What upsets me is the message Apple used, they could have been diplomatic and said that this version of the application won’t work on the next macOS, but instead they tried to shame developers and possibly mislead consumers by saying that a 32-Bit application affects the performance of the computer.
I guess if Apple told the truth, it might make consumers avoid updating even more.
I wonder if they’ll continue to sell all the old 32-Bit abandon ware on the App Store?
But effective IMHO.
For the people using beta OS, the answer is pretty simple: add an entry in the “plan” to say your application may eventually be ready at OS release time. (the reader may understand to wait 'till youre OK to deliver).
General public usually are people who understand provided we give them information in due time (or a bit earlier).
Stupid persons: no one will ever get ride of them, so an entry in the said plan and forget about them (even if they are paying customer).
Hard, but youd better use your time to push your applications to 64Bits instead of wasting it to stupid things.
That said, 64Bits Applications can be good or bad is not the subject. They will be a restriction soon. Nothing to say about that.
@ Sam
I don’t think it is wrong to ask an update fee for a new version (even if it is only a 32bit to 64bit migration). Not sure why you think developers need to give updates for free. I would happy to pay for an Appwrapper 64bit. Customers need to be and actually are aware everything is not for free.
[quote=371224:@Christoph De Vocht]@ Sam
I don’t think it is wrong to ask an update fee for a new version (even if it is only a 32bit to 64bit migration). Not sure why you think developers need to give updates for free. I would happy to pay for an Appwrapper 64bit. Customers need to be and actually are aware everything is not for free.[/quote]
I am sorry if my message wasn’t very clear, I’m not always good at getting across what I mean. I think because consumers don’t understand what’s involved in making software, they always seem to expect everything for FREE. In this case, we’ve replaced some of our apps that I know for sure won’t work in 10.14, but I still have some customers who expect paid updates for FREE. We already offer a discount to those who’ve purchased in the past, but even then I get people complaining. So I am anticipating running a promotion for these really old apps, where these consumers can upgrade to the latest, but for a very nominal FEE, the idea being that it’s small enough the consumer doesn’t think twice and yet enough to warrant the continuation on that product line.
So no I don’t think anybody should give away FREE updates, especially not if there is a lot of work involved in making your application ‘compatible’ with 10.14, but suggesting that we developers consider making it a small FEE for a 64-Bit update (especially if your update is only to make it compatible with 10.14).
Apple is playing a perception game with us, making Apple look like the good guys, and us developers look like the bad guys because we’re making apps that will slow the customers computer down (which IMHO is at least a bit of a lie, if not a complete lie). There are valid reasons as to why an application might still be 32-Bit.
Same apply for OS upgrades (I am still at El Capitan and the upgrade is free).
Beside waiting for the new HFS replacement, I forgot why I do not upgraded. But 2 OS behind is new for me (I was 1 OS version in the back for some years ).
There are always customers who complain and they will be no different when you explain the situation. That’s my take on it.
In my experience, customers are more then willing to pay for an upgrade. I mostly use 50% discount.
As of 2017r3, all examples should have the Mac build architecture set to 64-bit. If you come across any that are not set that way, please let me know.
My understanding is that it only appears once per app. I’m not aware of a global setting to turn it off.
@Paul Lefebvre : all of the database examples are set to 32bit. And the IPCSocket one.
The rest looks okay.
I intend to issue 64 bit versions of my popular apps, but since Apple does not accept paid upgrades in the MAS, I will create new listings. Yes, it will be harsh on all those poor customers who like infant dodo birds in their nest open their little beak to have free stuff fed to them. No, I am not going to be a cheap date just to be nice.
Apple users pay a small fortune for hardware, I don’t see why they should get free updates forever.
[quote=371238:@Christoph De Vocht]There are always customers who complain and they will be no different when you explain the situation. That’s my take on it.
In my experience, customers are more then willing to pay for an upgrade. I mostly use 50% discount.[/quote]
Most of what we sell on the MAS is pocket money for an average Mac user anyway. When a dongle for USB-C is already $69.00 we should not be shy to ask for a a fair price.
Yep!
I used to sell Lightwright for a pretty cheap rate, it’s an unusual piece of software for a niche market. When I switched distributors 20 years ago, the first thing they did was double the price. It sold more, the dealers made more and I made more - enough to make it worth writing.
Last year there was a major upgrade, when I saw the prices the distributor was suggesting for both new sales and upgrades, I gasped at how high they were. Not one customer complained (it had been 7 years since the last upgrade).
So if you think your software is desirable, useful, and not easily copied, charge what you need to.
The main concern I have about consumers and developers moving away from Apple is reduced need for cross platform apps. macOS becomes more niche and customers are asking for Windows first and macOS as a “nice to have”.
Like many of you my friends and family have all switched to Android and have no desire to pay the Apple tax on any of their machines. Computers have for the most part become disposable and with cloud services there is little incentive to invest significant money into them. If their $800 special breaks or ends up lost or stolen they are content to just replace it.
Sadly the reality for Xojo on Windows is it is not currently competitive with .NET by any metric. It is slower, can’t exceed one core, flickers, has little to no access to advanced controls like date pickers and grids, etc. So if you end up primarily focusing on Windows then Xojo is hard to justify.
I used VB to develop Windows Store apps. It is way less friendly than Xojo. Production is slow and cumbersome. A project folder is a mess scattered all over.
Sure, Xojo somewhat flickers if the project is started on Mac with stacked controls. If correctly raised on the Windows platform, flicker is negligible. And the recent efforts by William promise to make it even better.
My Check Writer III+ and Check Print’R+ do sell very well on Amazon. Proof that an original app sells well no matter the development tool, if written correctly. Sure, I had to create a date picker, the Listbox required some doing, I had to create my own Windows 10 notifications, and that is probably not the last custom controls I will need. But the agility of Xojo RAD is such, I did not have to spend countless hours grappling with a monster.
In the end the tool is much less important than what you are able to do with it.
Very true.
I say we start a campaign to resurrect the best, most secure, and most compatible version of Mac OS ever - Mac OS 10.4.11. Everything just worked.