The Mac App Store is looking to be a bigger shift than I had originally anticipated. There may not be as many new and interesting apps as I had hoped for (many seem like re-hashes of existing Mac apps), but there are a number of interesting licensing and pricing changes to consider.
APP LICENSES
Yesterday I read the blog post from Sophie Teutschler about CoverSutra 2.5 (an iTunes controller app) becoming an App Store exclusive and how this forced her to treat existing users just like new ones. However, as many rants as there were in the comments of that post, the asking price was still only $5.00. That’s a pretty paltry sum for a desktop app upgrade.
Pixelmator is a little different, though. In my zeal to post on the deal yesterday, I either neglected or just plain ignored some of the extra text about Pixelmator’s transition to the App Store, the details of which now give me pause.
It’s not that I think that Pixelmator is trying to cash in big here, especially since they’ve still offered to push all 1.x updates to existing, non-App Store users. I also realize that the Pixelmator is basically showing the upgrade pricing for 2.0 well in advance of it’s release, simply because of the App Store’s arrival. However, I still feel a fair amount of queasiness seeing a few of my favourite apps suddenly showing their upgrade prices all at once — especially since I’m not completely sure they’ll be this cheap when the time to upgrade comes around. I’m sure I’ll eventually shell out to upgrade all of my favourite Mac apps, but seeing it like this just makes it look so damn expensive.
For the final word on Mac App Store licensing, please see this catchy little website, cleverly entitled “if I bought your app already, can I update it through the Mac App Store?“ (via Daring Fireball). Again, this doesn’t mean that your current licenses for apps are dying — just that they will likely only be supported until the next major software version.
[Extra link love: Joshua Schnell over at Macgasm also shared some thoughts on the Pixelmator license change, except he focuses more on how trials are going to be pretty tough to come by.
However, I also think there are definite ways around this, since in-app purchasing of extra features should be even easier to implement on the Mac. Alfred is a good example of this.
Edit Jan 10: I’ve since learned that there are currently no in-app purchases on the Mac App Store, though MAS apps like Things and Pixelmator are still offering demos through their websites.]
MAC APP STORE PRICING
Here’s a pretty big example of Mac App Store pricing that I haven’t seen too many people screaming about: Aperture 3 for $80. That’s a $120 price drop from a week ago, when I was looking at Aperture and thinking, “hahahaha, there’s no way I’m going to be able to afford that any time soon!”
Well, if the App Store is any indication, maybe I should laugh at things more often (hahaha, Lamborghini!).
Aperture isn’t the only app that has come down in price, either. Richard Gaywood assembled some great stats on TUAW that show that there are basically two major price brackets: $0-5 and $10-50. There are some exceptions, of course, but it does look like a promising start from a “my wallet was scared of you, App Store” perspective.
MY TAKEAWAY
The biggest question I have at this point is how many developers will consider moving to the App Store exclusively. I realize that I do like the looks of the lower prices, but I’m not sure how I feel about having *everything* come to me through the App Store. The freedom to pick and choose from a variety of apps is one of the strengths of the desktop, and I am getting just a little nervous about more developers following Pixelmator and CoverSutra’s lead.
Continue reading:
- Everything New Apple Just Announced (Septembe
- Apple Watch Pre-Order
- Apple Research Kit launches with 5 Apps
- Apple TV now only $69
TAGS: App Store, Mac Apps
