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Package Tracking App 'Deliveries' Switching to Paid Subscription Model Across iPhone, iPad, and Mac
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It’s a trade off, not a one-sided win like you make it out to be. I switched from Deliveries to the UPS, FedEx, Amazon, and USPS Informed Delivery apps, 7 or 8 months back, because these separate apps all get their data on incoming packages directly from the delivery company - with Deliveries, I had to find the tracking number, copy it, open Deliveries and set up a new item. For. Every. Single. Package. With, say, the FedEx app, it tells me I’ve got a new package in the system addressed to me - no setup on my part.
You make it sound like I have to constantly check multiple apps. I don’t. They let me know when packages are getting close. I usually look at them once or twice a day, and usually not at all of them, because I can easily remember if, say, I’ve got something coming in via DHL or FedEx (those happen much less often). If packages aren’t being sent via a specific service, I don’t have to look at the corresponding app.
Someone earlier in the thread said they needed Deliveries because they got 20+ packages a week. Well, I’ve had weeks in the last six months where I got 20 packages (no, not every week), and it’s much less burden on me to let the apps handle it all rather than adding 20 different packages to Deliveries (and that’s not just guessing - I used Deliveries avidly for years, and recommended it to others, I know what’s involved).
In a week with 20 packages, I might be opening UPS, FedEx, and Amazon in the morning, to remind myself what’s incoming today. That’s 21 (7*3) app interactions for the week. With Deliveries, it’s only 7 interactions to see what’s incoming each morning - plus 20 interactions to enter all those packages - that’s 27 interactions, vs. 21 doing it with separate apps. And the win for the separate apps only goes up as you get more packages - if it were 50 packages, it’d be 57 interactions with Deliveries, but still only 21 with the official apps.
Furthermore, if you neglect to do one of those 20 package add interactions, then that package is effectively “lost” until it arrives - you’re not getting any updates. With the official apps, packages don’t get lost - if it’s in their system, it’s on your phone, there’s nothing for you to forget. And they get the updates faster, because the updates are being pushed out by the delivery company’s system when there’s an update, rather than having Deliveries poll every hour or two hoping there’s an update. I’ve had the official apps tell me a package has been delivered while the delivery person was stepping off the front porch - Deliveries never managed that.
Longtime ardent supporter of Deliveries, but I switched away months ago, because the official apps got better. You’re doing more work, not less, in most cases, to use Deliveries, and getting less accurate information (in that you’ll miss entering something occasionally and you have to wait until Deliveries polls to get updates vs. getting them right away).
Yea same as shop.app. They say it does the same with the info, but I don't see any ads in the app. And they already spy when you order the item, and you see ads instantly. I just wish they could get a little smarter and show similar items or accessories instead of the same type, especially something like a TV. How many TVs am I going to buy in a short period???
Yea most apps you are paying for convenience. And I definitely prefer getting messages instead of emails. They are still easier to remember to check than notifications, and are in their own messaging thread instead of clogging email.
Yea and if I had packages of that level going on, I would be using my laptop with a browser with tabs for each carriers tracking URL.
Why? That would make it even more work. I get push notifications on my iPad and iPhone from the various apps already. If I was a business, maybe The browser tabs would make sense.
FWIW, I have no problems paying substantial amounts for software if I find the software well constructed and useful to me. I also have an allergic reaction to being a product, so I won’t use something like Slice or shop.app that are “free” but mine information about me.
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You make lots of fair points that I won't quote for length, but you're still missing my point: There's a difference between getting alerts that "package X is out for delivery today" and being able to see at a glance, "packages A, B, C are coming today; and tomorrow packages D, E, F are." I've not claimed that Deliveries is superior to all other trackers, but it does serve a convenient purpose. I won't belabor this further; we'll just have to agree to disagree.
And while I do agree with you that Deliveries is fussy to use, it's also not the "one-sided fail" that you described it as. If you copy a tracking# (as in copy & paste), the app detects the tracking# and (for me it) reliably imports it. You can now forward your shipping emails to Junecloud, who imports them for you. You could even set up a mail rule that automatically forward your shipping notices to Junecloud, so no future interaction would be needed.
I've switched to another app as well, but for someone to claim Deliveries has no purpose is myopic. (That sentence is general, not directed at CarlJ.)
Adding deliveries to the app/widget was annoying at first, but then I set up auto-forwarding rules in Apple Mail, so they usually get added automatically.
As an added bonus, the rules trash the original confirmation/shipping email so those don’t clutter up my inbox.
I am all in for reducing the number of subscriptions but I think the amount this costs yearly would make it worth for someone receiving a lot of parcels. Or, even, subscribing only for certain months, e.g., for December to track presents coming in.
I wouldn’t describe Deliveries as a one-sided fail, I just don’t see it as a win over the individual apps, except for the specific case of wanting one combined list of incoming packages. In practice, I don’t find that to be limiting. I just went and checked the UPS, FedEx, and USPS apps. It took about 20 seconds. For once or twice a day, I don’t find that to be a burden.
And yeah, the “it looks like you have a tracking number on the clipboard” feature is nice (it’s one of the things I liked about Deliveries early in). Some of the other apps (e.g. UPS, FedEx) do this as well (on the rare occasions I’ve had to enter a tracking number, like when I’m shipping something - most of the time the app already has incoming packages listed before I go look, so there’s no need). FWIW, I also enjoyed their map, though at times it did maddeningly foolish things.
And, frankly, I’m not forwarding any of my mail to any program that I didn’t write myself (and yes, I’ve written programs in the past to do all sorts of interesting things with email that I forward to them). I don’t care to give companies the opportunity to make inferences about me by looking at my email. I don’t have a reason to distrust JuneCloud, with them it’s more a matter of principle. But I don’t keep my personal mail in gmail, and wouldn’t use services like shop.app or slice that overtly snoop on your mail.
i love it when developers do that but it’s pretty rare... as many others have said the trend to subscriptions for everything is getting out of control.
I can understand a subscription to an app like Fantastical for example because they constantly innovate and calendaring is a complex business need. But this is just a delivery tracker. That’s all it does and all it’s ever done. No AI, no ML, just your deliveries in a nice clean list. They pull data from FedEx and UPS and put in a pretty place.
i believe this app started out as a widget in dashboard. I’ve been using it that long! But you know what? It’s still the same app! It hasn’t really changed all that much.
I’d pay $5 for a Deliveries 2 and hope they leave me alone for a few years. Not subscribing to this.
I have been a big user of Deliveries and have purchased thier app for both iOS and macOS. But a subscription for a package tracking app - I have to draw a line somewhereI have happily converted to subscriptions for apps that give me great value such as 1Password and Fantastical Family, but a package tracking app subscription. I'll pass!
In Denmark, we have seen a number of new shipping companies, such as DAO, Bring and CoolRunner. I have collected API documentation and sent to Junecloud to get support for these new companies in Deliveries, companies that have become quite large in Denmark, but now a couple of years later they are still not included
In Denmark, the local postal company Post Nord has developed an absolutely fantastic app, where all packages sent to one's address are automatically added as soon as the sender has registered the shipment to your address, and since many online companies process orders automatically, the shipment is live in the app automatically just a few minutes after an online purchase. Works great with Amazon too. I'll stick to the new Post Nord app and then use some other free service for the few UPS, DHL etc. deliveries I get.
Farewell Deliveries. It was a great ride!
you make a very good point. I automatically get emailed by UPS and Fedex when a package addressed to me is on its way. USPS might do the same. That’s 90% of my packages...
This is exactly why I am so opposed to this disgusting money grab. It's been around all this time with NO discernible additions or improvements... but they want us to pay a subscription to use it. I don't need their servers. I use iCloud that I pay for. JuneCloud can pound sand for this attempted shake down.
I’m really curious about what this app does that’s special.
Maybe as a centralized hub with all outgoing and incoming deliveries for people that rely on it (say a self-employed Amazon backed store front person).
But for the everyday user, does it track it for you? Can it tell you that the driver is close to arrive at your place with the package so you can wait in front before he decides to just drop a notification and send it to the farthest pick up point available in the city? (Happens often over here).
The Slice app is your best answer, it's free and does all of this automatically, I've been using it for years
Yea I was thinking, all you would need to do is make an email rule to throw the emails in a specific TRACKING folder or such
Will have to try it. Is it more privacy focused? Does it have ads or IAPs or other so you know they are making $$$ somehow other than selling info?
Why doesn't JuneCloud just create a new version of the app to use the subscription model and leave current users alone to continue with the app we paid for and are satisfied with? They don't even have to maintain it - just leave it there and offer the new one as a subscription. It's an obvious money grab.
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Yes like most apps did at one time. You could either buy the new one or stick with the old for what it could do without support.
I am much less concerned about paying $5 per year than I am about the new color scheme that was just released. In prior versions, the app used dark, saturated colors with high contrast until yesterday when the app updated and now it is a washed-out pastel disaster. These new colors are much harder to read at a glance. It is the visual re-design that will have me searching for a new app, not the minuscule cost.
Yeah... that is broken for me also. I use it with Amazon orders and it just pops up the Deliveries manual entry window and does not auto populate like it used to. I have been just using the Junecloud email service to add entires until this gets fixed.
Deliveries read from and imported my Amazon Safari shipping url this week without a hitch. Did it on my iPad Pro.