Well, it did work for me (which does not help you). I got a discounted price. Apart from that, the actual price was shown before I did tap on the order button (or whatever it is called). I have no idea when it does work and when not. It is sad that developers constantly get the blame when part of it is Appleās fault - and neither the developers nor the customers can improve anything to make it a better experience. Apple does not give the developers a useful upgrade and update routine. They see the solution to every problem in subscriptions. And ā¦ many customers do not like it. So, what to do, if you want to launch an upgrade, notifying all customers, offering both a subscription and a one-time-purchase, enabling existing customers to keep using the old version (ālifetimeā). Well, you have to be creative. This developer did. And gets the blame anyway.
I do not mean this with any bad intent in your direction, I get the frustration. I just do not see how they could have done it better under the circumstances Apple controls.
I tried the new version and decided to stick with V5. But now Iām stuck with the update notice in my App Store available updates! So now I canātā update allā without upgrading to GN V6.
PITAā¦
What I did was choose the update to version six in the Apple store and once that version installs, it contains a place to select revert to version five. If of course you can find that. Worked for me other than the about screen is currently showing that I have version 6.01 though I donāt.
I donāt know how the Apple Store works, and I mostly think the developer has been fair with regards to pricing.
I do think though that as the next few comments in this thread after yours show, the actual update and mechanics have been implemented badly. When we upgraded from 4 to 5, both apps were in the Apple Store if I recall correctly, it was not forced on customers. This is what shouldāve happened this time, and Iām not convinced that Apple prevents developers from doing that?
Whilst I donāt doubt that releasing the app as a new app penalises smaller developers, who lose the accumulated ranking from the previous version in the App Store, I think an app as ābigā as GoodNotes couldāve absorbed that. Forcing customers into an update and new pricing they may not want is bad practice. (Yes you can revert back, but that shouldnāt be the default mechanism by which you keep the app youāve already paid for.)
And incidentally, having just done the update on my phone, itās not even clear in the update notes that this is a new version! The first line of the update notes reads āVarious improvements and bug fixesā. Only those that click āmoreā will even learn that theyāre downloading a new version, and how many people do that. I wouldnāt have done if I wasnāt specifically interested in how Iād not noticed the new app downloading to my iPad. (Bad luck if you have automatic updates switched on!)
Itās also quite misleading to the consumer to push the new version through on the current app listing in the store, given that most reviews refer to GoodNotes 5, not GoodNotes 6, and their own marketing imagery in the App Store (āAppleās iPad app of the year 2022ā in the UK store) do not refer to the app they are now selling.
After all that i hit upgrade-doh!!
No option to downgrade under settings. Deleted the app, then went to reinstall V5. Guess what? V5 doesnāt appear in my purchased app list. Good times. Submitted a support request. Stay tuned
True. If GoodNotes is piggy backing on the GN5 and pushing updates to GN6, then Lifetime of GN5 should be valid as its various updates.
GoodNotes is double dipping here. GoodNotes wants the customer base of GN5, the App Reviews of GN5, The App of Year 2022 based on GN5 and still push the upgrade as a New App GN6 stealing the Family Sharing Feature away. The discounts to the existing GN5 is an updated push after GoodNotes got lashed out in the UK store. Thats when GoodNotes proposed to obtain refunds to those who were not offered. (Especially the ones who tried and upgraded on Day 1) knowing that Apple Store would not allow refunds and GoodNotes can solely blame Apple Store and still look good that GoodNotes is providing discounts.
I was happy to pay the upgrade to V6. I will do the same for my daughter as we both use it extensively. I get a lot of value out of the application and wanted to pay towards ongoing development.
donāt blame GoodNotes. the AppStore created this arena. Just deny them your money. I support so few iOS devs now that I do not mind paying GoodNotes as I use it a lot. I am always looking for reasons to delete iOS apps.
I got a discounted price. Apart from that, the actual price was shown before I did tap on the order button (or whatever it is called). I have no idea when it does work and when not. It is sad that developers constantly get the blame when part of it is Appleās fault - and neither the developers nor the customers can improve anything to make it a better experience. Apple does not give the developers a useful upgrade and update routine. They see the solution to every problem in subscriptions. And ā¦ many customers do not like it. So, what to do, if you want to launch an upgrade, notifying all customers, offering both a subscription and a one-time-purchase, enabling existing customers to keep using the old version (ālifetimeā). Well, you have to be creative. This developer did. And gets the blame anyway. 
