#Textexpander sale for mac#
#Textexpander sale upgrade#
#Textexpander sale pro#
#Textexpander sale software#

(Update: I had previously stated that the new version also works for free, only without sync. The older version will keep working just fine.

I can, of course, keep using TextExpander, so when I say they may lose me as a customer, I don’t mean as a user.

#Textexpander sale upgrade#

Read the reviews of any consumer app that has released a paid upgrade in the past three years if you don’t believe me. And the majority of those new customers don’t really understand why they need to pay for an upgrade. But since the iPhone, the consumer base has grown by a couple of orders of magnitude.

Long-time tech geeks and developers love upgrade pricing.

Whether they get enough of these subscribers to sustain their business is the big variable. However, while TextExpander may lose me as a customer over this, the people who do become monthly subscribers are going to be more engaged, more devoted customers. I may not be a good customer of this product moving forward. There’s a part of me that wishes I did, but if I’m honest with myself, I just don’t get that deep into power-user territory. I have a workflow that I like I don’t often have an interest in digging into these higher-level geeky productivity tools. Whether or not I’d actually take the time and explore those more powerful features is a big question, though. That makes for happier, more engaged, if fewer, customers. One of the great things about subscriptions is that those monthly payments are an incentive to be a more active user of the product. Which, frankly, might be a good thing, both for me and Smile. If I were to make that investment, I’d want to start using the more powerful capabilities that TextExpander offers. So would I personally pay $5 a month to keep using TextExpander? As it stands now, probably not. TextExpander does way more than that, obviously, but I personally don’t use those extra powerful abilities. Basically, everything I do with it I could probably pull off with the built-in text shortcuts in iOS and OS X. But I’ve never been what you’d call a “power” user. I’ve upgraded to the latest version up until now. I’ve been using TextExpander for many, many years. For these folks, it should be a no-brainer to fork over $5 a month.Īs a customer, it gets harder for me personally.

#Textexpander sale software#

I’m sure there are a number of hard-core TextExpander junkies who use the software several times a day. They know they will lose casual users over this decision.īecause I actually use TextExpander, I find myself in a position of having to evaluate this decision to go subscription-only from two different perspectives: that of a fellow developer, and that of an actual customer of the product.Īs a developer, I completely understand and support Smile’s decision.

So I’m sure they haven’t made this decision lightly. They’ve been running a successful business longer than some iOS devs have been alive. The people at Smile are incredibly smart. Is it “pro” software? Or is it more like a consumer product? I tend to think of it as somewhere in between.

#Textexpander sale pro#

Pro apps are more where I put my focus.Īnd that’s what makes TextExpander an interesting case. I’m not terribly interested, to tell you the truth. For now, freemium seems to be the way to go.

I have no idea what will happen to consumer software in the long run. As Adobe and Microsoft have shown, subscriptions may be a hard sell at first, but the long-term benefits to the health of products based on subscription are obvious. Upgrade pricing has been rejected by most consumers, and many businesses tend to prefer the predictable monthly costs of a subscription. Subscriptions are going to be the primary way we pay for productivity apps eventually. I’m a long-time supporter of subscription pricing.

#Textexpander sale for mac#

TextExpander, a long-time utility for Mac and iOS, switched its pricing to a subscription service this week.