Setapp available on iOS… but requiring additional seats to use, which defeats the whole idea

Software
103

And that is totally understandable given your usage of apps available via Setapp.

The thing is that the outcome is different when you are using not as many apps as you do.

Apart from that, I am not 100% convinced that we just have experienced communication being handled poorly. What we are currently experiencing is the usual PR trying to cope with the backlash of their latest endeavours. At least that is what I think. :slight_smile:

I see it as a gamble on Setapp’s part: they are not the new kid on the block any longer.

Today, they are an known company and they try to establish a second app store that is not being run by Apple. And they have a message to developers: come to us instead of Apple and we will provide you with a nice recurring income without taking as much from you as Apple does (no, I have no proof for that).

Setapp started with a very affordable fee that even could be cut in half in the past when using their recurring discount offers. That meant that you were able to get one year of Setapp for two Macs (and some iOS apps on however many devices you like) for 60 bucks per year. And that was the price many customers have calculated to be interesting given their usage of some but not many apps. That resulted in the outcome of a lot of subscribers who thought about Setapp being a bargain and jumping upon the service.

Now that they have gained traction they try to monetize their software package with higher fees and different models. I am fine with that.

Still, I will end my subscription in May 2021, too (currently prepaid until then).

Because it is no bargain any longer given MY usage. Apart from that, I am quite interested in how Apple will handle this second iOS app store that is currently in the making. Given the current pressure Apple is experiencing when dealing with developers and developer fees, Setapp might prevail, but I doubt it.

Setapp was nice and then again, it was not. There are several high profile apps that left Setapp like iMazing (so that I had to buy a license) and this will continue to happen. If you really want to use an application, Setapp is just not reliable enough as far as I am concerned: you loose access to apps you rely on as soon as the developer pulls out of Setapp and with the new iOS app store that smells like side-loading and might provoke Apple (yes, I know it is not that, but still…). All this combined with this significant price increase (even if it will be walked back to some degree at least for now) might be some of the reasons why the sun is not shining as bright as before as far as some of us users are concerned…

4 Likes
104

Leaving aside the unfortunate/misleading communication, the problem for me is that any increase in the price tips Setapp over from “It’s only £10 and I get Ulysses with it, so it’s worth it for the chance to test lots of new programs in detail” to “£20 a month is far too much to indulge a whim.”

There are lots of interesting programs on Setapp, but if I need them (Marked and Studies), I’ve already got licences for them and if they’re nice to have but not essential (CleanMyMac, Ulysses, Mosaic, BTT) then I can do without them, get them cheaper elsewhere, or replace them with software I already own.

I’ve enjoyed Setapp for the chance to play in depth with some of the main apps (2Do, TaskPaper, Agenda amongst others), and I’ve occasionally used utilities as one-offs, but nothing has struck me as essential — of the 196 programs available, I’d say less than 10% meet any of my interests or needs and only a few of those have been worth sticking with.

TLDR £10 a month as a whim to try out lots of different software and occasionally use some of it, fine, but any more than that (and any additional hassle to do with counting iOS devices — which other iOS app charges per device? I can’t think of one) and the calculation changes. Of course, YMMV, but IMMIS.[^1] I shall probably cancel the subscription in November when it runs out.

[^1]: It’s my money I’m spending…

3 Likes
105

Sure, it really depends on the individual use case. However… if you consider my use case (many apps in use, one Mac, one iPad, edu discount) it still is a good deal - especially if there are more iOS apps to be added.

1 Like
106

Do they really care. Unless it’s a class action lawsuit they will just take the backlash and move on. Their presumption is few people will crib about this and few will discontinue but some will stick on.

It was never entioned from the start that companion apps were trials ONLY/provided by developers for a short duration. It was always statedbas Setapp does come with companion apps for few.

107

What is the math when you have two or .ore computers and multiple iOS devices [2 iPads and an iPhone]. As long you are a student it works out. But you won’t be grandfathered at those discount rates for lifetime

The problem with Setapp is not the price increase. It’s the format of charging for seats.

1 Like
108

More like specific apps, not the number. The main app people in this thread care about seems to be Ulysses - I understand, I’ve been a paying subscriber for Ulysses through the MAS since the day the subscription went live. People love it on Mac and they regularly use the iOS app too. But if you’re one of the users who don’t use Ulysses or Mindnode on iOS but are there for the 200 apps, this is not a meaningful change for you.

The fact that this new pricing was rolled out with just 8 cross-platform apps out of their stable of 200 Mac apps suggests to me that they were rushed into announcing the program. Without any evidence, I suspect that a major app with an iOS component might have been mulling pulling itself out of Setapp at the end of its contract and this was a way to increase revenue for cross-platform devs.

Given the high quality of available apps and convenience Setapp always seemed like a bargain to me (especially when you could get 20% off on Black Friday, or in the occasional StackSocial deal), but it’s much less of one now, especially if you use any of the iOS apps much.

The only iOS apps in Setapp that I’d use would be Mindnode and Ulysses. If I were on Setapp I’d just buy iOS alternatives with a one-time purchase and manually transfer/sync to Ulysses. 1Writer or IA Writer for writing, iThoughts for mindmapping, and no change for access to the 200 Mac apps in the service.

1 Like
109

True. That’s what I realized after getting past shock of the price increase. Keeping Setapp for the stuff I need on Mac only. Ignoring their iOS device subscription.

2 Likes
110

Shouldn’t be too difficult to show me a single instance where they said anything like “Ulysses for iOS should not be considered part of Setapp.”

The Ulysses folks had to explicitly add support for Setapp customers in their iOS apps. That didn’t just happen.

As others have shown, they have references to being able to use Ulysses on iPhone and iPad as part of your Setapp subscription on their website.

So how can they now claim that it was never officially a benefit?

Were we supposed to know that they had their fingers crossed behind their backs?

Was there an invisible asterisk next to every mention of Ulysses linking to a footnote that says “Sure the iOS apps work, but you shouldn’t consider that a feature of using Setapp, although when you check the iOS app for license info it will say something like ‘Setapp Customer’?”

Disingenuous at best. Outright lie at worst. Indefensible in any case.

I’d prefer they just be honest rather than to try to say “Well, we never said that you could count on this feature of Setapp not being taken away in the future. After all, it was never a feature feature.”

I mean, come on.

2 Likes
111

They stated “This was never communicated as an official benefit of Setapp subscription plans” not what you’re claiming they previously claimed. So that’s why I think it’s wrong to demand “Show me one single instance before this “Setapp for iOS” announcement where Setapp said anything like that” - because they here are indicating a lack of communication. Sneaky, but apparently they knew they couldn’t offer the promise of (continued) iOS integration… so they didn’t overtly promise it.

That’s why I say that if you want to accuse them of “BULLLLLLLLLLLLLLONEY!” and if you insist that, “They ABSOLUTELY touted being able to use Ulysses on iOS as a feature / value-add of their previous Setapp setup” you should prove your claim, because it’s not something they say they’ve claimed.

If Cracker Jacks announces on the box that it comes with a prize, you expect a prize every time. If it didn’t but it came with a prize, then they later sold two different boxes at different prices, one with a prize and one without, some people might be disappointed but… that’s what it is. But if you had proof that the unadvertised prize-box was promised, you’d have a case.

Apple recently did the same thing - if you had a HomePod people could listen to Apple Music in the house while you were also out and about listening to AM on your iPhone. Then months after the HomePod starting being sold Apple removed that functionality, said you needed a Family Plan to listen to multiple streams, and said they’d never promised multi-stream listening as part of the purchase of the HomePod, that it was ‘misconfigured.’ In the end, they didn’t promise it, they just never contradicted people discussing it as if it did. And that was that. :man_shrugging:

1 Like
112

Did Setapp officially list the ability to use iOS apps as part of their service? I haven’t been able to find that.

But did they tout being able to use Ulysses on iOS as a Setapp feature? Yes, they did. “How to Write Your Best with Ulysses” shows “Setapp Team” as its author. It was posted August 11, 2017 and updated March 19, 2018. It contains the following text:

And as recently as February 25 of this year they had the post highlighted below in their how-to section (it now redirects to their recent iOS announcement):

CleanShot 2020-08-13 at 16.15.38@2x
CleanShot 2020-08-13 at 16.15.38@2x2798×1138 465 KB

The text on the post’s card is small, but it reads: “Unveil powerful Setapp apps that have iOS counterparts you can use for free.”

2 Likes
113

Absolutely. Not discussing this, was discussing the universality of the statement that the iOS pricing is a steal :wink:

2 Likes
114

The cut to $2.50/mo per additional seat is a good move and I expect will be a transition to $15/mo inclusive.

1 Like
115

Thank you.

On July 23, 2018 in reply to a question I posted to Setapp support on whether I could use Ulysses my iPad activated with my Setapp subscription, the answer was as follows:

Screenshot of Airmail (8-15-20, 1-29-01 PM)
Screenshot of Airmail (8-15-20, 1-29-01 PM)1802×792 91.1 KB

Reads like a promise to me.

2 Likes
116

What are on screenshot? blind user her hehe.

117

I ran the screenshot through ABBYY FineScanner. Here is the text version.

Volodymyr Voronin (Setapp)
Jul 23, 16:36 EEST
Hello,
Thank you for contacting Setapp Customer Support.
Yes! Setapp users get access to the iOS app just like individual subscribers do. The app will recognize your Setapp subscription (with licensing data synced via iCloud) and unlock all features. Make sure you have the latest versions of Setapp and Ulysses, and that idoud sync is enabled.
Feel free to write us back if any questions arise.
Best regards,
Volodymyr Voronin | Setapp Customer Support
http://macpaw.com/support

5 Likes
118

Pretty much what I’m reading is that no one wants the iOS Subscription per seat model. Sound like we would rather have what we used to have. Hear that Setapp??

This change is not anything we needed. It’s not improving our experience. Shame. It was useful while it lasted. I was getting back into Ulysses but I’ve realized it’s not something I need to survive. I see this as a negative for some of the apps too. They would have gotten some revenue from people like me who would normally not buy their software. But I used it instead of the free versions because it was available to me.

119

I assume that this was a financial decision forced on Setapp. It’s not a matter of improving the user experience because they didn’t add a single new app. And surely if it were a normal product launch they’d have added a bevy of new Mac/iOS apps (or iOS versions of existing apps in the program). Instead, this appears to have been a change that was pushed out with the best marketing face possible slapped on it.

When a 200-app Setapp subscription, costs only twice the subscription price of Ulysses alone you’re getting a smoking deal. But maybe Ulysses and some other apps were not as happy with their cut from Setapp and Setapp had to move quickly to increase revenue to maintain the current roster and maintain profitability. I don’t see this as a money grab as much as a tiny company having to keep happy 200 developers plus most customers plus make a profit.

3 Likes
120

Sounds like financial rep of Setapp.

Fun apart. Setapp should have just let the existing iOS companion apps as part of the subscription base for current users and charged only the new users. Also a hike for new users in monthly subscription.

I’m not sure how long this model can sustain. Just like zillion entertainment streaming options we have now with exclusives available to only one streaming company, it’s just a matter of time when we will have multiple vendors with exclusive apps for subscription.

1 Like
121

And I also think you are mentioning a major part of the problem here: it didn’t used to be 200 apps.
Setapp does not look scalable in the sense that as they add more and more apps, profits for existing apps risk falling. Or costs go up. That seems to be modern life though, growth is paramount :man_shrugging:

One thing this current mess is highlighting for people is the fragility of the premise. Ulysses charges $6 per month. Setapp charges $10 per month. After MacPaw take a cut and then the remainder is split between 10-30 apps, how much does Ulysses get? Is it enough to be sustainable?
When it was MacPaw taking a cut and split between 5-10 the maths would have been quite different.

2 Likes
122

Yeah. I get how this was likely out of their hands but I’m no longer interested. The seat per iOS device still seems sleazy to me. Based on who they have on iOS I agree with everyone’s guess that it has to do with Ulysses but ulysses doesn’t charge per device.

I cancelled and bought the apps I liked. Will be saving money but I’m going to miss discovering new apps.

2 Likes