinity Tools and not Adobe Tools anymore.
Instead of moving to a subscription model, they could have moved to Feature Packs model, while keeping the basic App compatible with future iOS releases. E.g. Feature Pack 2016, Feature Pack 2017, Feature Pack 2018, etc. , with different prices based on the work the've done for this Feature Pack. More features = more $£€, less features = less $£€.
Bye Bye, Ulysses! Your move will make room for alternatives and competitors.
It's the main reason why I'm using Affinity Tools and not Adobe Tools anymore.
Instead of moving to a subscription model, they could have moved to Feature Packs model, while keeping the basic App compatible with future iOS releases. E.g. Feature Pack 2016, Feature Pack 2017, Feature Pack 2018, etc. , with different prices based on the work the've done for this Feature Pack. More features = more $£€, less features = less $£€.
Bye Bye, Ulysses! Your move will make room for alternatives and competitors.
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In the future, you can no longer purchase anything "outright". You pay a forever subscription.
You want a new MacBook Pro? You don't buy one. You don't even lease it. You just agree to pay a "monthly subscriber fee" and they send it to your house. The very day you stop paying (or you default paying) the subscription fee, your unit stops working and is bricked. They'll figure out a way to have your hardware disabled the minute you stop paying the agreed-upon recurring "subscriber" fee.
You want a new MacBook Pro? You don't buy one. You don't even lease it. You just agree to pay a "monthly subscriber fee" and they send it to your house. The very day you stop paying (or you default paying) the subscription fee, your unit stops working and is bricked. They'll figure out a way to have your hardware disabled the minute you stop paying the agreed-upon recurring "subscriber" fee.
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Cultured Code, while being slow, did it great still. They still had the courage to offer Things 3 at a one-time cost.
Omni does this even today. Full versions, free updates for a long time, and one-time cost.
"Ulysses is a premium app", as the developer says, and "the price will always reflect that".
Well, thank you, I will make do with not-as-premium-as-Ulysses Omni and the far more valuable subscriptions of Adobe and Microsoft. They can keep their premium software for a premium market that doesn't blink at the prospect of losing one more coffee a month.
I think this particular developer has really shot himself in the foot, or they have something planned that might manage to justify this model in the minds of consumers, somehow.
Omni does this even today. Full versions, free updates for a long time, and one-time cost.
"Ulysses is a premium app", as the developer says, and "the price will always reflect that".
Well, thank you, I will make do with not-as-premium-as-Ulysses Omni and the far more valuable subscriptions of Adobe and Microsoft. They can keep their premium software for a premium market that doesn't blink at the prospect of losing one more coffee a month.
I think this particular developer has really shot himself in the foot, or they have something planned that might manage to justify this model in the minds of consumers, somehow.
I miss the model of just buying something every three years or so and getting an upgrade discount. Fortunately some apps still do this—such as CodeKit, Coda, Bartender, CCC, Fantastical, etc. Developers naturally progress from x.1 through around x.9, with maybe some bigger features added in x.5, and update it to work with new OS releases and bug fixes. I have no use for this Ulysses app so I'll use 1Password as an example. I never would have bought something like 1Password that I use heavily today (I have about 350 items stored in it because I do web design and development) if it was a monthly cost, but I'm grandfathered. I know they update it with new features, but I never use any of them. I just need something to store my passwords and sync securely them over iCloud. I was more than happy to buy separate copies for macOS and iOS. I pay monthly for Adobe Creative Cloud because I do use some of the new features and apps that they create, including iOS and the fact that I've got over 30,000 photos syncing through the system. I also make a lot of money using those apps, and I use them for hours each day, so the cost is negligible.
After writing this out and thinking back over what I said, I think a lot of the problems would be solved if developers offered two versions of an app: One version would offer the essential experience of the app—the base functions. Then you could have a "Pro" version that you charge monthly for. This could possibly even be one app using IAP. The problem with this is that I think many developers that are charging these monthly fees are doing so because they're having a difficult time coming up with compelling new features so people aren't buying a new release anymore because it does 90%+ of what they need it to do. They're essentially removing the option for future buyers to NOT upgrade because if they stop paying they lose everything. These developers are ripe to be cannibalized by the OS as it gets more built-in features that are "good enough" for most users.
After writing this out and thinking back over what I said, I think a lot of the problems would be solved if developers offered two versions of an app: One version would offer the essential experience of the app—the base functions. Then you could have a "Pro" version that you charge monthly for. This could possibly even be one app using IAP. The problem with this is that I think many developers that are charging these monthly fees are doing so because they're having a difficult time coming up with compelling new features so people aren't buying a new release anymore because it does 90%+ of what they need it to do. They're essentially removing the option for future buyers to NOT upgrade because if they stop paying they lose everything. These developers are ripe to be cannibalized by the OS as it gets more built-in features that are "good enough" for most users.
Fellow Plex user since 2009. I don't remember when I went Lifetime but I remember it cost me $75. Worth absolutely every single penny. GO BARKLEY!
When this day arrives, I move back to Linux and build my own PC.
You know what, screw it. Just phark it all. I'm going to go buy a nice paper notebook and a bic pen for a fraction the cost of a text editor and write like that, and see if anyone's going to come charge me monthly for using my notebook. SaaS has ruined the joy of using my mac to write. I'll just use Apple Notes if I have to. At least that much is baked in and going no where. I hope every last SaaS adopting text editor fails. I'd pay for your product, and happily so, but I am not renting a jam jar to store my jam, and I'm sure as hell not being extorted to access it.
But look at the price, $4.99 per month. The iPhone SE costs $16.73 per month on contract. Is this app worth about one third of the iPhone SE?
Really sad. Should have a standalone option still. Some software is not used often enough to justify a subscription, unless you're using this at least several times a week (and not just for the odd project) then its not.
We waited long enough to starve these developers for years, I'm surprised they're still alive!
But the iPhone comes with a pretty decent Notes app, what did I miss?
Absolutely right. Most are paying for these two behemoths and nothing else.
I am paying for some subscriptions. All of them offer me value over standalone - in only one way - upfront cost and relative staggered cost.
1. Microsoft Office Business Premium costs me about $12 a month
Gets me Office apps, plus OneDrive and 1TB storage, plus hosted email on my own domain which is the primary reason for me. The Office apps only sweeten the deal for me. Very, very sweet. Syrupy sweet. All Office documents always in the cloud on OneDrive, with backups on my computer and external disks. I can pick any machine and that can become my "office". And oh, no extra payment for apps on either of macOS or iOS platforms. Syrupy, like I said.
2. QuickBooks Online Plus for $50 / year
I pay roughly $50 a year for QuickBooks Online Plus without Payroll. Fantastic accounting software that works from anywhere I am and on any device I could pick up. All data always in the cloud. I do not have to worry about backups and losing anything. Love the software and it is a pleasure to use and obviously so.
3. Todoist for $29 / year (NOW NOT)
I used Todoist for 2 years between 2015 and 2017 last month. Good app for the price and feature set is awesome. Support is responsive and very good. Really no quibbles, it only seems as though I outgrew it. As of August 1, switched over to OmniFocus, grand daddy of GTD apps on the Mac and iOS platforms and deservedly so, and a one-time payment as well.
4. Bear Writer Pro for $15 / year (from next month)
I have started a Bear Writer Pro trial for a year. I love the software for its myriad of features over standard Apple Notes app, chief being Note Creation Date. It is really important to me to be able to know at a glance how old the note is. Markdown and all that extra is a real bonus. I paid for it, if I like it enough, I will keep paying so long as the price is right for what it offers.
5. Adobe Lightroom CC for roughly $13 per month (contemplating)
I am contemplating paying for Lightroom CC because I shoot RAW and Lightroom has an iOS app that can offer me some ability to edit where I want and all that. Presently I do not pay for any editing software, use only Canon's DPP. Trying out software on the Mac. At this point, please feel free to suggest me anything regarding photo editing on the macOS platform that does not cost a bomb (Capture One Pro) and has iOS platform support as well.
6. Webshots for $17 / year
I have been a long-time user of Webshots, and recently when they began offering subscription for Webshots, I started paying for it. Biennial subscription at $35 represents their best value and for 2-3 to even 5 new photos per day to use as wallpapers, I love it.
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Effectively, I am paying for FOUR pieces of software on a subscription basis only today - MSO, QBO, Bear, Webshots. All represent great value to me and can be categorised in TWO: Necessity and Indulgence.
The first two are necessary for me. The last two are my indulgences.
The cost of my indulgence is $32 per year. Cost of my necessity is $200 per year for stuff that is constantly updated, offers class-leading support, and is used by me daily. In fact, all 4 of these are apps I open and use daily.
On an off note, not to hijack the thread, but really, if anyone has any suggestions regarding photo editing software as mentioned in my contemplation above, do send me a message.
Boycott & Bye, bye!
I've exported my stuff and deleted the App from iOS + macOS.
But Notes doesn't come with premium features. Like glitter. And street cred.
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