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Notability Changes App Subscription Policy, Promises Existing Users Lifetime Access to Purchased Features
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Well this was common sense. And people were actually on this forum defending Notability the other day, I seen it. ?
Exactly.
Ginger Labs only makes two apps.
And one of those apps was involved in a scandal over the last couple days.
This could sink the company. Irreparable harm. I hope their 11-50 employees have an exit.
The analogy is a little extreme, but I agree completely with the rest of your post. Gingerlabs gets no simpathy from me for backtracking. This was not their original intention, they tried to remove functionality from an app they had already sold, and either popular pressure or apple (or both) forced their hand to reverse course.
but the scale is also different. Microsoft deals with Xbox, Windows, Office, etc. We're not really asking Ginger labs (Notability) to provide cloud computing services, etc. It's just a single note taking app.
Going sub only is going to push away casual users too. Sure each is like $5 a month but if you take a look at your phone/tablet and assume all apps became sub only, that's going to turn into a hefty monthly fee. We'll start cutting non-essential apps and may start even considering leaving the platform all together.
As for maintaining two apps, can they just fork the sub version every year and under some function like isSubscriptionActive() { return true;} and never update that one. Maybe im over-simplying a few things
It's terrible that software companies are increasingly copying the business models of drug dealers.
It’s not that uncommon to Apple users, since the 1980’s there has been a new release of Mac OS/OS X/macOS almost on a yearly basis.
Obviously not all were major releases, many were just point releases. And they didn’t break things on a yearly basis. But then, nor does iOS, it very much depends on the APIs you’re using and how your custom code interacts with the system.
I have a couple of long since discontinued apps that I can still fire up in Xcode today and compile, with a relatively minor amount of work. Had that been in constant development, the impact would be even less as the code base wouldn’t be so out of date.
Likewise I have some that while it would be a nightmare to start working on the code again, as far too much would need to be changed. The apps themselves are still perfectly functional.
Yearly iOS updates are not necessarily a major source of problems. But having apps which expire and require replacement because of an operating system change is completely normal.
It’s just like when Apple dropped support for 32bit software. As end users we either bought new versions (unless a free update was offered), or sought out alternatives.
Just in the same way I have many applications I have to keep an old Windows 95 laptop around for the occasional times I need them.
When we purchase software, we don’t expect that it is going to necessarily work for the next 30 years. In my experience over the past 40 odd years of buying software, there tends to be an acceptable timeframe in which it remains operable, for it to be considered value for money - in some cases incredible value for money.
The biggest change these days is that the AppStore has created a race to the bottom pricing structure. Where people expect to get things for free, or for prices which just wouldn’t have existed a decade or so ago.
That’s what’s partly responsible for the subscription model. If people still paid a higher price for the software they purchased, it would be a very different market.
I’ve seen many reviews from people on the AppStore, who mark down a perfectly respectable application, or game, because it’s not free. How these people think the software is created I don’t know, one can only assume the developers have no overheads, or require a wage to live.
But it’s not, sadly, and on iOS in particular, many companies are increasingly finding a traditional pricing model unsustainable. The biggest problem is not the frequency of operating system updates, it’s the pricing model of the AppStore, plain and simple.
Microsoft Office used to be way more than $30 to begin with, and now they are essentially killing off MS office 2019 and going all in with office 365. So, as consumers, we are screwed both ways. ?
That's true. At $5/month or $50 a year... you better LOVE that app. Use it daily. Can't live without it.
But at $15/year... I wouldn't have a problem with that. I pay $10/year for Overcast.
Hell... I had a sandwich from Firehouse Subs last night. It was $13. A single sandwich!
But yes... Notability trying to change the model for existing users is terrible. They shouldn't have even attempted it. I'm sure they're gonna suffer for it.
Software companies have never invited me in for pizza, beer and a movie when buying apps ??
Tom
I happily pay $100/year for Microsoft 365.
I get 1TB of OneDrive storage... I have Office installed on 4 different machines... and I also share it with one other person.
Microsoft 365 is actually one of the good subscriptions, in my opinion.
I'm also a happy Adobe CC subscriber... <ducks>
Do you know if I buy this on my iPhone now will I have to buy it again when I get an iPad?
Or will it be free since I already bought it with the same Apple ID?
Thanks!
Keyword: existing app.
The guidelines do not apply to new SKUs.
In other words, companies can ship Notability 2 and bypass all requirements for existing purchases.
Fair enough. Software companies deliver (door dash subs, uber pass, youtube subs...)
Thanks. Got in on good notes for $4. I’m a user of notability just because I got it for free sometime ago but was actually only using it since I got the M1 iPad this year and has been great overall. Didn’t feel like paying $8 to find out if the competitor was better before but with this sub news I don’t want to have a half baked app going fwd if they start doing away w features again. Smart move by good notes by putting it at 50% can attract notability customers to at least try their app.
I may have to leave Notability just because of the childish new icon. It's hideous. Definitely the worst looking icon in my app tray now
Following an outcry from its users, Notability says it is making changes to its controversial subscription policy to ensure that people who previously purchased the app retain lifetime access to all current features and content.
The course correction was announced by the company on Tuesday in a Medium blog post, after the popular note-taking app received substantial blowback from users who were annoyed to learn that Notability's switch to a subscription model meant features they had purchased would stop functioning after one year.
Lifetime access will include unlimited editing, iCloud sync, and any features or content bought through in-app purchases, according to the developers, who added: "Future features we develop may also be included, depending on their complexity and cost to maintain."
Notability's course correction means the app no longer appears to violate Apple's App Store Review Guidelines, which forbid apps that switch to a subscription model from taking away primary functionality existing users have already paid for.
It's not clear if Apple forced its hand to fall in line with the guidelines or consumer pressure was the main influence. Either way, Notability's change of course may make it unlikely that other app developers eyeing a subscription model will attempt a similar strategy of revoking features that existing users have already purchased.
Article Link: Notability Changes App Subscription Policy, Promises Existing Users Lifetime Access to Purchased Features
. Did they hire some new executive that was bent on "shaking stuff up" but just failed miserably?
Well, I don't see which infrastructural and recurring costs they should have, besides development costs, as Notability leans on iCloud for storage.
Then why should they have a recurring revenue, if they don't provide new features?
In that case the previous app would still be accessible by whoever bought that app, though
Notability Users Frustrated By Switch to Subscription Model Claim Violation of App Store Guidelines
Looks like you were up to something. In the end, they did very little. Every app with its full funcionality (maybe except iCloud sync) can still be downloaded in App Store's Purchased list (even after it disappears from App Store). Guess some people didn't know that. Now they're good guys by essentially sending a message (and maybe keeping the iCloud functionality) while still making money from new subscribers. The simplicity, mic sync, no app comes close and they know it.
Any new features added to the "lifetime" version (so are the apps in my Purchased list), I'll believe it when I see it.
We cannot install an older version of app, we can only download the last latest compatible version of the same app.
Notability didn't replace the app, they updated the app that would remove the features after a year, that's against Apple's guidelines.
Notability could've avoided all of this by leaving the current app alone, rename it to Notability Classic and ship a separate version called Notability and it'll be accepted/compliant with the guidelines.
Everyone with the classic version of Notability would keep all of the features. They're not entitled to anything in the newer SKU called Notability (or Notability 2).