iOS: Price Increase/Google Drive (Only for New Users after September 1st)

[PMrev]

Hello CC Users,

We are making an update to the price of CC on September 1st, 2020.

All existing users who have subscribed or subscribe before September 1st will not experience the price increase. Your price will stay at $1/month or $10/year forever.

The price increase will raise to:

$1.99/month
$15/year

We are also releasing a new update today to remove the subscription screen for free users on every open ("nagging subscription screen").

September 1st release will include:

1. Google Drive Cloud Connection (Premium members only)
2. Price Increase

Thanks,
Alex

[Deskisamess]

Wow. 100% increase in the monthly price?

What about those of us who haven't subscribed. Are we going to lose the ability to use the app? What about the future?

[PMrev]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

Wow. 100% increase in the monthly price?

What about those of us who haven't subscribed. Are we going to lose the ability to use the app? What about the future?

No, nothing will change for existing users on the free version. All functionality will still be available to you.

[smoke2002]

And this is precisely why I will not do subscriptions. The price is doubling per month. All it takes is a few of these 100% price increases and before you know it the price has jumped to $50 per year. I’m sorry, but for all the more I use the app anymore, it just isn’t worth it to me. It wasn’t worth it @ .99 per month, definitely isn’t worth it @ $1.99 per month & will never be worth it at any monthly price for me.

I have not seen any major improvements from the new developers that would even begin to change my mind & after the initial debacle of a release that wiped out people’s entire libraries, I have little to no faith in their quality assurance procedures.

They say that no functionality will be removed for free users...for now. I have very little doubt that will be the case for long. Eventually, they will put certain functions behind a “pay wall” in order to force people to subscribe.

Subscriptions are a money-maker for them, but offer me very little of value. I, for one, will not be participating in lining their pockets based on what little development I have seen so far. There has been nothing new added to the app that has made me even remotely want to consider subscribing.

I wish them the best of luck & if they ever offer a one-time payment I might consider it, but subscriptions are a definite no-go.

[PMrev]

Originally Posted by smoke2002

And this is precisely why I will not do subscriptions. The price is doubling per month. All it takes is a few of these 100% price increases and before you know it the price has jumped to $50 per year. I’m sorry, but for all the more I use the app anymore, it just isn’t worth it to me. It wasn’t worth it @ .99 per month, definitely isn’t worth it @ $1.99 per month & will never be worth it at any monthly price for me.

I have not seen any major improvements from the new developers that would even begin to change my mind & after the initial debacle of a release that wiped out people’s entire libraries, I have little to no faith in their quality assurance procedures.

They say that no functionality will be removed for free users...for now. I have very little doubt that will be the case for long. Eventually, they will put certain functions behind a “pay wall” in order to force people to subscribe.

Subscriptions are a money-maker for them, but offer me very little of value. I, for one, will not be participating in lining their pockets based on what little development I have seen so far. There has been nothing new added to the app that has made me even remotely want to consider subscribing.

I wish them the best of luck & if they ever offer a one-time payment I might consider it, but subscriptions are a definite no-go.

I would respectively disagree with you.

Price increases are only for new members moving forward, our existing subscriber community base will remain at .99 per month. You have an opportunity to lock in your rate forever!

Just to name some of the improvements. Introducing google drive connection (sept 1st), new on-boarding flow for new users to better understand CC, fixing a deprecated Dropbox cloud connection, and numerous bug fixes across the app. We aren't a big team, so it may not seem development is moving very fast but we are trying! Corona also had a large impact on our dev speed. We have big plans for CC moving forward that will provide more and more value to users.

As far as the initial update that erased the libraries. That was a learning mistake and before my time running the app. We have implemented more and more QA controls and with the new team we are focused on preventing any major issues like that again.

We respond to the support emails, we are building new features, we care about the CC community!

Alex

[smoke2002]

And that's fine that you disagree. We are all entitled to our opinions.

However, my point is still valid for me, personally, in that there has been nothing added that makes ME want to subscribe.

1) You can say that there is an opportunity to lock in a price FOREVER, but you & I both know that is probably not true (FOREVER is a really long time). There will most likely come a time in the not too distant future where you will find the need to raise the subscription price for EVERYONE...whether it is to cover expenses or increase profits, especially if there are not enough new people willing to subscribe. After all, there is some reason that you are increasing the cost now. And that's fine, too...supply & demand.

2) I have been using CC ever since it came out for iPad, so I don't have any use for on-boarding information, therefore that is of no use to me.

3) I do not use Google Drive or Dropbox, so those also offer no value to me.

I understand that others may find these improvements wonderful & that's great for them, but I don't need them.

I have moved on to using other means of transferring & organizing my books that work just fine for what I want to do.

Again, I wish you all the best, but subscription plans are something I just don't do.

[peaceridge]

Originally Posted by smoke2002

And that's fine that you disagree. We are all entitled to our opinions...

I have moved on to using other means of transferring & organizing my books that work just fine for what I want to do.

Again, I wish you all the best, but subscription plans are something I just don't do.

I totally agree and am currently looking into those other means of transferring & organizing my books. It would be really, really great if you started another thread on how to do that - or pm me, I would be very grateful.

[PMrev]

Sorry to see you go and I can guarantee everyone's price won't increase ever in the future. If you ever come back please feel free to message me at the CC email for any support or help.

[PMrev]

Originally Posted by peaceridge

I totally agree and am currently looking into those other means of transferring & organizing my books. It would be really, really great if you started another thread on how to do that - or pm me, I would be very grateful.

You've been trying to leave for 4 months now Peaceridge. If you are going to do it, please do and stop blasting us on the forums.

[peaceridge]

Originally Posted by PMrev

You've been trying to leave for 4 months now Peaceridge. If you are going to do it, please do and stop blasting us on the forums.

Yes, and I'm going to keep reading the forums and asking questions in hopes of an answer, and I keep trying things that people mention. I'm not updating cc, just using it as is, as I originally paid for it, so that shouldn't bother your ethics. I do understand and appreciate that the folks that have taken over are doing their best, but as a retiree on a limited (very limited) income I can't afford the subscription for something that hasn't yet shown benefit to me. So, just ignore my comments and I wish you a good day.

[Deskisamess]

This app has only been in new hands for 14 months. Right after the change over, multiple users had major problems when the app was updated with a not-ready-for-Prime-time update. There was a serious dearth of information in the weeks after that fiasco.

Then another person is in charge, and within 2 months, it was announced that the app would change to a subscription model, at 99 cents per month. Fast forward 5 months, and a price increase of 100% is announced.

Oh but if you sign up before the end of the month, you're assured of keeping the lower cost subscription. And those of us who won't pay a monthly sub cost are assured we will continue to be able to use the app.

Review ratings have continued to drop.

Why is this nice little add on app being handled as if it is a full fledged piece of software? It's a niche app, serving a small number of users. It doesn't do much at all.

I know I'm rambling here, but none of this makes sense to me. I'm curious at the lack of responses as well.

[PMrev]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

This app has only been in new hands for 14 months. Right after the change over, multiple users had major problems when the app was updated with a not-ready-for-Prime-time update. There was a serious dearth of information in the weeks after that fiasco.

Then another person is in charge, and within 2 months, it was announced that the app would change to a subscription model, at 99 cents per month. Fast forward 5 months, and a price increase of 100% is announced.

Oh but if you sign up before the end of the month, you're assured of keeping the lower cost subscription. And those of us who won't pay a monthly sub cost are assured we will continue to be able to use the app.

Review ratings have continued to drop.

Why is this nice little add on app being handled as if it is a full fledged piece of software? It's a niche app, serving a small number of users. It doesn't do much at all.

I know I'm rambling here, but none of this makes sense to me. I'm curious at the lack of responses as well.

The lack of responses where?

The business model we have implemented is to improve the app continuously, which we are doing. It's maybe not at the speed preferred by users but that is the result of being a small team.

Not every new feature and upgrade is going to please every user.

We prioritize based on largest impact to the group.

I understand the original frustration with the first release and issues but we worked hard to fix those and they are fixed. We are now finally moving into the phase of improving the app. I can't share exact metrics but overall the app is doing better.

Most bad reviews come from the time period of the first major upgrade that destroyed peoples' libraries and from the subscription switch. Understandable why people would be mad but our app continues to provide value to users.

Wish I could go back in time and handle it all better but we work with the hand we are dealt. Please be patient with us and trust we are working hard to improve the app.

[Deskisamess]

The lack of responses where?

Sorry for being unclear...lack of replies to this thread, from other CC users.

Not lack of responses from you.

[PMrev]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

Sorry for being unclear...lack of replies to this thread, from other CC users.

Not lack of responses from you.

I think the group on here is a very small group of power users compared to the bigger CC user base. The larger group sees the work we do and the value we provide.

Like I said the metrics are trending in a good direction, people are generally happy I believe, or I can be completely wrong but then I think there would be different data results.

We care about CC and we know the power users here are a strong north star for us to think of new features and what bugs to fix. We value this forums opinion but it's not the only thing driving us.

[Deskisamess]

Reviews in the App Store can be seen by anyone. Out of the last 20 reviews, 14 are one star. That trend says a good deal.