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What Kind Of Sales Model Would You Like For SkySafari - Upgrades Or Subscription?

How many users feel ripped off by this company due to having to purchase upgrades repeatedly?  Please add your comments positive or negative so this company knows how you feel.  They tend to put this blame on Apple while lining their pockets... just my 2 cents.  

6 comments

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    Bill Tschumy

    Jpmn,

    Sorry you are feeling ripped off.  I will state quite categorically that SkySafari could not continue to exist if we did not get some form of continuing revenue.  This is a complex app and requires a high level of user support.  The continuing revenue also supports the development of new features that appear in each new major release.

    Contrary to what you might think, we are not getting rich off of SkySafari.

    The only other sales model permitted by the app stores that allows some form of continuing revenue is a subscription model.  I have talked to many customers about this and most said they would be uneasy about us going to a subscription for the app.

    We will be interested in seeing the responses in this thread.

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    Dean

    I'm fine with the current "upgrade" policy. Generally, almost two years pass before new paid versions are released. The price is reasonable, and the half-off initial pricing is generous.

    You don't have to purchase upgrades. The old versions will continue to operate until an OS update causes them to malfunction (which is why I strongly dislike the "subscription model" which forces you to keep paying to use the software). I skipped version 4 on the iOS but bought it for the Mac. I've purchased versions 5 and 6 for both iOS and Mac OS. Did I need to? Not really, but I felt that the price was low enough for a no-brainer decision to upgrade.

    I'm not even heavily into astronomy, just a casual observer. I don't even own a scope that could be controlled by SkySafari. But I've been using incarnations of this software since before it was called SkySafari (my 2006 copy still functions!). It's just too cool not to have.

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    Jpmn

    *** RETRACTION ***  :)

    Hi Bill and Dean, 

    Thanks for your replies... I am just an old retired novice star gazer or should I say geezer.  I do think the app is outstanding especially when used at night LOL. I don't use the more sophisticated features as I view manually with my Questar.  However, I do wish I was able to seek and find targets automatically... maybe another telescope is in my future.

    It was nice to see that "management", Bill, was watching the store and provided a good explanation of the need for charging for upgrades.  I was unaware that I had at some time in the past obtained SS 5 Plus and replaced my SS 3 with that version.  Suits my need perfectly and works on my new iPhone 8.  So, please accept my apology for stirring things up... but helped me understand your business model and truly pleased to hear you're not going to a subscription model.  I do hope that never has to happen.  Feel free to close this thread I'm happy to have gotten educated and as I said... truly enjoy using your wonderful app.

    John

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    Bill Tschumy

    John,

    No apology necessary.  It is good to get feedback from our customers.

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    Steenkh

    I definitely prefer the current scheme of upgrades rather than a subscription. Now I can decide if the upgrades are worth buying - and they are! - but with subscription I would lose the program if I wouldn't or couldn't pay.

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    MrWonderful

    I agree wholeheartedly!  I just ran into an issue with Family Tree Maker, which I thought I 'purchased' several years ago.  One day, a couple months ago, it just stopped functioning to do any reports.  Apparently, the 'phone-home' URL was not being serviced any longer since the product had changed ownership.  What a crock!

    Thanks for keeping the upgrade model!  I don't mind paying for new features and with this model, I can decide the value of those features (as can everyone else, with likely differing priorities,) and upgrade when the time is right.

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