Ulysses 19 Brings Material Sheets, Mouse Support on iPad, Keywords in Markdown Files, and More

[sideshowuniqueuser]

Why exactly is Office or Photoshop magically worth a subscription but Ulysses isn't? Office has competitors that are pretty decent and do mostly the same, Photoshop has absolutely outstanding competitors. Ulysses is a terrific app if you want to write. If you're actually using it, it's worth it. And $40 a year is a lot cheaper than Microsoft's $69 or $99 a year.
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Because...? Because for a 1-time payment, the developers are supposed to keep working for free, forever? This nonsense is the reason why we can't get pro-level apps on the App Store. It's not like Ulysses has stagnated. They're continuing to develop it. You have absolutely no idea what the user base is, and probably don't have a grown-up's knowledge of paying overhead of an office, then going home and paying rent for a home and trying to support a family. I seriously doubt that the devs are living in opulence over my paltry subscription fee.

There are many ways for developers to make money. I, for one, am very happy with my zero-time, $0 payment for LibreOffice. Sure, it's not as nice and pretty as Ulysses, but it does the job. How do the developers make any money from all their hours of free volunteer work for this Open Source Software? Individuals gain knowledge and fame for their contributions, which lead to high paying jobs. If they are lead contributors, or the original authors of popular open source software, then they will be regularly targeted for extremely high paying gigs. Companies that contribute to or produce free open source software usually have a model of selling consulting and support to corporate users.

Other software is distributed for free, and payed for on an optional donation basis. I have no idea how much this can earn, but I know, for example, that the top earners on Patreon earn more than US$50k per month in donations.

The subscription model seems to be growing in popularity, and I can see why - a small monthly payment seems trivial, even though it amounts to much much more in the long run than a user would be willing to pay as a one off purchase. But as the popularity grows, people will start to realise they only have limited funds for subscriptions, and the market will saturate. I think many of us have already started to look at our subscriptions, and are cutting them to the bone as much as possible.

 

[4jasontv]

Who is being ripped off? Ulysses is a seriously nice app for writing lengthy manuscripts. And if you're using it for that, day-in and day-out, $5/mo is a quite reasonable price.

There seem to be a lot of people these days who feel entitled to high quality software for pennies, but wouldn't be willing to do their job for pennies an hour. Really good software takes a lot of time and effort (and skill) to write and to maintain and update. If the app isn't for you, fine, but when you start throwing around phrases like "awfully shameless" and "ripped off", and asserting that anyone who buys it has zero sense, you sound pretty ignorant and self-entitled. I read your comment as a condemnation of you, not of the developers or their customers.

What subscriptions have done, unfortunately, is cause apps to cast off a lot of casual users. Something like Ulysses is good enough and interesting enough for me to pay $20 or so, upfront, in order to experiment with (in fact, I did just that, years ago), but not useful enough to me to pay $5/mo every month going forward. I recognize that it's very well written and complex software, and worth the price if you really need what it does. Unfortunately, I don't need it that much.

This was so weird to read. First you claim it is a good app that is reasonably priced. You proactively accuse people who disagree with you of being ignorant and entitled. You badmouth people who feel it's dishonest to charge full price for an application and support only to keep their money and demand a subscription fee. Then, as if you suddenly appreciated their perspective you justify why the old pricing was better, before admitting that you too got ripped off by the developer who charged you full price and reneged on the agreement to give you updated support that was originally included with the cost of your purchase. You throw shade at the developer by calling it poorly written simple software and completely undermining your very first point. Suddenly you say it is only worth the price if you really need what it does. Your emphasis, not mine. Only to finish off the post by dismissively saying you don't need it.

I am not saying you are wrong. No one can. You agreed with every single perspective.
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The subscription model seems to be growing in popularity, and I can see why - a small monthly payment seems trivial, even though it amounts to much much more in the long run than a user would be willing to pay as a one off purchase. But as the popularity grows, people will start to realise they only have limited funds for subscriptions, and the market will saturate. I think many of us have already started to look at our subscriptions, and are cutting them to the bone as much as possible.

One of the overlooked issues with subscriptions is that $5 a month for 12 months costs more than $60 because the subscription adds just a little bit of stress to your life. It includes the need to remember you will be billed for it. . It adds clutter to your statement. It makes you reassess the value it adds to your life by keeping it. It adds trace guilt when you do something else and don't use it even though you could. One single subscription doesn't do that but many of them combined do.

 

[Traverse]

Long time Ulysses user. It's a great app.

I've got to say though, subscription models suck. I would happily pay $49 or $99 for a lifetime, one-time license (even if it's the same version and does not include future updates as long as the version I have continues to work...) because people cannot progress financially in life if everything becomes a subscription model.

Because of this, I have since migrated back to Apple Notes. It's surprisingly good and accomplishes everything I need a writing and document repository app to do. The fact that it's reliable, consistent, and cross-platform across the Mac OS/iOS platforms makes it a no-brainer when switching. You can even export everything from Ulysses to Notes. It's a slow, manual process, but worth sucking up as a one time hit if you're committed to switching.

I've used Ulysses, Bear, and everything in-between. The Apple Notes app is severely under appreciated.

I agree that Apple notes is a truly fantastic program, but I use it for quick notes or reference material in part because of the great syncing and also because of its super deep integration into iOS.

I use Ulysses, however, for my actual writing. It has become an invaluable tool for me. For example, I have set up Shortcuts that create a new dated sheet inside a folder for whatever month it currently is to act as a daily journal. And that is just one use of it. Is it is extremely customizable with several types of automation through Shortcuts.

I do understand subscription fatigue, but that is why today people have to evaluate what is worth the money. For me, $30 a year for an application I use constantly is nothing. In all honesty, I feel bad when I have an application that I truly love and use substantially that I only paid for once a long time ago in that continues to receive support.

I’ve used Scrivener for WAAAY more worth than my one-time $50so much so that I wish I could give them more money. But hey, I’m one of those people who tip with IAP even when there is no incentive. Different priorities for different people, I suppose.

 

[CarlJ]

You throw shade at the developer by calling it poorly written simple software and completely undermining your very first point.

No wonder you're confused. You're not reading very well. I never said that - indeed, that's the opposite of what I think.

 

[4jasontv]

No wonder you're confused. You're not reading very well. I never said that - indeed, that's the opposite of what I think.

I hope you can understand the temporary confusion considering the chaos it was bundled with. But at least we agree on the rest of it.

 

[johannnn]

There are many ways for developers to make money. I, for one, am very happy with my zero-time, $0 payment for LibreOffice. Sure, it's not as nice and pretty as Ulysses, but it does the job. How do the developers make any money from all their hours of free volunteer work for this Open Source Software? Individuals gain knowledge and fame for their contributions, which lead to high paying jobs. If they are lead contributors, or the original authors of popular open source software, then they will be regularly targeted for extremely high paying gigs. Companies that contribute to or produce free open source software usually have a model of selling consulting and support to corporate users.

Other software is distributed for free, and payed for on an optional donation basis. I have no idea how much this can earn, but I know, for example, that the top earners on Patreon earn more than US$50k per month in donations.

The subscription model seems to be growing in popularity, and I can see why - a small monthly payment seems trivial, even though it amounts to much much more in the long run than a user would be willing to pay as a one off purchase. But as the popularity grows, people will start to realise they only have limited funds for subscriptions, and the market will saturate. I think many of us have already started to look at our subscriptions, and are cutting them to the bone as much as possible.

LOL why even mention how much the top earners of any platform make? Nadal has made $110 million since he started. That doesn't mean a tennis career is a good choice.
Good luck starting a company solely based on donations!

If you want only software that "it's not as nice and pretty as X, but it does the job", then sure go with free software. In this case, Notes.app is fine.
But there are many professional customers that wants more than "does the job".
If all I wanted was products that "does the job", I for sure wouldn't buy the iMac, iPad Pro, iPhone 11, and Series 5 watch that sits in front of me. I'd go with some cheap Xiaomi devices.

 

[Steve121178]

I liked Ulysses but didn't bother to renew my subscription when it expired. It's too expensive for what it is.

But if you write for a living then it's a no brainer.

 

[4487549]

Long time Ulysses user. It's a great app.

I've got to say though, subscription models suck. I would happily pay $49 or $99 for a lifetime, one-time license (even if it's the same version and does not include future updates as long as the version I have continues to work...) because people cannot progress financially in life if everything becomes a subscription model.

Because of this, I have since migrated back to Apple Notes. It's surprisingly good and accomplishes everything I need a writing and document repository app to do. The fact that it's reliable, consistent, and cross-platform across the Mac OS/iOS platforms makes it a no-brainer when switching. You can even export everything from Ulysses to Notes. It's a slow, manual process, but worth sucking up as a one time hit if you're committed to switching.

I've used Ulysses, Bear, and everything in-between. The Apple Notes app is severely under appreciated.

Can Apple Notes be sorted manually yet?

 

[JediStarWars]

Can Apple Notes be sorted manually yet?

Alas not. You can sort by Title, Date Edited, or Date Created, but no manual sort yet.

For my personal needs, this is not a big deal - the search functionality is pretty robust and you can pin/lock important notes to the top. I also employ multiple folders and sub folders to keep everything organized.