It seems that the Mac App Store subscriptions are being opened to all applications starting on Monday. It is the normal 70/30 split for the first year then 85/15 for all years after that. Many of my apps would work well as subscription rather than straight sale and getting 85% of each long term sale would be great.
I think this is wonderful, but what do others think? (I assume this will be offered by other platforms over time). Will you move your apps to become subscriptions?
Yes, I read about this earlier too, it’s fantastic news. It opens the App Store up to new opportunities and new models. The Schiller is shaking things up at last.
For those not in the know: https://developer.apple.com/app-store/subscriptions/whats-new/
Personally I dont care for software subscriptions.
Especially if it means that should I not renew that I cannot open my old documents.
Here thats actually illegal for a software vendor to do and it may be elsewhere.
Basically you cant hold a users data hostage.
Xojo’s license is a good example of how to do it right.
That version continues to work but it doesn’t permit you to use the new version etc.
Personally I don’t care for them either but as someone who also sells software, I like to have that option, especially as it gives an alternative to all this in-app purchase crap.
I get that as a seller having the option to sell that way is nice.
From the buyers its nice to have a choice to do one or the other.
I kind of liked & hated Apple’s old “its a new purchase every time” for things like iWork before they started just giving it away.
I liked it because it was a buy it once use it forever model.
Until you updated to OS X 10.whatever & it no longer worked so you HAD to update whether you wanted to or not.
That sucked.
So I like Xojo’s set up where you can use it til it dies or renew & stay up to date
You have the choice for it to be a subscription or not.
Oh yes in app purchase is nuts
I have a couple games I like to play to kill time & they are driving me nuts with updates that basically seem to add yet more stuff you can purchase in the app and nothing more
[quote=270696:@Norman Palardy]Xojo’s license is a good example of how to do it right.
That version continues to work but it doesn’t permit you to use the new version etc.[/quote]
I think so too. I personally like that model.
At first I laughed at Adobe’s attempt, because it wasn’t good value for money, however when they dropped it to $10 USD a month, it became an hit. I jumped on board then, because it works out cheaper than if you buy Photoshop (which gets broken with every new release of OS X).
I’m interested in trying the subscription model with a consumer application, I wonder how much control we will have as a developer.
In-App Purchases have not been successful for us, we’ve obviously not hit the balance right and so all out IAP apps are dead ends.
IAP seems workable for certain kinds of products - certainly not all.
The few I’ve interacted with are overpriced IMHO.
$1.99 for a one time use item in a game that really isn’t that big a deal to me. I’m sure someone pays for this. Not me.
I don’t use my iDevices as primary productivity devices. They’re adjuncts to my MBP since Xojo is where I work far too many hours each day 
I don’t even have language references open on them - thats on a tertiary monitor on my MBP.
So I perceive their utility differently than someone who uses it as their daily productivity device (I’m sure there are lots)
And I’m sure that drives what I am willing to pay for and what I’m not.
Even there I tend to buy apps - and have not made any IAP’s in any apps I bought.
I may one day.
But thats just me
Adobe put the price up till it hurts.
Affordable competition springs up that works for most non-Pros (Pixelmator at $29.95)
Adobe goes subscription and increases price
More competition springs up that even works for many Pros (Affinity at $49.95)
Adobe is forced to reduce the price massively
Nowadays the first question is no longer “Where do I get Photoshop?” but “Do I need Photoshop?”, and more often than not the answer is “No”.
Adobe lost a large number of users, a lot of goodwill, and grew their own competition that they now need to fight off.
A subscription needs to add value. Does the subscription for TextExpander at 40 $ a year add anything? Not really. I immediately went to the Goggle and bought a competitor for 5 $.
A subscription is a good fit for higher priced business apps. For the server version of my app I will go this way. But for the consumer version? Don’t think so.
You have time to kill?
Seriously though the subscription model does pay off for companies (at least in NZ) where the sub can be claimed 100% as a cost vs owning and claiming 33%/pa as a “depreciation” - wear & tear on software? Oh those poor electrons 
MS is loving this model with Office 365, and yes when your sub has expired you can only look at the data (including email), but without edit capability.
The 10 minutes I take between work & going to sleep at night 
[quote=270766:@Wayne Golding]Seriously though the subscription model does pay off for companies (at least in NZ) where the sub can be claimed 100% as a cost vs owning and claiming 33%/pa as a “depreciation” - wear & tear on software?
[/quote]
Thats true here too
Expense vs asset
[quote=270766:@Wayne Golding]
MS is loving this model with Office 365, and yes when your sub has expired you can only look at the data (including email), but without edit capability.[/quote]
That is OK - not being able to look at it would get the vendor sued.
You have time, to sleep at night? 
I don’t have bought apps with in app purchase and I’m not planing to buy or support subscriptions in the future.
The 20 minutes I take between work sessions