49 comments

  • Sean GeraghtySean Geraghty, over 7 years ago (edited over 7 years ago )

    In other words... "We are fed up of Apple taking our money and don't see why they should. So come buy it direct from us"

    For anyone who wasn't aware, this wasn't a criticism of Sketch more of an observation of how Apple try to dominate the market and it's nice to see people moving away from the MAS.

    29 points
    • Ollie BarkerOllie Barker, over 7 years ago

      Plus no app store trials.

      8 points
    • Taylor Van OrdenTaylor Van Orden, over 7 years ago

      Most likely not.

      Check out the myriad of issues with the MAS on HackerNews: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10655853

      Sandbox is the biggest complaint I have. I can understand it with the iOS to some degree. At least there they are constantly providing new features and hardware changes to help apps keep being innovative.

      An issue that takes you 3 minutes to fix and re-upload. And then you need to wait another 7 days. (If you're unlucky they find something else for 7 days more of waiting time).

      In fact, all of these points were made directly in the article, which I'm not certain you read:

      App Review continues to take at least a week...

      there are technical limitations imposed by the Mac App Store guidelines (sandboxing and so on) that limit some of the features we want to bring to Sketch,...

      and upgrade pricing remains unavailable.

      16 points
    • Matthew R. MillerMatthew R. Miller, over 7 years ago

      That is not at all what this article says. Like Taylor shows, check the Hacker News comments to better understand the frustrations developers encounter with the MAS.

      4 points
    • Nathan ManousosNathan Manousos, over 7 years ago

      Using the app store is basically paying apple to cripple your product.

      6 points
    • Laurens SpangenbergLaurens Spangenberg, over 7 years ago

      Regardless of this being a non-reason, I'm happy that this way Bohemian is getting more money to improve Sketch this way instead of having to pay Apple's App Store tax.

      0 points
  • Ben Henschel, over 7 years ago

    I've always preferred to get an app directly instead of through the app store. You get updates faster.

    Is there any benefit to getting an app through the app store?

    11 points
    • Dan CortesDan Cortes, over 7 years ago

      I personally like it because I can keep track of all the apps I've bought and I don't have to worry about saving my license keys somewhere. That said, it's only a minor inconvenience to have to keep track of those keys (Google Drive/Dropbox/etc. makes it super easy) and it won't put me off from continuing to use Sketch.

      14 points
      • Marc EdwardsMarc Edwards, over 7 years ago

        1Password does a great job of this. (And yep, I just put my new Sketch license into 1Password a second ago!)

        4 points
    • Malte NuhnMalte Nuhn, over 7 years ago

      They update more nicely. For smaller apps where I don't know the producer I also like that Apple provides some baselevel guarantee of virus/malware-free experience.

      6 points
      • Rasmus ErikssonRasmus Eriksson, over 7 years ago

        Um, nicer than for example Spark? No way. No proper notifications, no beta channels… all it does is just replace the entire app package.

        1 point
        • Jorge MartinsJorge Martins, over 7 years ago

          are you talking about this? http://sparkle-project.org

          1 point
        • Marc EdwardsMarc Edwards, over 7 years ago

          Other non-Mac App Store app update advantages:

          • Being able to use the app while it’s updating.
          • Being able to disable updates (handy if you like the version you’re on for some reason).
          • Being able to skip updates.
          • Being able to revert to an older version (if the developer has a download link to older versions).
          • Not needing to log into the Mac App Store many times (this is a huge issue if you have multiple Mac App Store accounts).
          8 points
          • Rasmus ErikssonRasmus Eriksson, over 7 years ago

            That last bullet applies even to single account holders. Every so often, by the will of the gods, MAS decides that you're not worthy and logs you out.

            I think even if all of these (massive) points weren't true, being able to push out updates at will would make it worthwhile to exit. Not to mention sandboxing and restrictive Apple policy.

            1 point
        • Malte NuhnMalte Nuhn, over 7 years ago

          Fair point :)!

          0 points
  • Luís SilvaLuís Silva, over 7 years ago

    Good for them. IMO the Mac App Store takes away a lot and gives in return almost nothing.

    5 points
    • Hubert RabagoHubert Rabago, over 7 years ago

      As a developer, I'm aware of what I get out of Apple's App Stores. While I don't have apps on the Mac App Store yet, I have been on the iOS App Store for a while now.

      In exchange for Apple's 30% cut, Apple hosts my binary, manages downloads, manages charging the customer all around the world, and notifies my users of updates.

      For each of these items, there's a negative side (Apple charges customers ~ I don't have customer profiles/contact info), and there are lots of other negatives that are not related to the above (long review times). However, I'm at least aware of what I get.

      3 points
      • Joe Blau, over 7 years ago

        iOS apps run at a simnifically smaller pricing structure than Mac Apps. The fee should be a flat rate not a percentage. It's not harder to manage 30% of a $1.99 iOS app than it is to manage 30% of $99.99 of a Mac app.

        I have apps in the app store, and I agree that apple gives you a lot of value, but Apple applied their music pricing (where everything is basically $1 for a song or $10 for an album) to all software and it really doesn't make sense.

        1 point
  • Brad McNallyBrad McNally, over 7 years ago

    Finally. I'm so sick of Apple not approving updates that contain critical bugfixes.

    4 points
  • Tony GinesTony Gines, over 7 years ago

    They probably got what they needed out of the app store and that was recognition. Good way to advertise their product to new audiences. Now that they've clearly established themselves, they probably don't see any need for them to be in the app store anymore.

    Companies like Adobe and Autodesk seem to do just fine outside of the app store. Granted, they're huge. But, I think Sketch is a pretty big player in the design field now. Enough so that they can handle things on their own.

    I'm excited to see what this flexibility means for the future.

    4 points
    • T LT L, over 7 years ago

      But I believe they had a lot of casual users that are not designers but they bought the software because they needed to draw something. They will lose access to these.

      0 points
      • Laurens SpangenbergLaurens Spangenberg, over 7 years ago

        I'm not sure how true this is, I've seen a whole wealth of vector apps on the App Store that are much more cheaper than Sketch.

        0 points
      • Jonathan YapJonathan Yap, over 7 years ago

        plus I think the majority of the users they are catering for is the professionals rather than the casual everyday users.

        Like Laurens mentioned, there are heaps of tools that are cheaper on a price point and much more focus on simple drawing tools.

        Apple's 30% cut for additional visibility to the market seems a lot for something like Sketch which has a good traction and reputation in the industry.

        0 points
  • Malte NuhnMalte Nuhn, over 7 years ago (edited over 7 years ago )

    I wonder how from what version of OSX Apple will simply not allow this anymore... glad it's still an option for now!

    4 points
    • Pierre de MillyPierre de Milly, over 7 years ago

      As long as you'll have direct access to command line on OS X, they won't. Which is probably forever.

      2 points
      • T LT L, over 7 years ago

        Of course, you can also jail break your iPhone. Only question is how hard it will be bypass Apple.

        But they will never do it, because all developer tools, all creative tools and more would stop working and they would lose a lot of customers.

        0 points
      • Malte NuhnMalte Nuhn, over 7 years ago

        ...don't give them any ideas though ;)

        0 points
    • Marc EdwardsMarc Edwards, over 7 years ago

      The day they don’t allow it is probably the day I switch to Windows.

      8 points
  • Koen Bok, over 7 years ago

    I so want the app store to be good. It is easy to see why it could be great for everyone.

    But at this point it's so bad, that products with a huge userbase have to hinder users by moving off, and maybe on again in the future. So many wasted hours.

    That is the thing that really surprises me from Apple at this moment; that they dropped below the threshold so much that we all have to go through this, and again when they maybe fix it.

    3 points
  • Andy MerskinAndy Merskin, over 7 years ago

    Probably for the better. In addition to their reasons mentioned, the App Store is buggy as snot. :/

    2 points
  • Shawn MShawn M, over 7 years ago

    "and upgrade pricing remains unavailable."

    We'll be paying for Sketch4

    1 point
  • Christian Krammer, over 7 years ago

    Hope that will help to improve the quality of Sketch, especially "quality-management" wise.

    1 point
  • Adam SelbyAdam Selby, over 7 years ago

    I really like how they're handling the transition.

    1 point
  • Ivan Annikov, over 7 years ago

    Nice move! Faster updates to the market.

    0 points
  • Vasil EnchevVasil Enchev, over 7 years ago

    +30% revenue. Sandboxing and No PAID Upgrades is the main reason for that. Apple does not listen to us - the developers. I am sure in couple of months there will be a paid upgrade for Sketch 4

    It's a bold descision App Store is probably the best marketing channel and they are cutting it.

    0 points
  • John PJohn P, over 7 years ago

    Happy to see this, App Store limitations are laughable for professional software.

    0 points
  • Chiron ZorChiron Zor, over 7 years ago

    It seems they didn't validate Apple ID purchase before transfering. If you installed Sketch on multiple Macs using App store, you could get multiple License key. I know it's wrong, but I have to try it. Bug reported.

    0 points
  • Tom Lanning, over 7 years ago

    Quality, ballsy move from quality company with a quality product. Would be great to see others follow.

    Apple's conditions are too severe and their commission is disgusting. Hopefully more large, established aps leave as well and leave Apple with what they deserve - a worthless pile of crapps.

    0 points
  • Rasmus ErikssonRasmus Eriksson, over 7 years ago

    Not that I'm against choice, but yay.

    0 points
    • Marc EdwardsMarc Edwards, over 7 years ago

      It’s quite likely that having the Mac App Store version harms the non-Mac App Store version. Maintaining both typically means making decisions that cater to the lowest common denominator, which is the Mac App Store (sandboxing etc).

      2 points
  • Philip AmourPhilip Amour, over 7 years ago

    That's just horrendous.

    0 points
  • Josué Gutiérrez Valenciano, over 7 years ago

    Sketch is dead on arrival for me, until they bring it to Windows. Nobody uses Mac for God's sake! Stop making apps for your personal use, Mac devs, just stop.

    -1 points