Small independent developer-owned software stores are dead. No one purchases directly from developers any more.
Period.
The (Mac) App Store it is now. Wether we like it or not. So we have to deal with it.
And with the App Store Guidelines and the new Sandboxing – developers have to make hard decisions.
To voluntarily cripple the App? Kill it? Try it outside of the App Store?
So – no matter which decision it will be for an App – you will frustrate a part of your customers and users. Without exception – no doubt.
As you know – I really tried it to have it both ways. App Store and own store – and guess what? I failed. I failed completely.
Visitors and purchases on MOApp have dropped over 80 percent the last year. I guess there is nothing left to say.
Don’t get me wrong – Ollerum still has enough to eat :–)
But it is time to make decisions. Tough decisions. Decisions that will frustrate some of you. And me. But you’ve (you in terms of majority of Mac owners solely using the App Store) made the decision already for all of us. You want it this way.
Long story short:
I am moving my Apps to the App Store. Period. At least most of them in one or the other way.
Apps that will (hopefully) make it on the the App Store. Apps, that will have a chance to pass the review and Apps that can be sandboxed. This also means, that there will be Apps I have to kill.
For some I already have replacements on the App Store and some simply won’t survive.
Currently I am working on Free – the successor for one of my best and most important Apps. myTexts was the first plain text only App of its kind (for me Ulysses is a different kind of App), with features you will now find in almost any ‘distraction free’ writing tool on the App Store.
myTexts was the first with background patterns to better work with glossy screens, the first with Markdown enabled preview and export. The first with paragraph highlighting and the very first text only App with an extra custom made font. myTexts is (was) used by journalists (SPIEGEL, NYT, BG etc.) and copywriters around the world.
And I am very sad, that myTexts won’t make it into the App Store. At least not in its current state. And it is not the only App from MOApp:
myTexts pro will be killed. I am sorry – but it simply won’t make it into the App Store. But it also does not make any sense to sell it outside of the App Store – it has become a very expensive hobby. I’ve written an iCloud enabled successor, able to open myTexts documents and optimized for the App Store, Sandboxing and already fit for Mountain Lion. And because it would be stupid not to have a look at what people actually are buying and using – it is no longer working with a database. Free (its name) is document based and makes uses of all the good Lion stuff (Auto Save, Resume, iCloud etc.). And with Mountain Lion documents and databases will become obsolete anyhow. Owners of myTexts pro who purchased it within the last three months will be able to request a redeem code for Free or can request a refund. Because of fundamental changes no single word will be lost, but you will have to import and sort your texts once.
myWritings will be killed. There is an alternative on the App Store – Write. I am currently writing an update for Write that will bring most additional features of myWritings into the App Store – but of course not all. As soon as I’ve finished it and it has passed the review – owners of myWritings who purchased it within the last three months will be able to request a redeem code for Write or can request a refund. Because myWritings/Write are document based Apps – no one will lose a single word :–)
myDiary will be killed as well. There is no chance to get it into the App Store and again – there is no chance to work on it outside of the App Store as well. I’ve already a very popular journaling application on the App Store – Diary. And myDiary will receive a last update enabling you to migrate your complete myDiary journal (incl. all photos and videos and documents) to Diary. As you can imagine, that is lots of work and will take some time. But the moment it is done you can easily switch and I am pretty sure you will love your new diary. Of course owners of myDiary who purchased it within the last three months will also be able to request a redeem code for Diary or are enabled to request a refund.
myRecipes will also be killed. Again – there is no chance to pass the guidelines or to sandbox it. But – don’t worry. There is also an alternative already available on the App Store and Recipes will also receive an update enabling all owners to migrate their current recipes collection into the App Store App without losing a single ingredient. Do I have to repeat it? OK – here you are. The moment that update is available owners of myRecipes who purchased it within the last three months can request a redeem code or a refund. No questions asked.
myWallet will also be killed and there is already a successor on the App Store. Wallet can import myWallet databases – thus you won’t lose a single password. And again – owners of myWallet who purchased it within the last three months can request a redeem code or a refund. Unfortunately I’m not allowed to ‘import’ the used encryption into the App Store and therefore use for the App Store, thus: no import :-(
myTaskNotes will be killed. But there is already a successor available on the App Store and an update is already submitted. That updated brings all myTaskNotes features into the App Store and you can import your tasks and notes with a single click. And of course: Owners of myTaskNotes who who purchased it within the last three months can request a redeem code or a refund.
myClippings will be killed and I already have a successor on the App Store – Clippings. But it may be possible that I also have to kill that version because of the Sandboxing. Currently it does not comply with the rules and chances are, that Apple will not have a heart. I’ll keep you posted.
myManuals is still available outside of the App Store – but I am already working on an App Store Version. But this will take some time. I am very confident that there will be no problems and that a transition won’t cause any trouble.
mySnippets is dead. Sorry. No chance to bring it into the App Store :–( If you’ve purchased it within the last three months – please contact me. I will issue a refund.
myPhotos – well, I am still evaluating the options. I’ll keep you posted :–)
myTumblr – well… I surely have to drop the name. Tumblr changed their terms. I am not allowed to use the name anymore and I am still evaluation the options.
ALL APPS I’VE ALREADY KILLED OR ARE ABOUT TO KILL – ARE PERFECTLY WORKING WITH OS X LION AND MOUNTAIN LION AS WELL. SO YOU WILL BE ABLE TO USE THEM FOR AT LEAST TWO MORE YEARS WITHOUT ANY PROBLEMS. SHOULD THERE BE A PROBLEM IN THE FUTURE I WILL OF COURSE ROLL OUT BUG FIX UPDATES!
Most of us (developers) are dealing with the same questions and decisions and rest assured – we don’t won’t to rip of our loyal customers or make a quick buck. We want to write the best Apps and to be able to pay our bills.
Thanks for your understanding and should you have any questions or concerns – please just get in touch…
