IT House March 18 news, according to 9to5 Mac reported that although the Mac has its own App Store, it is not exactly as popular as the iOS App Store, because Mac users can install applications from third-party sources. And, while some developers trust their apps in the App Store, Apple's platform has disappointed them in some ways. This time, Kaleidoscope app developers wrote to complain about the Mac App Store's bundled services and lack of paid app upgrades.
Kaleidoscope is a popular macOS application that provides advanced tools for comparing folders and files. The app was recently acquired by Letter Opener, which promised to release major updates to Kaleidoscope to make the app more modern and complete.
Last October, Kaleidoscope 3 released a new interface, dark mode, native support for the M1 Mac, and more. Due to efforts to keep the app updated, the team decided to charge for the upgrade. It's easy to handle the process through the company's own website, but Kaleidoscope's version of the Mac App Store is difficult for developers.
The App Store's "Hidden Dangers"
A huge problem is that the App Store has never supported paid app upgrades, which is common when software gets a brand new version. While developers can release the upgrade as a new application, every user who owns the old version must purchase the new version at full price because there is no way to set a discounted price for the current user.
As kaleidoscope's developers point out, app bundling seems to be a "potential solution" to the problem. With this feature, which was introduced in 2014, developers can offer bundles of two or more apps at a discounted price on the App Store. And if you already have an app in the bundle, the price will be lower.
Letter Opener realized, though, that app bundling had more disadvantages than advantages, but it was too late. For example, if a user changes the country and region of their Apple ID, the discount on the bundled price is no longer valid. At the same time, developers have only "very limited pricing options" when creating App Store bundles, so they can't choose exactly how much money to charge customers.
But that's not all. The upgrade price is different for everyone as it depends on how much the customer has paid for a single application in the past. If the app was purchased during the special price period, the price of the upgrade bundle will be higher. Apple also requires that all bundled apps must be sold separately on the App Store, so they can't stop selling Kaleidoscope 2 to new users.
Is there any solution?
Now, not yet. Apple now allows developers to unlist an app, which hides it from the App Store unless there is a more direct link. However, the bundle still indicates that it comes with two applications, although only one of them is shown to the user – making things even more confusing.
Letter Opener's team has sent out multiple reports to Apple asking for improvements in this area, but Apple has not provided any details other than asking developers for more information.