I see it as a Tick/Tock cycle. Some developers will go down the subscription route and others will not. I’m already seeing companies like DXO Labs, Ergonis and others flat out state they aren’t interested in subscriptions. It will be a marketing angle for a lot of people.
I say let the market decide. Some apps are subscription values and others are not for my needs. I don’t outright reject subscriptions but those apps are first on the chopping block if money gets tight.
At about 13:59, Stephen mentions you can have an email notification turned on to get notifications when an app is going to renew. I cannot find where that is located and would appreciate if someone could point me in the right direction. I would like to get notification of when an app is about to renew.
Thank you.
In Ventura, I go into the App Store and select the Store menu > Account > Account Settings. Look for the line that says Subscriptions with clickable Manage which brings up a screen where you can check the box for Renewal Receipts. I think this is what does it. Whew!
Ah that’s interesting… so what’s your mail provider and password manager now? 
The plan is to lean into iCloud+ more, so I’ve gone back to Mail with a custom domain.
If Apple ever releases a dedicated app for passwords, I’ll switch to that. For now the new Secrets 4 app is great (and no ongoing subscription!)
Sound great! I’m still using Fastmail because of the flexibility etc.
Looking forward to iOS 17 and macOS Sonoma, which will finally support password sharing with family and also others I will migrate from 1P as soon as they are released.
I’ve found iCloud sync so unreliable, I’ve gone the other way. I now have no icloud subscriptions, actually, I’ve cancelled all of my Apple subscriptions due to settings changing in the background without permission or just appalling support that couldn’t solve a problem over a 2 year period.
Well said! I have a few subscriptions, like 1Password, where I use the same features today as I have when I first subscribed.
They may have added new features, but since I don’t use them, they don’t add any value for me. I put up with 1Password since not every computer that I use has iCloud access, and I need to access my passwords on those systems. It’s also really well made and stores many types of data securely, so that is another plus.
The moment I find a viable non-subscription alternative to it, I’ll switch in a heartbeat.
I am not a no-subscription absolutist; however, I also watch for non-subscription alternatives and switch when possible.
These pro subscription arguments are bordering on cognitive dissonance. I’m shocked at the number of people here arguing in favor of subscriptions with such flawed logic.
Charging for ongoing support is one thing but charging a subscription for an app that hasn’t seen significant changes or updates in quite awhile is a scam.
From a business perspective, there is SO MUCH margin in software. That’s why so many of these companies are so profitable. “But such and such app won’t survive”; maybe the app isn’t that good?
Charging for support because you staff a help desk? Sure. If a new platform update comes out that requires new development, then charge for an updated version. But patching? No. That’s the cost of doing business…
A Business determines the price of the product they wish to sell.
A Customer can decide if they want to pay it or not.
Free market.
I’m not a fan of subscriptions but I understand the reasons for the business model. But whether we like it or not it doesn’t look like subscriptions are going away. Like @vikrantsingh_au says, its a free market.
Top subscription app revenue grew 41% in 2021
"In 2016, Apple introduced a change in the app store to reward app subscription models over other pricing models . . . Because of this change from Apple, subscription models are increasingly attractive, as developers could gain 15% more revenue back from Apple. "
No one’s forcing you to subscribe to apps that you don’t think are worth the subscription price. It’s a free market and you can buy (or not buy) whatever software you want.
Doesn’t look like developers need my money. 
I don’t have a problem with developers. Eero+, 1PW, AppleCare+, iCloud+, and Google Workspace is around $390/year.
Content for my TV is nearly $1300. And most of that is non-premium.
Ahhhh this reminds me …I need to cancel my PDF Expert subscription …
Cancelled. Glad I got in at the 50 % discount but 80 dollars a year for a PDF editor is ridiculous.
I’m increasingly using Devonthink more and I subbed to avepdf, taking advantage of a 50 % deal which does almost everything i’d need for $20.
1Password is unassailable at this point. Featureset is unmatched, the comp only offers lower pricing.
Apple One - approaching the chopping block. I never use News, iCloud storage won’t matter as much when I setup my Flash based NAS.
Parcel will stay because it’s so cheap.
Infuse Pro stays - constant development.
Don’t know if i’m keeping Darkroom once I buy DXO it’ll be expendable.
Craft- using it more but will likely take advantage of a Setapp deal later this year which will consolidate my Craft and Cleanshot X annual spends.
Copy’em stays - it’s still my favorite but I still pine for Copied Touch
Airmail - dead app walking …forgot to cancel before it renewed. Final year here as I most likely move my email to Mail Maven
Fastmail - it’s been pure joy to use for my Business. Not going anywhere for now.
Tidal - I get a 40 % military discount making it a nice adjunct when Apple refuses to let some streamers have Apple Music
Future
Mastodon - Probably subbing to Ivory when I move to Sonoma capable Macs
Canva - I think it’ll get a lot of use in my household
Sirius XM - I’ve decided i’m not going to sub to any Podcast apps. I’m going to sub to Sirus XM and leverage premium content.
Probably not happening -
YouTube Premium - I’ve threatened do-googling my household but I think i’m finally at the doorstep. YouTube cramming horrible UX (Rigid layout) “Stories” down my throat at ever turn will not change if I give them money. YT has increasingly become too much ads layered over Sponsored content and other shenanigans.
It’s a fallacy that software has massive margins, this falsehood is pedalled by people who don’t understand what it takes to maintain software in the 2020s, either for “big organisations” or independent developers.
Apart from the fact that software is significantly more complex than it was even 10 years ago, you can’t just create an application and sell it with no expectation that it will need updating and soon.
Between OS updates (including new and deprecation of APIs), 3rd party libraries, and the more than likely server side of a lot of contemporary apps (very few apps act in isolation anymore) any app needs regular attention just to keep working.
If you look at any metrics on the iOS App Store, there are a few big apps and then there’s a massive drop off into the long tail. Many developer don’t sell hundreds of thousands of their app, so if it’s a one off cost of £5, you’re not making megabucks to start with.
Subscription is the only realistic model for the sale of many apps which either have direct ongoing technical costs (APIs, Servers …) or need regular effort to maintain.
There are enough case studies out there which tell us that selling an app for £5 leads to apps being abandoned or new major versions being released every 12-18 months which need to be bought again.
The bottom line is that if you don’t want to pay for subscriptions don’t. But that’s where the industry is going, purely because it’s the most sustainable way for developers to make a living.
Many developers have already died and many are in the death throes.
“You can sell your apps globally” never quite materialized for the masses of iOS developers. The Mac App store had promise but overly restrictive sandboxing relegated it to a secondary source of distribution but not the primary.
Apple sold developer a bill of goods that they put in the bare minimum to support. What subscriptions will do in the short term is provide a lifeline but what happens is dependency on a smaller group of users to keep the ship afloat and without solid scale you are one strong competitor away from your core group migrating away.
Apple gave Developers 15 % back if they keep their subs for the subsequent renewals and also instituted advertising in the App Stores. There is little meritocracy in this world. If your distributor implements paid advertising guess who now becomes their “BFF” …the folks paying them money.
I think for smaller developers …subscriptions are ultimately not the answer. I think something like the Setapp model is the future and could apply to the Fediverse as well. Consumers should pay for the infrastructure with relatively low fees. Content should not be driven by advertising or sponsors but rather views/usage. People that opt into having anonymous usage data should be spared from onerous advertisements. The payment arrangements for sponsorships should be normalized along a certain percentage that is sent to the overall “Pot” with tiered bands.
Modern day social media is rewarding the lowest information discourse and modern day application design is mirroring this with Electron and Web App garbage.
The Freeverse has been co-opted and destroyed young folks need to look at massive walled garden controlled by group and not some C-Suite Executive.
The way I think about it: a one-time purchase app charging $5.99 and produced by a single developer has to sell roughly 17,000 copies a year, every year, without fail, for the developer to gross $100,000. That income has to pay both the developer’s living expenses and any costs (starting with Apple’s fees and running through any server or marketing costs).
Of course, $100k goes farther in some places than others.
