Pixelmator Photo Switches to Subscription Pricing, Launching on Mac by Next Year

[Jack Burton]

Count me as subscription fatigue. I wouldn't even have adobe if it weren't for my job providing it.

Maxon moved Cinema 4d and all of their recent acquisitions to subcription models. I want to learn blender now, but man, it just works differently. Gonna take some time.

 

[GerritV]

I don’t expect monthly updates. But I do expect improvements as far as visually or speed enhancements from time to time. Perhaps, anything to improve my workflow and bug fixes are mandatory.

But some subscriptions are based on server cost… so you have to consider that as well.

If a developer leaves you no choice but to use his server, I could consider it (Things 3 comes to mind, but even that is not a subscription). But I prefer apps that leave the server choice to the user, in which case I could opt for iCloud or other without additional monthly fee.

 

[GerritV]

I don't subscribe to a huge list of app, but the ones I do see regular updates and added features. Drafts and Flexibits especially are good about that. 1Password as well.

Thanks for the suggestions, I do know all these apps.
Unfortunately, at least 80% of their release notes is about bug fixes. That is by far no excuse for a subscription, sorry.

 

[summiter]

These companies are going to learn a hard lesson about subscription fatigue.

 

[AppleMad98004]

Simple to use ,clean interface , probably continuity features with iOS app (perhaps even handoff !!)

iOS and Mac automatic sync for one.

 

[bice]

I get why they switch to a subscription, but why does every app has to raise prices that much? From a $7,99 one-time purchase to $23,99/yr? Why not $9,99/yr?
...

Because paying monthly/yearly is so much valude added in itself, people are happy to pay more just to get that subscription.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Having an option to turn off auto renew when you start a subscription would be greatly appreciated. However I (and others) would probably use it most when starting free trials, which eats away at the nasty “you tried it but forgot to cancel” income. Therefore I don’t see this being an option soon. I will point out that most subscription trials in iOS can be cancelled immediately after starting them so that they’ll stop rather than renew when they’re over.

You can do this for any subscription in the App store. That’s actually why Netflix DOESN’T want their subscription paid through the app store It’s too easy to “turn it on for a month” and immediately unsubscribe.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Subscription-based models are ruining the world.

Yeah, Water, Cable, Electricity… just ruining this world.

 

[iDento]

Go for Affinity Photo and ditch Pixelmator, it’s inferior anyway.

I use Affinity and it’s amazing. However, it‘s not an alternative to Pixelmator. Affinity is so complex for a casual user. I know as I use both.

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

iOS and Mac automatic sync for one.

How so ,may I know your settings ? What do you mean by sync ? Are you editing photos on icloud by any chance ?

 

[bice]

Ultimately the App Store not offering upgrade pricing has been one of the most consumer unfriendly things Apple has ever done. It creates toxic incentives, which is why many of us feel it's stranglehold on iOS is so toxic.

Not to mention vendor unfriendly. A lot of developers have been struggling with this.

Appstore seems to be designed for cheaper buy-use a few times-forget-apps. At the 0,99 price tier where you are not supposed to worry about quality or longivety of the app, "it is so cheap you can buy on chance and if it is good use it for awhile".
That model doesn't work well for quality apps, where you first must purchase at eg 59,99. Either the developer must keep on updating the app "forever" without collecting more money (not sustainable for a quality developer) or the devloper must abandon that app and release "a new one" and the user must purchase it in full again.

 

[Rafterman]

The developers told you why. $7.99 isn’t enough to sustain a business and also put out updates for years. I know firsthand from my own apps. I’d charge $5, get $3 and have people expecting new features and updates five years later. Especially with the pace of iOS changes, it just doesn’t work.

A good app will have a steady flow of customers, as new people become aware of it and buy it.

 

[ShinySteelRobot]

Dangit, I liked Pixelmator, but I refuse to rent software. Goodbye Pixelmator, hello Affinity Photo.

 

[ackmondual]

I get why they switch to a subscription, but why does every app has to raise prices that much? From a $7,99 one-time purchase to $23,99/yr? Why not $9,99/yr?
And what was the business model before the switch to subscription? It was a one-time purchase for $7,99 and now it’s $59,99. No wonder people hate subscriptions.

I'm guessing to attract customers. If they charged $24 for the app from the get-go, it really prices them out of a large majority of customers. When starting off, you need as many buyers and downloads as possible to up your popularity and reputation (and until you build up a userbase, you essentially need to build up an audience from scratch). Now that they (apparently) have that, they're much better justified in charging that much. I don't know their finances, but I'm guessing charging $10/year just isn't an option (as in, they may as well just close up shop if that's all they can charge).

 

[sir1963nz]

Never have, never will, rent software.
I have dumped software that shifted to yearly rents.
All this process has done is push me more into Open Source software, and I don't see that changing.

 

[VuvuzelaiPhone]

Never have, never will, rent software.
I have dumped software that shifted to yearly rents.
All this process has done is push me more into Open Source software, and I don't see that changing.

Yes, free labor!

 

[canadianpj]

People are actually complaining about a great app wanting money to, stay in business and only being 23.99 a YEAR?

Really?

 

[ackmondual]

The nasty part of that change is that apple just changed the way subs work ,and that now the développer can raise the sub price silently .sneaky really .

They can up the price of the sub. I don't object to that. Likewise, I can always just cancel my sub. What I do object to is upping the price without informing us ahead of time. I had a neighbor who got pissed that his ISP upped his internet service rates without telling him. He had to check his bill to discover that. He got so pissed that despite the ISP giving him incentives like discounts for the next few months, he got fed up and just said "Nope! Cancel my service!". Me, email us to notify a change in prices and plans, and let me decide from there.

I understand the concerns of app makers, and yes, they have to make a living. But this is NOT the solution. Allowing users to try the apps (not speaking about freemium here), allowing special sales or promoting them (like Steam), allowing true upgrade paths (reduced prices for owners of a previous version), ... this should have been part of the platform from the start. Building a healthy relationship with your customers is what makes them get back to you when you have a new version or a new product, or simply when they can afford it.

Consumers of mobile markets are VERY skittish about freemium models (yes, some of them are truly awful, but I feel consumers don't spend the time to research what's truly exploitive, vs. something that's akin to the shareware models of computing in the 80s and 90s).

Promos and sales on Steam have devalued some of the wares there. FWIW, games are entertainment and strictly optional, whereas apps used for work and making a living have a much easier time charging premium pricing. However, Steam games tend to be much more expensive, so a dev would rather have a 10% sale off on a $20 game, vs. a $5 game that sells for full price on mobile markets.

"Upgrade paths".. does this exist for the iOS App Store? IIRC, no? In the past, the closest thing they could do is just to release a 2.0 of their app, and charge for that since Apple didn't allow users to charge for updates. Oh, they could also introduce it in the form of IAP, but that might have issues for newcomers who should be on 2.0 version of an app to start with

 

[tranceking26]

What's next? paid for version that costs less but has adverts?

 

[BaldiMac]

From their blog post :
View attachment 2044522
Smell BS, as their cost increase after release.
Looks like they mix a cumulative cost curve with a non cumulative revenue curve.

That's silly. As their customer base grows, they add more programmers and support staff. Of course their costs grow.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Still, the concept was fair. The developer made one time investment in developing a piece of software, then got to sell that work for years.

No, the developer NEVER made a “one time investment”. From the day it shipped, they didn’t let all the developers go, sit back and just rake in the profits. They were continually fixing bugs, updating or modifying features AND keeping up with OS changes. And, from the customer, there was an expectation of constant free updates. Not to mention paying support teams to reply to calls and emails about the product. There’s far more money spent after code delivery SUPPORTING a piece of software than there is spent on the initial release. This reality, over the years, has finally been understood and subscriptions are a response to that reality.

 

[Analog Kid]

A lifetime purchase option will remain available for $59.99

I’m ok with this. $60 is a completely reasonable price for an app like this. I don’t mind subscription as an option for other people, as long as lifetime purchase remains an option for me.

 

[philstubbington]

Of course you are affected, you will no longer get any updates and eventually your copy will no longer run. Better hope there isn't an OS update that breaks it.

That’s not what it says in the blog post.

 

[TheDailyApple]

You can do this for any subscription in the App store. That’s actually why Netflix DOESN’T want their subscription paid through the app store It’s too easy to “turn it on for a month” and immediately unsubscribe.

At some point in the past, service would end if you canceled the trial (Apple services still do this), but sometime within the past few years it was changed so that you still had access to the trial just like you would the paid subscription until the renewal date.

What I’d like though is for there to be an auto-renew toggle in the payment prompt to remove the need to go to settings and cancel. But that’s not happening anytime soon.

 

[radus]

I think I will switch back to Adobe the abo for photographers is not that bad (Photoshop and Lightroom). (or may be GIMP)