"We are not allowed to distribute updates through other channels to apps which were purchased from the App Store."
The solution is simple.
All Mac developers should stop selling through the App Store, regain control of the distribution channel, and leave the Mac App Store barren of quality applications.
Until Mac developers have leverage, Apple will continue taking their 30% cut and enforcing rules which suit them and not the developers.
EDIT:
Just wanted to add...
What are developers going to do when Apple says every single new API in Mavericks can only be used if the app is sold through the Mac App Store? This has already happened with the iCloud SDK, so it's likely they will continue on this path.
What if one day Apple says you can only have a developer certificate if your apps are sold exclusively through the Mac App Store?
You don't have to wait for Mavericks, it has already happened. Apps that are sold through the App Store can not make use of the the media keys on Apple keyboards, which is why VLC can use them and other apps can't.
... or switch back to Linux, and just download everything you need, without encumbrances like this. I recently switched back on all of my OSX and Windows machine, and it feels great. Only through years of contributions to open source projects, and hanging my head in shame can I ever be redeemed. Oh, and Steam is only going to get better!
Your solution is bonkers and has zero chance of happening.
You know what Valve charges to put you on the Steam store? 30% or more. You know why some people do it? Because they make more money doing it. You know why some people don't? Because they make more money not doing it.
Yep. My business recently ported (well, _I_ ported) our main product from Windows to OSX. After reading up a bit on the App Store and the Apple developer ecosystem, we decided to completely avoid all of it and distribute our software on our own. Having a third party dictate major business decisions in this manner is absurd and ought to be avoided when possible. It's not clear what we'll do if Apple takes steps to force developers to join up and use the App Store (which isn't outside the realm of possibility).
Boo hoo. The people paying $80 for todo list management don't need upgrade pricing. If they do, maybe charging a less insane price would make the App Store issue moot.
Building stuff for Apple products is like dating and being madly in love with someone who doesn't love you. Everything is great until they don't need you anymore.
Remember the independent resellers of Apple products, who operated actual physical stores selling Macs before they were cool again? You may not, because Apple basically shot them in the head when try opened Apple Retail stores. Remember the Mac OEMs?
Apple is building two sales channels, one that makes them 30%, one that makes them 0%. They've told you that they make many more dollars with walled garden products built on iOS, and are porting key iOS features to Mac OS -- features that also require that sales channel that makes them richer.
So if you develop software for Mac, you shouldn't be surprised when Apple abuses you -- Apple doesn't need you.
Not being able to offer the same discounted upgrade pricing to all our customers no matter where they purchased is obviously disappointing for us. But it just means we're back to the same state of affairs as I outlined in my original blog post from the launch of the Mac App Store:
"The Mac App Store is the most convenient way to buy our software, letting you purchase, download, and install our apps with just one step, and easily update our apps at the same time as you update other apps you've purchased from the the store.
"But to be clear, the Mac App Store is not the only way to buy our software: we'll continue to offer direct sales and updates through our own website as well. Through our website, we can offer much more flexible terms and options: trial and beta downloads, upgrade pricing, and discounts for volume, bundle, and educational purchases.
"No matter which way you buy our software, you'll be getting the same product: all of our Mac App Store apps are exactly the same as the apps we sell through our website (except for a few minor changes made to work with the store). We'll also keep future updates to our apps in sync—apps you've purchased directly through us will continue to update themselves as they always have, while App Store updates will appear on the App Store (after a slight delay due to the App Store's review process). And either way, you'll have the same great support from our team here at Omni."
Can you offer any more detail on what you were specifically forbidden from doing? Is it that you aren't allowed to offer updates outside of the App Store to App Store purchased apps? Or is it the method you were using with OmniKeyMaster that was disallowed?
Do you think Apple would allow other ways of supporting upgrade pricing between two versions of an App Store app possibly through in app purchase or similar?
> We are not allowed to distribute updates through other channels to apps which were purchased from the App Store.
> Update: Unfortunately, we’ve had to remove OmniKeyMaster from our website and can no longer offer upgrade pricing to App Store customers.
So, what happened here? Did Apple threaten to close Omni's app store account? Because:
The Omni Key Master is an app that is not distributed through the app store. Also when a user buys an upgrage he will only receive updates through Omni's website and not the app store. So the upgraded apps should be out of Apple's reach.
So what happened here? Did Apple legal write a strongly worded email to Omni?
The Mac App Store does provide something of value: app hosting, oh-so-easy purchasing (just enter a password, as Apple has your credit card details on file), app delivery, license management.
But the downsides. Boy, the downsides. And they take a 30% cut of the gross price.
It would be really nice if there was an alternative App store, which offered the similar benefits, was cheaper for developers, was curated, but was more developer-friendly.
It is additional work but I believe something should be possible on iOS7 and Mavericks. If I remember correctly you will now be able to get the original purchase receipt including the date of the purchase not just the receipts for the in-app purchases. If you can separate out some or all of the feature upgrades and disable them when the original purchase was before date of upgrade release unless an in-app purchase is made for the upgrade price.
Won't this work? I realise that it doesn't come without effort to set it up and to test the software in two modes but at least bug fixes can go to everyone without two releases.
Up to now I don't think there has been a way to identify when the initial app purchase happened.
The problem is Apple doesn't currently care about paid upgrades. They don't sell software that way (witness the new Logic).
Developers need to do things to ensure the loyalty of old customers while pricing their software so they can make a living. So the starting price + upgrade pricing model works great. Customer feel like they got a bargain for being loyal and the developer gets to eat.
Apple doesn't need to do that. So they won't build it for developers. Given the iCloud API thing, I would imagine this is going to continue to get more restrictive.
It'd be ugly and put other burdens on the pricing strategy and support permutations, but perhaps app-makers so trapped could approximate their desired result via:
(1) offer a reduced-functionality "version N" to everyone, but for the desired 'upgrade' price. (Essentially, this might only have the features of the prior N-1 version.)
(2) offer an in-app purchase unlocking full/pro features, priced at the delta between their desired "full Version N price" and what was already paid
(3) give owners of the previous "N-1 Version" a code that gives them the in-app purchase benefits for free
Maybe Apple would still object... but since the entire process happens inside Apple's system, paying Apple's commissions, advancing the use of Apple's in-app purchase mechanisms, maybe they'd be OK with it.
Why would Apple build a distribution channel and then let people upgrade apps outside of it without getting their cut? I think this was obvious for the Omni guys too, they just wanted this problem to get some publicity.
They kind of have to because the App Store doesn't allow paid upgrades. There's no way to offer two prices (upgrade price and full retail price) for an app.
EDIT: The in-between choice would be moving to SaaS (see Adobe), but that's another discussion entirely
When the publisher rebates, they are losing out on the Apple cut/tax. So if they rebate 50% of a $100 item, Apple still takes $30 on the full sale price. This means that the rebate needs to be reduced to 35% for those that buy on the App Store, which still creates two classes of repeat customers.
[+] [-] yapcguy|12 years ago|reply
The solution is simple.
All Mac developers should stop selling through the App Store, regain control of the distribution channel, and leave the Mac App Store barren of quality applications.
Until Mac developers have leverage, Apple will continue taking their 30% cut and enforcing rules which suit them and not the developers.
EDIT:
Just wanted to add...
What are developers going to do when Apple says every single new API in Mavericks can only be used if the app is sold through the Mac App Store? This has already happened with the iCloud SDK, so it's likely they will continue on this path.
What if one day Apple says you can only have a developer certificate if your apps are sold exclusively through the Mac App Store?
[+] [-] signed0|12 years ago|reply
Edit: other than iTunes
[+] [-] routelastresort|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Steko|12 years ago|reply
You know what Valve charges to put you on the Steam store? 30% or more. You know why some people do it? Because they make more money doing it. You know why some people don't? Because they make more money not doing it.
[+] [-] zedpm|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|12 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] kennymeyers|12 years ago|reply
Either way, I've alerted the committee of the Nobel Prize of Economics about your discovery.
[+] [-] Spooky23|12 years ago|reply
Building stuff for Apple products is like dating and being madly in love with someone who doesn't love you. Everything is great until they don't need you anymore.
Remember the independent resellers of Apple products, who operated actual physical stores selling Macs before they were cool again? You may not, because Apple basically shot them in the head when try opened Apple Retail stores. Remember the Mac OEMs?
Apple is building two sales channels, one that makes them 30%, one that makes them 0%. They've told you that they make many more dollars with walled garden products built on iOS, and are porting key iOS features to Mac OS -- features that also require that sales channel that makes them richer.
So if you develop software for Mac, you shouldn't be surprised when Apple abuses you -- Apple doesn't need you.
[+] [-] pornel|12 years ago|reply
Omni makes good products that are (IMHO) worth $80, and paying full price for an upgrade is unfair whether that's an $80 app or a $3.99 app.
The problem isn't that software costs $80, it's that giving up freedom to use AppStore ends up hurting users and developers.
[+] [-] general_failure|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kcase|12 years ago|reply
http://www.omnigroup.com/blog/entry/mac_app_store_or_omnis_o...
As I said in that original post:
"The Mac App Store is the most convenient way to buy our software, letting you purchase, download, and install our apps with just one step, and easily update our apps at the same time as you update other apps you've purchased from the the store.
"But to be clear, the Mac App Store is not the only way to buy our software: we'll continue to offer direct sales and updates through our own website as well. Through our website, we can offer much more flexible terms and options: trial and beta downloads, upgrade pricing, and discounts for volume, bundle, and educational purchases.
"No matter which way you buy our software, you'll be getting the same product: all of our Mac App Store apps are exactly the same as the apps we sell through our website (except for a few minor changes made to work with the store). We'll also keep future updates to our apps in sync—apps you've purchased directly through us will continue to update themselves as they always have, while App Store updates will appear on the App Store (after a slight delay due to the App Store's review process). And either way, you'll have the same great support from our team here at Omni."
[+] [-] timeuser|12 years ago|reply
Do you think Apple would allow other ways of supporting upgrade pricing between two versions of an App Store app possibly through in app purchase or similar?
[+] [-] kybernetyk|12 years ago|reply
> Update: Unfortunately, we’ve had to remove OmniKeyMaster from our website and can no longer offer upgrade pricing to App Store customers.
So, what happened here? Did Apple threaten to close Omni's app store account? Because:
The Omni Key Master is an app that is not distributed through the app store. Also when a user buys an upgrage he will only receive updates through Omni's website and not the app store. So the upgraded apps should be out of Apple's reach.
So what happened here? Did Apple legal write a strongly worded email to Omni?
[+] [-] stevoski|12 years ago|reply
But the downsides. Boy, the downsides. And they take a 30% cut of the gross price.
It would be really nice if there was an alternative App store, which offered the similar benefits, was cheaper for developers, was curated, but was more developer-friendly.
[+] [-] jeena|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] josephlord|12 years ago|reply
Won't this work? I realise that it doesn't come without effort to set it up and to test the software in two modes but at least bug fixes can go to everyone without two releases.
Up to now I don't think there has been a way to identify when the initial app purchase happened.
[+] [-] protomyth|12 years ago|reply
Developers need to do things to ensure the loyalty of old customers while pricing their software so they can make a living. So the starting price + upgrade pricing model works great. Customer feel like they got a bargain for being loyal and the developer gets to eat.
Apple doesn't need to do that. So they won't build it for developers. Given the iCloud API thing, I would imagine this is going to continue to get more restrictive.
[+] [-] peterkelly|12 years ago|reply
Given that they would make 30% of the upgrade price, I'm surprised they're not actively encouraging this.
[+] [-] gojomo|12 years ago|reply
(1) offer a reduced-functionality "version N" to everyone, but for the desired 'upgrade' price. (Essentially, this might only have the features of the prior N-1 version.)
(2) offer an in-app purchase unlocking full/pro features, priced at the delta between their desired "full Version N price" and what was already paid
(3) give owners of the previous "N-1 Version" a code that gives them the in-app purchase benefits for free
Maybe Apple would still object... but since the entire process happens inside Apple's system, paying Apple's commissions, advancing the use of Apple's in-app purchase mechanisms, maybe they'd be OK with it.
[+] [-] timeuser|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] yaddayadda|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] radley|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jeena|12 years ago|reply
Why would Apple build a distribution channel and then let people upgrade apps outside of it without getting their cut? I think this was obvious for the Omni guys too, they just wanted this problem to get some publicity.
[+] [-] stinky613|12 years ago|reply
EDIT: The in-between choice would be moving to SaaS (see Adobe), but that's another discussion entirely
[+] [-] hayksaakian|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ser0|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] wmf|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ryan-allen|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jchimney|12 years ago|reply