Sad news from the Panic! Blog; the sale of one of their best professional applications on iOS is being “suspended” from future purchases.
This is a another serious blow to professional applications on iOS. Using iOS or attempting to use iOS as a primary computing device desperately needs developers like Panic to be profitable and provide bridges over gaps that iOS is too slow to close.This is the second time in recent memory Panic has shut the doors on a product that I was personally using to get what I consider “Pro” level work completed.
Initially I was relying on what I consider one of the BEST concepts of multi-windowing concepts for iOS – Status Board.
Status Board was a great app either as a stand-alone personal productivity board or a great data display board; I used it for both. Displaying lots of hardware and software performance data as well as project/task process tracking. It was a great party while it lasted; I was extremely bummed out when it went away. I found a replacement in Numerics but for some of the same functionality it was another expensive option that I haven’t fully worked out the kinks to.
Now its happened all over again; but this time with an app that I was just starting to depend on, Transmit.
Transmit is a file management app and I can hear you now “but Jeremy iOS has the Files app now!” And you’d be right. Transmit provided really clean remote file management for Cloud services as well as FTP, SFTP, S3, DreamObjects and WebDAV that I honestly favored over what Files currently supplies – to say nothing of the vastly better dark theme that I personally prefer to the blinding white of a high percentage of interfaces these days.
In both cases Panic cites lack of revenue and conversion into “Professional” utilization. I can’t dispute their numbers or their argument really. Two things seem to be a fault here – The App Store’s inability to handle upgrade pricing and the scale at which people purchase these “Pro” level applications.
I’m happy “Panic” as a company has the conviction to cut things that aren’t making them money. At the same time I’m not a fan of leaving customers in the lurch as it gives me great pause to continue to support the developer in their endeavors. It causes concern that my investment in the software is a higher risk.
Again – I hear you saying “It didn’t cost that much” but the full cost of a solution is not in the upfront sticker price but that, coupled with how long it takes to customize, learn the in’s and out’s, enable automations, as well as checking the time it saves you versus the productivity impact you’re going to take on if you lose it.
I also say “solution” because this app – is really part of what I call “The Panic Suite” which includes Coda, Transmit, and Prompt, and Panic Sync that operates across macOS and iOS. These “suites” are what I personally buy into because they emphasize developers that can maintain and app catalog and cross the functionality across OSes. Pulling functionality away from that suite weakens it.
Professional solutions like the Omni Suite seem to manage to keep their presence in this space and while I don’t want to see prices insanely increase – I would rather (if we’re underpaying) see those price hikes with the transparent explanation rather than see them just go away to never return.
Godspeed Transmit for iOS. I hope to see you rise again.
jeremyxmentzell 