Oooh, how nice and charitable of them to allow you to use the features you've already paid for for one more year... How touching... š¢
Last edited:
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Notability Users Frustrated By Switch to Subscription Model Claim Violation of App Store Guidelines
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I agree with everyone about how they should release a new app and keep the old one as a āclassicā version (or just discontinue it), however, that being said, this is a lot of work and also shouldnāt be necessary.
None of this would be necessary if it were possible to simply download an older version of an app through the App Store. Donāt want version 11 and its subscription model (which is still free for you for a year)? Simply download the last release of version 10, which will work until it doesnāt. Eventually retire server side functions from this version due to security reasons.
Desktop software has only worked like this forever.
None of this would be necessary if it were possible to simply download an older version of an app through the App Store. Donāt want version 11 and its subscription model (which is still free for you for a year)? Simply download the last release of version 10, which will work until it doesnāt. Eventually retire server side functions from this version due to security reasons.
Desktop software has only worked like this forever.
Paid for data IP use is a total mess right now. you have music, which is paid for by subscription in most cases and the artists and production get paid on a per play basis (usage) then you have video which in many cases now is housed by the studio in subscriptions. Netflix may still be king here and does pay for others content but there is a migration to a "channel" style model here. Then there is applications, the one time paid for unlimited use model is a problem because people expect updates and continued functionality because the OS and underlying systems have moved to a more subscription style process.
Developers deserve to get paid, but they also need to evolve their compensation models in a proper fashion. Performing a "bait and switch" style update where users are forced from one pricing model to another is not the right way to do this. If you want the immoral answer introduce a "bug" in the software that it stops working properly after iOS 16 (1 year) and no longer update the app. Make a new one and give the line "because of the ever evolving apple ecosystem we are changing our pricing model to allow us to keep updating our cutting edge software.... blah blah blah". POPCAP / EA did it to me with Plants VS Zombies, the original paid for app I have has a bug in it that was fixed, but only in the new app that has ads in it. the original paid for app I had was never fixed.
Developers deserve to get paid, but they also need to evolve their compensation models in a proper fashion. Performing a "bait and switch" style update where users are forced from one pricing model to another is not the right way to do this. If you want the immoral answer introduce a "bug" in the software that it stops working properly after iOS 16 (1 year) and no longer update the app. Make a new one and give the line "because of the ever evolving apple ecosystem we are changing our pricing model to allow us to keep updating our cutting edge software.... blah blah blah". POPCAP / EA did it to me with Plants VS Zombies, the original paid for app I have has a bug in it that was fixed, but only in the new app that has ads in it. the original paid for app I had was never fixed.
Nothing like Day One. All of the features that were present in the older versions I paid for before they switched their model are still there for me as a non-subscriber. Only thing missing is everything new since that point, which they want a subscription for (which I have, so far, not needed to do).
I'm fine with it. Plenty of options.
I'll switch.
If they would ask us to subscribe to extra/new features - fine. I would if they were worth it.
Limiting what I already paid for? bye scammers.
I'll switch.
If they would ask us to subscribe to extra/new features - fine. I would if they were worth it.
Limiting what I already paid for? bye scammers.
Yes I 10000% hate subscriptions and much rather pay, even a large lump sum once, if it means I don't have to pay a subscription. That said, if they want to go to the subscription model, then do, as others had pointed out, make a new version, that is, a different and unique bundle id. If the same app is being changed to a subscription model instead, is very much against the TOS and Tim Apple will be very angry.
I therefore think, that as I never heard of this app until now and had it been a positive feature discussing all the merits of this application offers, I might very well paid for it all at one go. However, and I am sure they anticipated the negative press, they figured they will just weather the storm.
I don't know how much exposure this will give them, as bad press is still press after all, and someone who isn't affected (like me) might consider trying the free app. But as someone who is against subscriptions, I won't. Not sure how many others might, or they will just get the free version and not get any paid features...
Absolutely disgusting..if Apple allows them to stay on the App Store they are complicit with this scheme to rape its users of their money. Apple already is EXTREMELY disappointing by cow towing to China so I donāt have much faith in them doing the right thing any longer.
Of course they work. Just not as good as subscriptions without doing anything.
There is of course a third way. You license the features you want in their current state and need to unlock (buy) new or updated features when you want to use them. The app itself is continuously updated, but you can keep using whatever you have bought forever without support (may still stop working but not deliberately). This means, no lock-in and developers have to actually deliver something in order to find users willing to pay (it's called you work and are creative, and in return you get my money). Unlike traditional subscriptions, where the devs can just not develop anything at all or at least nothing anyone would pay for and nonetheless can milk their customers.
The model is similar to your office example, except all this versioning stuff can just be hidden behind app store technology. Nobody needs to know the exact version.
This is of course just abour software features, actual ongoing services are something else and for this subscriptions are totally fine.
Can't wait for Apple to solve this problem of too many subscriptions when it develops an App Store service like Netflix. You pay one price per month and have access to thousands of apps. Then when the developers complain Apple is taking more of their profits I'll laugh, because they helped create this problem in the first place.
I have the Day One App and they are now subscription, but when I got it, they werenāt. They grandfather all users who paid the app and we keep all the features that we had. If I want any of the new features, Iāll have to subscribe.
What Apple might want to consider is a way to offer paid versioning for apps. For example, you buy version 1.0 of the app. When the developer releases 2.0, you can choose to pay or stay on 1.0. This way you can pay one time for an app and only pay for upgrades when its convenient for you. This is fair and it makes sure that an app can be used forever with old features. It also allows smaller developers to release features and make money from those features and not have to deal with subscriptions or answering to users who are wondering where new features are On their subscription app.
Of course Apple makes more money on subscriptions so they would prefer apps go with the subscription model.
Of course Apple makes more money on subscriptions so they would prefer apps go with the subscription model.
The moaning people do over this kind of stuff is ridiculous. You paid for the app three years and over that time new features have been added, and the app has been maintained so it runs on current operating systems and hardware. No small feat on the developers' part. If you want to continue to use the application you paid for then never update the app nor your devices. Continue using it on iOS 10 on your iPhone 8. Problem solved.
Unfortunately, at least in my experience, the developers of Notability are very slow in adding new features, although they are much requested by the community.
In this case, paying a subscription is really annoying. Gingerlab should describe in advance what features they are planning to introduce, AND THEN I can decide if supporting the developer with my subscription or not.
I think your heart is in the right place, so don't take this personally, but I have a real issue with this statement and please remember that I am a professional developer.
As a professional developer I make my money by creating software that people want and therefore pay my company for. We are not charity cases. You don't go to the supermarket and buy food to 'support retail workers'. Subscription models can work, but in the majority of cases (IMHO), they are a rip off. And anyone who takes on a subscription to 'support developers' is not helping the situation.
Please, please, please, buy software because you like it and it fulfils a need. I am not completely against subscription, some companies actually do it really well and provide compelling and exciting new features on a regular basis that makes it a good value proposition to the user. But, like I said, in the majority of cases they are used to increase revenue with no real benefit to the consumer.
Good software developers can make money perfectly well and earn a damn good living without using subscription models. Trust me!!!
How much did you pay for all the iOS version that you get to download every year?
And for the sake of this story lets assume you only bought one phone in 2016.
?
right.. but i didnt know and my ipad autoupdated it... how can i install the old 10.x version? oh... i cant. so ive been ripped off
If you paid for the premium EA Tetris, the one that was a paid app as opposed to in app purchases, it should still be in your purchases list. You should be able to install it and play.
The app still pops up a banner saying it will stop working in April 2020, but that was apparently a bug because it still works fine. The one that stopped working was the freemium version.
The other issue is that Family Sharing goes away too. And their new editing rules have essentially crippled the app. My guess is that they didnāt/donāt have any new compelling features in the pipeline and needed the current user base to switch to subscription model.
Almost every app/version has bugs of varying severity. If a fix for version X doesnāt happen until version Y is released is that an upgrade you need to pay for? Software between versions usually also require maintenance by the developer, would you be willing to pay a greater amount to make sure that cost is covered? Most developers arenāt making money hand over fist, would you rather put them out of business rather than pay what it costs them to make AND support a product?
If the outcomes were black and white it would be easier to decide, but itās not. To put it bluntly, are you willing to lose an app you like? Because a lot of developers arenāt making the huge profits that people think they are, and they are turning to subscription because they will have to go out of business otherwise. Not every developer has Microsoft or Adobe levels of money.
Subscriptions just feel ācleanerā overall.
None of this āI have 20% of my users on the latest version of my app, 50% on the previous version, and the rest still on the base appā. Everyone pays an annual fee, I push out updates when they are ready, and everyone updates and is always on the latest version of my app. The end user doesnāt need to think about whether to upgrade or not, while the developer doesnāt need to think about whether to push a new feature to existing users for free, or save it as part of a paid upgrade for later.