Just another desperate attempt to get people onto the Pro subscription?
it’s sad to see what this once-simple and useful app has changed into in the name of monetization.
I understand why the shop might be removed since perhaps the sales weren’t consistent or the maintenance of the rotation was cumbersome. However, since there is no clear detail of what the future state looks like for acquiring personalization items, it would’ve been nice to have the shop cycle through everything with some notice beforehand to pick up any final items before the shop was removed entirely.
Hey all, I had posted about this a while back when we rolled out Clear Pro, but the shop as our initial monetization attempt turned out to be way too niche. Since then Clear Pro has been slowly but steadily building up, and is now handily eclipsing where the shop sales had trailed off to after its initial launch. In that context I think this is the right simplification for the app moving forward, vs. two competing monetization models.
We’ve moved all the shop inventory to basically two Pro buckets. A set unlocked immediately on subscription, and the rest in a ‘random loot drop’ pool that is meant to unlock collectibles over time, as you check off and clear completed tasks.
There may be a bug with the loot drops so we will look into that today. But ultimately I think this will result in more Clear users getting to enjoy the variety of collectibles we produced for the app.
(And of course as past customers, your purchased collectibles will always be unlocked, regardless of Pro membership status.)
These guys make the best ToDo app in the world, give it to you for free, and you complain because they’re trying to feed their families. Good lord
Just feels lame to remove a way for people who don’t want to pay every month (or every year) to support you guys. I get that shop sales have dropped off after awhile because I guess they are technically competing but are people realistically going to swap to Pro if they were already hesitant to sign up for yet another subscription?
I know you and I have gone back and forth on Clear Pro in the past and I don’t want it to seem like I’m finding another thing to go after you guys on. I just really love your app but a subscription realistically doesn’t work for me and I’m just disappointed in all the changes that have happened over the years.
But you are. You really, really are. A small team is working and struggling to craft a unique beautiful functional app — and they need to feed themselves. These people do not owe you, or exist solely to serve you. If you find value, if the app works for you and you get joy and efficiency from it, prioritize and pony up for a sub, and appreciate the big picture.
I was really hopeful and rooting for the shop, but it just did not work out in the end. And we need to focus on what is working a lot better with the subscription.
There is some possibility in the future we could try offering a lifetime unlock, but it is conditional on if we are able to build up the subscription base more, so we really feel confident we will be able to support this app longterm. (To fulfill that kind of lifetime promise especially with the syncing servers involved.)
It’s ok to feel disappointed or frustrated, I shared some of those feelings too. But so far, the subscription pivot really seems to be giving the best chance so far for that kind of future for the app.
I think its prevalence on the App Store just reflects the reality of the App Store market these days. Most people aren’t willing to pay a cent. So we need to focus the business on the smaller and more hardcore group who are willing to pay for the kind of ongoing value they get out of it.
There’s definitely a bug with the loot drops… Yesterday I unlocked a dozen Icons and about twenty Themes. When I went to check out the new Icons, they were there for a few seconds, and then they just vanished. Same with the Themes. Is there a way to redownload everything I’ve unlocked?
Hi @MarkBredius, I’ve dmed you a link to send us log files so we can investigate!