If you install an app you don’t want to use, you can delete it, after which Setapp will revert it to its teaser state. Setapp itself takes up about 110 MB, and the stub apps occupy another 300 MB, but an app like RapidWeaver would be nearly 90 MB on its own. This teaser approach is smart, since it eliminates the need for any additional interface and lets you save space. From then on, it’s a normal copy of the app. Click an Open button in that window and the app downloads and launches. Double-clicking one doesn’t launch the app itself, but instead opens a window that describes the app in detail, complete with screenshots. Inside the Setapp folder are “teasers” for all the apps - they’re only about 2–3 MB in size. You also get a Setapp menu in your menu bar it provides access to a few preferences, most notably the presence of the Dock icon and a search shortcut I had to change because it conflicts with LaunchBar’s Control-Space. Once you’ve installed Setapp and signed in, a Setapp folder appears in your Applications folder and adds itself to your Dock and Finder window sidebar and toolbar (you can remove it from any of these locations if desired). Using Setapp - Working with apps in Setapp is simplicity itself, since it integrates right into the Finder in OS X 10.10 Yosemite or later. If users embrace subscription models, both sides are better off: developers will be rewarded for improving their app for the long haul, and new features will be in users’ hands faster instead of held back for artificial milestone releases. Developers are forced to choose between creating paid upgrades, which delays feature releases, and free updates, which discourages investment to improve apps. Version-based licensing stifles creativity. Matthew Tobin, developer of the included Aeon Timeline, said he was excited about how Setapp’s model overcomes a flaw in the standard version-based licensing approach. There is another potential benefit to the subscription approach. I could even see some people subscribing to Setapp on and off as a way of testing apps that they might later purchase. Gemini costs $19.95 I’m not sure I’d buy it for a couple of uses per year, but I’d be happy to have access to it in Setapp. It’s also worth considering that Setapp includes some apps, such as MacPaw’s own Gemini duplicate finder, that you may want to use, but so infrequently that you can’t bring yourself to buy them outright. You can browse through the full list of current apps, and as I said before, more will be appearing soon. MacPaw is selecting which apps get included in Setapp to avoid overwhelming users with too many similar choices. Those are all fine apps, and while I’m not familiar with every app included in Setapp, those I do know about are solid. You’d pay nearly $300 to buy all that software, or you could subscribe to Setapp for 30 months for the same price. Let’s say you want to write in Ulysses ($44.99), create Web pages in RapidWeaver ($99), take screenshots with Capto ($29.99), keep track of your Mac’s performance with iStat Menus ($18), and monitor your server with Simon ($99). Obviously, the question comes down to whether you’ll use enough of the included apps to make the subscription worthwhile. You can even use Setapp on a second Mac merely by signing in on that Mac. These apps aren’t demos, crippled, or older versions, and there’s no advertising anywhere. Setapp automatically keeps its apps up to date at all times, so you don’t have to fuss with installing updates - including major new upgrades. It’s unlikely apps will be removed often, if at all, given that developers sign a 12-month non-exclusive agreement. Nor will the price go up as more apps are added. Pay $9.99 per month (the first month is free) and you can use any number of those apps for no additional charge. Setapp for Users - That’s part of the pitch for Setapp, a new subscription service from MacPaw that gives Mac users access to 60 carefully curated apps today, with more coming in the future. It’s the same with Spotify or Apple Music - you can play a lot of music in a month for the same price as purchasing a single album on iTunes. For many people (me included), paying $9.99 for a month of Netflix beats buying a movie on iTunes for that $9.99 (or more). But sometimes the value proposition is compelling. I know, some people really don’t like subscriptions. #1655: 33 years of TidBITS, Twitter train wreck, tvOS 16.4.1, Apple Card Savings, Steve Jobs ebook.#1656: Passcode thieves lock iCloud accounts, the apps Adam uses, iPhoto and Aperture library conversion in Ventura.#1657: A deep dive into the innovative Arc Web browser.#1658: Rapid Security Responses, NYPD and industry standard AirTag news, Apple's Q2 2023 financials.
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