If an Apple Store app suddenly offers a lifetime license, is there a way to change this if I already have a running yearly license? Do I wait until the current one expires and then change it to lifetime in App Store and purchase? Ulysses now offers such a license.
On Mac, I go to Apple Account → Media & Purchases → Subscriptions. You’ll see your list of subscriptions, and if you click into many of them there’s a “See All Plans” button. That lists currently-available plans. I believe they take effect on your next renewal.
Personally, I don’t trust lifetime licenses that sell for $200** (the equivalent of 5 years worth of annual revenue for Ulysses). This is especially true of Ulysses who, in case we’re forgetting, used to offer a “perpetual license” - then forced all of those users into subscriptions if they wanted to keep using their software. The “perpetual license” translated into a coupon code for a discount on the subscription.
I’m not saying not to do it. I am saying that the purchase isn’t a contract for “updates forever for all versions” - it’s whatever Ulysses wants it to be, and it’s subject to their whims going forward.
** Somebody will ask, “do you trust lifetime licenses that sell for $10? $15? $20?”. I don’t trust them either in terms of expecting to be able to use the software in perpetuity, but I’ll take the gamble at a low price point.
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I asked AI which responded:
The perpetual license covers only the specific version of the app purchased and does not guarantee access to future major updates or new feature releases indefinitely.
If that is true ÂŁ200 is a high price.
Having paid for the original app, then being told I could get a lower subscription if I subscribed immediately, this is not one I would go for at all. But, I am no longer a Ulysses user so you might find it worth it. I also stopped when I realised their Markdown XL format is actually a proprietery format that doesn’t work in other markdown apps.
Just FYI, this is from their own website (https://help.ulysses.app/en_US/subscription-synchronization/perpetual-license):
Perpetual License
Table of Contents
In addition to monthly and yearly subscriptions, Ulysses offers a perpetual license for users who prefer to pay once rather than subscribe.
What does it include?
The perpetual license gives you access to Ulysses as it is currently offered on the App Store. Since Ulysses is a universal app, one license covers the supported versions for Mac, iPhone, and iPad.
We are continually working on improvements and new features. The perpetual license includes all future updates to the current App Store app, including major updates, bug fixes, improvements, and new features.
We cannot guarantee new features indefinitely, and future updates may require newer versions of macOS or iOS. However, we are committed to providing bug fixes and compatibility updates for new devices and operating systems for as long as reasonably possible.
Traditionally (for personal computers) a software program was purchased and that version would be good indefinitely. When a new version came out you would have to buy it, usually without a discount. Commercial programs were almost always licensed on a lease, requiring payment every year but usually (but not always!) covering upgrades to new versions, if any.
A “perpetual” license that covers all updates forever is a guarantee of eventual business failure. Unless one of the following is true:
- The current product can be discontinued and a new product with a different name is released that has to be purchased.
- The product was written for Intel architecture and a new version, requiring a new purchase, is needed for Apple Silicon.
- The product is locked to a specific serial numbered computer, so it is good until the computer fails.
- The software lifetime license is priced high enough that is is like buying an annuity that covers future versions.
I’ve had all of these happen to me with lifetime software.
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I’m starting to wonder about the future of standalone software.
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Reading this makes me kind of angry.
I remember buying Ulysses for both Mac and iOS back when they were still separate one-time purchases. I paid quite a bit for both apps and if I remember correctly it was only about three months later that Ulysses announced its switch to a subscription model in 2017.
Needless to say… I wasn’t particularly happy.
That experience left a pretty bad taste and I haven’t trusted Ulysses since. They abandoned their “old” version with known bugs and flaws. So being able to use it for another year wasn’t really an option.
Now, almost a decade later they’re offering a lifetime license again. For 199.99.
The irony is hard to miss. Back then subscriptions were presented as the sustainable way forward. Apparently lifetime licenses are viable again, as long as they cost 200$. I wouldn’t trust them. 2 years later they will release the next version and ask for 200$ again.
I’m wondering how many features a simple text editor can add to ask for 200$ lifetime.
There are some really good alternatives. Like iA Writer.
You can even buy 1 month of Claude and let it make a text editor that looks and works the way YOU want. 200 is enough to pay for a couple of years of the entire MS Office suite.
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