I’ve purchased every paid upgrade so far, but switching to a subscription model for the same features I already paid for is a mistake in my opinion.
Especially since this is a calendar app, not a service that provides on-going value for over time. If you had released a paid upgrade, even at $60, I would have gladly paid for it.
Sorry.
@andrewdavidj@y_molodtsov So the argument is here, if you want to use an app regularly, you have to pay for it. Bottom line - you pay for the usage ^^... Do I get a different rate, if I only open the app once a week?! :-)
@andrewdavidj@davisonio I agree, how they added the paid features is pretty bad. Especially in the beginning, you get a lot of these upgrade messages, because you just tapped at the wrong place.
@y_molodtsov Nope. You’re misunderstanding. The app does not offer NEW value to warrant an on-going payment plan. Think of it this way: I pay monthly for Netflix and, in return, I get access to new shows and movies every month. Will Fantastical add new features every month? Probably not. I won’t be using it differently every month, I won’t be getting more out of my calendar next year than I did last year. Fantastical gets a major upgrade every 3-4 years, right? And I paid $60 for v1 and then another $60 for v2. Each lasted 3-4 years so that’s a cost of $15-$20 per year. But v3 is asking me to pay $60 for ONE year and, assuming it’s another 3-4 years before the next paid upgrade, that’s a cost of $180-$240. That’s an insane amount to pay for access to a CALENDAR.
@andrewdavidj I agree and do not plan on subscribing as well, although I've been a paid loyal user for five plus years. This will undoubtably create an opportunity for competition which I will welcome once arrived.
TLDR: Don’t update, or purchase from this company unless you like paying multiple times for progressively less features.
Why has this been a terrible launch?
1. Existing Fantastical 2 users who had already paid per device now have to pay (again) subs to access features they previously had.
2. The following features have been removed from fantastical 2 users:
❌ day/week/month/year full screen view
❌ time to leave notifications
❌ apple watch viewing ( you now need to make an account to do this?!
❌ shared calendar change notifications
❌ push updates
❌ calendar sync
❌family sync - previously, one account was needed, however now, each user needs to purchase a subscription. so if you have a family, each one must sub.
3. Either the marketing team was not aware the old features were being removed. or they are just playing dumb. Either way, this is just awful execution and no one is getting answers. They started making a FAQ about the update when they saw existing customers were biting back.
So what do existing fantastical 2 users actually get?
1. Weather in the app, for the current and next couple of days
2. constant reminders to upgrade
3. reduced functionality.
4. the pleasure of creating an account so you can use your Apple watch app again.
Why are users frustrated/mad?
1. People pay for fixed price as they wish to own the product.There's a reason they paid that initial premium over sub based alternatives.
2. Sneaky pricing, showing only the monthly cost and not yearly (on website).
- $3.33/month-> $40/yr (33% save due to annual billing)
- £4.99/month -> $60/yr on standard monthly.
3. Fantastical has released this app as a forced upgrade to fantastical 2, thereby eliminating ownership.
Has this happened before and are there good examples of better companies?
1. Strongapp tried to milk it's existing user base dry too. Then backlash occured and they realised that this was a bad idea. They gave lifetime subs to people who previously paid for a complete app.
2. Mindnode gave pre-existing paid users a lifetime upgrade whilst new customers will go towards their sub model.
The new features are great, however they should have been released as a seperate app. If there is anything I've gotten wrong, please do let me know and I'll correct this.
@bensleveritt maybe the maker @macguitar can respond to criticisms instead of ignoring his existing customers. It would be great to understand why certain decisions were made. Do an #AMA on #Reddit or something.
@manny_orduna Just want to share that I had similar issues as you (no day/week/month view, no time to leave notifications, etc) but these issues were due to me purchasing Fantastical 2 direct from them in the past and update to 3.0 coming via the app store. Once I downloaded 3.0 direct from them, it recognised my purchase of Fantastical2 and I now have daily/weekly/monthly view and the option to show time to leave notifications in the preferences again. I can't comment on apple watch viewing as I use a different calendar app on my iphone and watch (Calendars 5 by Readdle). I am lead to believe that was a bug that they have now resolved though. My views of Fantastical 3 have now changed somewhat now I have what I paid for in V2. I don't plan to subscribe to V3 as I have no use for the extra features. Hope this helps you. 👍🏼
@manny_orduna Spot-on but maybe count yourself as lucky. I can't even get it to start. Went through their recommended approach of deleting the app from my Mac and reinstalling from the download. That axed all the settings so it's like installing it again. The problem is that it won't send me the "confirmation email" and gives an error when I click to send this email to e again. I can't do anything else! Flexbits Support suggestion....to send me to the generic "here's how to upgrade from version 2" article.
They screwed an awesome app just so that they have the opportunity to squeeze more money from me. This is a total debacle.
Flexibits is asking me to pay a $60/year subscription for an application that doesn't appear to have any additional features beyond the application I'm already using and don't have to pay a subscription for??? No thank you. Fantastical 2 works just fine.
@magnuson Yeah, for me, the update also doesn't contain any feature, that I am interested in. In the past, they didn't add a lot features to Fantastical, so I am curious, how will it be with the subscription model.
I can see subscribing to that service, but only if they turn up the pace and also bundle it with Cardhob.
@craigcpaterson this software subscription business is going out of hands, there has to be a better way to do it other than making us pay for it. With so many subscriptions I see we will end up paying $1000 per month just to keep our computer usable...
Looks great, but I am not convinced at all that existing users of the paid 2.0 version are keeping all the features they had before.
I've updated and already finding features not active and behind premium feature.
For the record, I am all for App Dev's getting paid. I would rather I wasn't upgraded and then the features I was comfortable and paid for disappeared.
@mitchinator Thanks - can I ask about shared cal notifications - which calendar service are you using on the backend that you notice this with? google, outlook, icloud?
@mitchinator interesting. I use iCloud shared calendars. when I add via Fantastical, everyone gets notifications - because iCloud is doing it on the backend. On Mac in 3.0 non-premium (upgraded from 2.0), I still see time to leave alerts.
As near as I can tell, Fantastical 3 non-premium has every feature Fantastical 2 for paid users did, and a short list of added features for paid v2:
* 3 day weather forecast (premium gives a 10 day)
* ability to run in the background and use the mini window even when the application isn't open
* sync with todoist and google tasks (which I don't use, but whatever)
* supports attachments for google calendar
and apparently, they improved the parser, which is what turned me onto Fantastical in the first place
Nope.
I want to see ISVs get paid for their work as much as the next guy, but it's frustrating to see apps (like Fantastical) that provide only a locally installed app with zero costs to function properly forcing users to switch from owning to renting their software.
Apps like 1Password do a much better job of balancing the purchase vs. subscription debate, which I very much appreciate (thanks, @dteare). Although 1Password pushes users toward a subscription, users still have the option of making a one-time purchase if they prefer. The difference between the two offerings is that the subscription service offers additional functionality via cloud services that require monthly expenses to operate (and thereby justify a monthly payment). For example, if you want to access your passwords via the web, you need a subscription. If you not, then you don't.
Screenshot:
Fantastical would be better off adopting a similar approach to 1Password: offer both subscription and one-time purchase options, then differentiating between them based on the features/services that require monthly costs to operate. For example, if providing weather forecasts requires flexibits to incur monthly expenses then make this a subscription-only feature. If not, make it available as part of both the subscription and one-time purchase offering.
Here's the thing: If flexibits finds that Fantastical doesn't have enough features/services to make a subscription model worthwhile using the approach, then Fantastical simply isn't in a good position to ask customers to pay a monthly subscription. It's that simple, and this is the reason why articles that mention Fantastical's move to a subscription model have comments sections filled with angry customers. Instead of spending time trying to convince customers why they need money to do work (doesn't everyone?), flexibits should focus on new features and enhancements that warrant the cost of a subscription over a one-time purchase. Some customers will see value simply in being able to access Fantastical on all platforms/devices for a lower monthly price instead of paying higher one-time purchase prices on each platform, but an equal number of customer don't own an iPad, iPhone, or Apple Watch and therefore don't want to pay a monthly fee for platforms they don't care about.
Maybe @macguitar can weigh in?
@dteare@macguitar@jhildenbiddle
> If flexibits finds that Fantastical doesn't have enough features/services to make a subscription model worthwhile using the approach, then Fantastical simply isn't in a good position to ask customers to pay a monthly subscription
This!
I was initially excited because I've been a long-time user of the iOS app and was ready to purchase this new outright for my Macs, but after seeing that it's subscription based; no thank you. I appreciate all you've done to create an awesome app but I think this is where my stop is.
„Some have called us crazy, but we call it doing the right thing. All of the features from your prior purchase of Fantastical 2 will continue to work with the new Fantastical...” Yea, it’s like madness, not to block features ppl already paid for. Charity basically. Btw. I’ve bought Fantastical 2.0 and (so far) have the features blocked anyway, so...
Very sad to see that despite paying a lot of money for an app, you don't get consideration from the dev. Why should I pay again for the same app I paid 1 year ago? Why can't we update from 2.0? All these subscription models are making acquisition people lazy.
Won't update, sorry.
So excited about this update!
Fantastical has been a life changer for me and I can't wait to see how my life will again profit from this large update.
Thank you Flexibits team!
I understand the need/want of going to subscriptions. Developers need to survive to continue, but it's the pricing models from some ISVs that don't match in my mind. I can subscribe to MS Office 365 for $99/yr for 5 user licenses. I use it every day. Another utility might want $40/yr. I use it only occasionally. The fact is most users aren't upgrading their core computing environment often enough to justify a standalone pricing model vs. a subscription. Services like SetApp make the pain a subscription model a little less painful to the end user.
A bit annoyed that they've removed time to leave notifications (something I already paid for). I'll have to switch apps, paying $40/yr for a simple calendar is too expensive in my opinion.
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