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

[ralphthemagi]

I agree, it's too bad as I would support the developer and pay for a single use license and pay for each new version over a subscription any day.

You say that, but you'll be pissed if you have to re-buy the same app every two years because Apple deprecated some function or pushed some breaking change in a recent OS update that crashes the app.

The reality of development today is that nothing you create is forever. When you push an app to iOS or macOS today you can maybe be able to guarantee functionality for 18-24 months. Maybe. The odds are good that a breaking change will require you to spend time and money to update your apps. By the 4 year mark it's almost guaranteed that some (or all) of your app will no longer work on the most recent OS update which isn't really voluntary anymore for your users—especially since they may update their device which can't be downgraded.

Long gone are the days where you could buy software and run it for a decade unless you want to do that on a device that is airgapped from the internet and never updated.

There are tens of thousands of apps that were developed for earlier versions of iOS that are completely lost to time.

 

[steve09090]

They will definitely stop giving the existing users updates within 12-16 months.

How? It’s the same app from the App Store. They are offering, monthly, yearly and permanently on this app. Those who have already purchased it are in the permanently group of the new price structure. The only way they can do that is by changing to a whole new App, like Fantastical did, which is possible of course., which would really really pee of people who buy it under the new structure.

You say that, but you'll be pissed if you have to re-buy the same app every two years because Apple deprecated some function or pushed some breaking change in a recent OS update that crashes the app.

It will get updated the same as a monthly subscription version gets updated. It’s the same app.

 

[femike]

Bye bye. Don't agree with the subscription epidemic.

 

[willchris]

So from one time payment of 8 bucks to $5 every month?!
If it was the only app of its sort I'd never use it. Talk about greed..

 

[Max Webb]

Everything these days is subscription based and becomes very hard to justify purchases. In the UK we are in the midst of a huge recession about to be compounded most people are unable to pay energy bills and food bills never mind worry about more subscriptions, I had to stop using apps due to changing to subscription models. Netflix, Disney plus, I had to get rid of all that too as its just too damn expensive. My life my wage became nothing due to subscriptions, but without them you have nothing. over the past 5 years where apps wouldn't drain your bank account on a monthly basis was bliss, but as more and more apps started to change they all saw the $$$ money potential instead of a one of payment, they could get the same amount monthly indefinitely. There will become a time when everyone will try to get that last drop off money from your bank account monthly that at some point the entire system will fail as everyone will be competing until others can't sustain and go out of business. Im sick of everything from games, tv, productivity, and everything else being subscription based. Its counter intuitive to progress as people stop using it.

 

[Max Webb]

How? It’s the same app from the App Store. They are offering, monthly, yearly and permanently on this app. Those who have already purchased it are in the permanently group of the new price structure. The only way they can do that is by changing to a whole new App, like Fantastical did, which is possible of course., which would really really pee of people who buy it under the new structure.


It will get updated the same as a monthly subscription version gets updated. It’s the same app.

This is what they will do, in 12 to 18 months they will come out with a brand new app with a shiny number 2 on the end of it subscription only. No more updates to the old app then.

 

[Asbow]

Well, as a casual user it's good bye Pixelmator. Can anyone recommend a pay once alternative for Mac desktop for when they stop updating the non subscription thing?

Check out Affinity Photo. Great app. £45 or so.

 

[steve09090]

This is what they will do, in 12 to 18 months they will come out with a brand new app with a shiny number 2 on the end of it subscription only. No more updates to the old app then.

Looking into my crystal ball, I see that if they did that, that'd be the end of them. Which is possible.

Fantastical 2 turned into Subscription only "Calendar for Fantastical" and you get all the functionality except everything new.

Notability went subscription only, but those who paid for the full version get full use and updates with it, although some new features may be restricted. After a massive backlash they backflipped on their intentions to force people into subscription.

 

[xbjllb]

Subscription pricing = more corporate slavery

 

[Unregistered 4U]

It's things of this nature that gave rise to digital piracy... and will continue to feed it.

Which is, of course, why folks REALLY want sideloading. Developer’s can’t make good money on Android even though there’s far more those in the world than iPhones.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Subscription based apps will push users more and more to use the built in-apps, locking users into an ecosystem even further. Developers are shooting themselves in the foot here. When Apple’s built in apps are good enough users won’t subscribe to apps unless they offer something truly unique.

Just recently, productivity applications became more profitable than games due to subscriptions. While there’s a lot of people that don’t like them, there appears to be lot more people that are comfortable with supporting companies with a subscription.

 

[McTaste]

How? It’s the same app from the App Store. They are offering, monthly, yearly and permanently on this app. Those who have already purchased it are in the permanently group of the new price structure. The only way they can do that is by changing to a whole new App, like Fantastical did, which is possible of course., which would really really pee of people who buy it under the new structure.


It will get updated the same as a monthly subscription version gets updated. It’s the same app.

They will just release Pixelmator v2 whenever they want to stop supporting the $7.99 people. Tweetbot and others do it.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Perhaps I'm showing my age, but there was a time before we had broadband internet when I used to buy boxed software that was never patched. I am talking about back in the day, i.e. when MS Office came on ~23 x 3.5in Floppy Disks...

Yes, but even then, there was still support, both the staff and the power and the telecommunications hardware all with upkeep costs. One difference is I believe that many companies scored a number of institutional sales and THOSE were their “subscriptions” that kept the lights on between releases. The folks that were buying individual copies were just bonus on top of that.

 

[LV426]

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

Really?

Pixelmator are perfectly at liberty to create new versions of their app with new compelling features that people are willing to buy. That’s how most software developers stayed “in business” for decades.

 

[LV426]

Bug fixes should be free. I expect to get what I paid for, it if it doesn’t work right yet I expect it fixed.

Conversely I don’t expect what I didn’t pay for, so feature improvements and OS compatibility shouldn’t be free.

Amen to that!

 

[svish]

Prefer to buy it outright. At least a lifetime purchase option remains available, even though it is costlier now.

 

[Analog Kid]

It's worth a reminder that Pixelmator is doing the right thing here: they're offering a one time purchase option in parallel with the subscription. The conversation has turned sour on subscriptions, but that shouldn't tarnish what Pixelmator is doing.

And yet you can’t seem to see the similarities between buying each new version coming out say, yearly, for X quid, and a subscription.

Similar, yes, but also very different in important ways: I don't have to buy a new version if it adds no value and, even if I don't buy the new version, I can continue using the previous version in perpetuity. With a subscription I often lose features I'd relied on to create content in the past up to and sometimes including the ability to view that content.

Not all subscriptions are quite so draconian, but many are and many can become so. I won't put myself in a position where my past content can be held for ransom.

 

[umbilical]

Glad that I choose Affinity Photo over Adobe and Pixelmator, I hope Affinity never moves to subscription.

 

[MandiMac]

Hm
I mean before you couldn't possibly increase the monthly cost could u ?
If a customer paid 3 bucks per month you could not change that and make him.pay 4/ month
Now you can
Yes?

They could. But in the past, devs had to inform the user AND the user had to change a setting or confirm the renewal of a subscription - that was a hurdle many users encountered. They removed that, but it's still not sneaky price hike territory.

 

[NoelWalker]

I enjoyed using it on my iPad but its performance was just not that good on my 10.5 iPP (due to the lack of neural engines I assume). Wished it had the Mac version free for existing users like me. Oh well, the stock photo app serves me just as good for causal edits.

 

[Atarikid]

What are the big differences between pixelmator photo, and pixelmator pro? I'm not sure why I would want Pixelmator Photo on Mac if I already have Pixelmator Pro.

Pixelmator Photo is iOS only.

 

[VintageDude]

I know it is fashionable to complain about everything these days, but this still seems to be a bargain. If you need this software then it is still worth the subscription cost they are asking for, but then I am getting old and have gone through the era when software was crazy expensive. It all seems to be so cheap these days. I still can't believe how inexpensive Procreate is for such a powerful program.

 

[Steve121178]

I want a a calculator app for my iPad (wtf Apple?) and one of the best seems to require either putting up with a lot of ads or subscribing.

SUBSCRIBING TO A CALCULATOR!?

Insanity!

There's literally dozens and dozens of free ones. I paid something like £8 (one-off payment) for PCalc which is one of the best calculator apps on iPad. It's also my go-to calculator app on my iPhone too. Having purchased this 5-6 years ago I think it's been value for money.

 

[jsamuelson]

I'm not feeling too much angst about this as despite having already bought it I don't use it that much. Photos natively does the usual Apple thing of doing 80% of what most people typically need including me.

However - the value proposition from Pixelmator at $5 a month is way off (for me)...consider Netflix/NY Times/Apple Music which are in the same ballpark cost and it starts to look like a poor deal.

 

[ejpeg]

As a consumer I also kind dislike all the subscriptions. But as a developer I totally agree with them. People have no idea how expensive it is to develop and maintain an app. Especially for indy developers on a small scale. And apple has killed people's perspective of what software should cost. A $3 coffee a day is fine but $3 a year for an app that really helps you everyday is not ok?