FileMaker and Shazam come to mind here. Both remained independent, except for being owned by Apple. There’s also a precedent with hardware, with how they run Beats. But I agree, this is unlikely to happen here.
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If not, they could possibly buy some program like Adobe did. “ Photoshop was developed in 1987 by the American brothers Thomas and John Knoll” - Britannica
I may be misremembering, but Workflow being purchased by Apple and turned into Shortcuts seems to have turned out pretty well. Even if the team didn’t get to keep working independently, aren’t people generally happy with where Shortcuts is?
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Hmmmm … Maybe not Lightroom Classic, the distinguishing feature of which is its catalogue management tools. Apple seems on the verge of being user-hostile when it comes to media catalogue management.
When Apple bought Dark Sky I was expecting great things.
But still waiting…
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Agreed, but not necessarily because Apple couldn’t per se, but because they’re unlikely to pour the necessary resources into developing a pro-level Photoshop competitor. Photoshop’s suite of tools extend well beyond those that photographers use and it exists within the context of an ecosystem of creative media and design tools that are Adobe’s core business, but not Apple’s.
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Lightroom and Aperture are/were “digital dark rooms” combined with other tools for a full workflow including image management. Pixelmator is neither of these things, Photomator is very much like the editing part of Lightroom/Aperture, but so is Apple Photos, and that has (a version of) file management already.
The big “get” here for Apple, aside from perhaps borrowing specific tools for use in Photos, is the “from scratch” capability of Pixelmator. This is most like Photoshop. But of course Apple should not (and I believe will not) compete with Photoshop any more than Pixelmator does. They are the same type of application aimed at significantly different audiences.
I’d like to call out Photomator as a shining example of how to do iPad interfaces right. Who knew you could put text on controls? (Certainly not Affinity.)
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One thing that came to mind was that Apple might be feeling they miss something in their creative tool chain?
iWork and iLife come to mind here: they offer something to get started and creative in different endeavors: Pages, Keynote Numbers with something document related and iMovie and GarageBand with more media type things …
… but Photos doesn’t really let you get creative anymore except for some rudimentary filter stuff. With Pixelmator getting „part of the iLife suite“ Apple may see a good fit there to close a perceived gab?
Hope my thoughts make sense 
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I hope we get a FileMaker like situation.
I’ve really been thinking about how to replace Lightroom, which I use to catalog management and some lightweight editing.
I fear that Apple may have frozen the entire Lightroom alternative space for several years to come.
- Does Pixelmator continue?
- Do the team disappear inside Apple for several years and build a better Lightroom?
- Do the team disappear and build nothing that matters to me?
All of these freeze me and stop me making changes in the near/medium term.
After a break in photography in 2023 and most of 2024, I dived back in and really did not want to pay for Lightroom. So I was searching and trying different apps. Nothing really compares to Lightroom though, and now that I have tried everything else, the more that was becoming obvious. Photos is fine for everyday use, but when you import a 400+ photo shoot into it, all its flaws become apparent (and why on earth can I not specify for it to always be in dark mode?). I had a a large piece of sensor dust yesterday, and it was a 2 minute fix to correct 100 photos in Lightroom. On the JPGs I had put into Photos, as far as I can tell, I have to do it one photo at a time.
The one standout was Photomator though. I really liked it, it’s like a pro version of the Photos app. I decided to go back to Lightroom though, and was playing with the idea of paying them $80 for a lifetime license (which they are still offering!). Now there is no way I am paying for it.
Thom Hogan’s thoughts below. He’s a pro who writes reference books and reviews for Nikon cameras (if you shoot Nikon, his books are incredibly helpful). Sounds like he is leaning towards that Apple is doing this more of the talent than the app itself, but it’s too early to say.
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Interesting Mac App of the Year pick, considering they just bought Pixelmator/Photomator.
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Eh I am sure they have a rule against giving awards to their own apps.
Well, sure, they can’t give it to one of their own apps, but Pixelmator/Photomator are not really Apple apps yet. Still, it might be looked down upon if they did give it to one of those.
What I find interesting is that this is for Mac App of the Year. The best out of everything on the App Store to another large corporation’s product that dominates that genre but is still largely hated (Adobe, not the product). It’s not like they gave it to an indie app that could never really compete with Apple’s offerings. Also, if Apple is planning to get into photography software again (Photos doesn’t really count), this is the biggest player, and they are promoting them.
It probably means nothing though. I am sure these awards help indie apps, but I am not sure it will lead to many sales of something like LR.