Change Pro version to subscription

Crossoni

The only reason I chose this diary app is the fact that it was not a subscription. Though at the moment I would happily pay a small subscription fee if it would boost the development speed for new features, since at the moment the backlog is full of great suggestions and we are getting around one new small feature in a month. If voluntary subscription would make it possible for Timo to hire more developers I would happily pay for it.

timo

Crossoni the backlog is full of great suggestions

I agree that there are many great suggestions posted here in the forums. However, I need to carefully weigh the pros and cons of implementing them. I don't want the app to become a feature creep which would not only make the app more complex, larger, slower and harder to use, but also more difficult to maintain, which slows down maintenance and improvements in the long run. I even consider removing already implemented features that are used by only a very small fraction of the users (currently, I am evaluating if I could remove GIF-support).

Crossoni are getting around one new small feature in a month

In recent months, there have been not as many "user-facing" features which result in additional buttons or settings in the app. However, a lot of improvements have happened "under the hood". The app has become much more faster and memory-efficient when dealing with pictures and thumbnails. This is increasingly important as the journal size grows and you scroll through your hundreds of journal entries. It is an investment for already existing users - users that already paid for the app. Nothing I can advertise on the app's website or Store description. But I think it is much more important than listing another "fancy" feature to lure new users.
With the very latest update to 2.9.72, the Cloud Sync upload has been drastically improved, especially when you have a lot of attachments in your journal. Again, this is no "fancy" feature, but it makes working with a large journal just so much more enjoyable.
In the next weeks, I will be working on migrating the text editor for the macOS and iOS app to "TextKit 2", which is Apples new text engine. This sounds technical and doesn't provide immediate new functionality, but it is important work which makes the app future-proof and working with texts & lists more enjoyable.
Noone asked for these improvements here in the forums, but if I didn't work on them now, the app's quality would slowly degrade and users wouldn't enjoy using the app as much any more - but they couldn't put a finger on what exactly makes the app not enjoyable. Performance, memory efficiency etc are like "hidden features" that are just as important as "real" features like colored fonts/colored backgrounds (which is one of the user-facing features I added in recent months).
Another technical topic I worked on this year was the migration from Xamarin to .NET 7 - which is Microsofts new cross-platform technology for apps. A lot of work had to happen behind the scenes, to make the app future proof and avoid unpleasant surprises in the future. Have a look into the changelog where you find most of the changes that come with each version and that I don't necessarily announce in the "what's new" dialog after updating the app. There's even more going on that would be too technical to mention in the changlog.

Crossoni to hire more developers

This is unlikely to happen. Founding a "real" company with employees and all the additional organizational overhead is something I am scared off. I wouldn't be able to do what I enjoy most, which is coding and solving problems.

Oh wow, I normally don't write as long paragraphs, guess I felt it was important to share this with you 😃
Thanks for the discussion and writing down your thoughts - much appreciated!

Oddball

timo Hi Timo.... this app has been and continues to be a revelation to me, your generosity of spirit and the time you give, although as you say you enjoy using the App yourself. Paying subs is an unpleasant thing sometimes, you pay and ultimately are disappointed.
I find this App amazing... I've actually adapted it and myself to the point I can dispense with three other (two paid) Apps.
You yourself are a rare bird.... very few would create something so good and not charge, I'm pleased you don't.

A thought.... I follow tech reviews on You Tube, and test tech for two Chinese companies pre release to iron out bugs, not a Beta tester, but a commentator on usability, aesthetics, and the final user experience for which I am paid a modest sum.
My point is on You tube there are many programs.. Notability et al.... actually Duranium can replace all these note taking apps, diaries, and reminder apps. You could probably build a reminder function in? But I can add reminders in anyway and I get an indication "something" is due on that date. I usually insert a small gif.

To stop rambling and get to the points... one you should send copies of Duranium to "influencers" on You Tube..... it would get rave reviews, secondly regarding a sub, I admire your stand on this immensely, but you could add a "Buy me a coffee" function, I for one would like to show my appreciation, and there is no set amount making support possible from anyone who has "any" income. Some might put a Euro or Dollar in, others Ten Euro's. I think people who appreciate this App deserve the opportunity to say a simple "thank you". And if you can't afford it, that's fine too and maintains your ethos.

Greatly appreciate all you and others do for this brilliant App Timo.

Blessed Beyond Measure

Oddball YES! I so appreciate that this app is NOT subscription based, but would gladly contribute to the "buy me a coffee" thing! An excellent suggestion and a way to show our appreciate for a wonderful app!

zinzon

Hi Timo,

I am very pleased to read your answer and to understand both your logic and your commitment in the development from diarium. This is precisely what gives me the feeling of a well maintained app. Hats off!

Switching to a subscription model is too touchy – ok, got it. I like the other suggestions though, like sponsoring the development of particular features or the donation of money. I could personally consider both.

A third option would be the donation of time/expertise. If you would make the app open-sourced, developers and testers could participate that way. But I guess that it goes in the direction you like less of creating a company and managing people.

Thank you for your great work!

Crossoni

There are a couple of more things that I would like to point out regarding features and settings. Timo you keep saying that you do not want the settings screen to be bloated, and that is one of the reasons why you try to keep settings at minimum. Why don't you hide some of the settings behind "advanced settings" toggle or section? In my opinion the more options the power users have the better, so they can customize their app to their liking. It does not make the app any less hard to use for new users, since they know how to differentiate between essential settings and optional settings.

Personally I don't understand why you want to limit the amount of features just so that the app does not become a "feature creep". You could also hide some features behind advanced features, which can be toggled from advanced settings. That way the initial experience for new users is not too complicated and hard to grasp and that way the power users can get the most out of the app.

I know that one of the reasons why you want to limit these is the fact that for every new feature and setting you need to add new tests to make sure that the app does not break when something is changed. But in my opinion that is not a reason to deny new features, it can be solved by using more time for every new feature by also writing more and better tests. So that's why this reason does not prevent adding new features and settings, it just takes more time to be absolutely sure that everything works as expected. It's a shame that you have many other apps which take away a lot of time from you and I of course can't demand you to prioritize this app over the others.

I would love to hear your thoughts about this Timo 🙂 Keep up the good work!

timo

I am not saying that I will not add new features, but I'm physically not able to add every feature asked for here in the forums, even if I wanted to. It's just too many. That's why I have to prioritize. Keeping the settings to a minimum is one aspect, keeping the app maintainable another. And there are more reasons (app size, dependencies on libraries, smaller likelihood for bugs etc).

And I already prioritize this app over my other apps, especially in the last couple of months. WorkingHours & SubTotal haven't seen a new feature since months.

QuintanBarnes

wow

Catnatsuki

I would hate it if the app was converted to a forced subscription model.
While I wouldn't mind paying a bit every year, since I like the app. But what would make me abandon the app completely would be if it was moved over to a subscription and the features I paid for were locked behind a paywall. like has happened with a few apps I paid for on android/windows and that made me completely abandon the apps.

The best thing would be to add a voluntary donate button which would let users choose if they want to donate on their own accord because people who wouldn't mind paying a subscription, also wouldn't mind donating to support the app.

luxBorealis

Diarium is a great app because:
(A) it is uncomplicated and not bloated with features, though, I would like a “List” feature 🙂
(B) it is not a subscription app.
The push today is to change, update, change, update and that becomes rather tiresome. It’s nice to use an app that is not hell-bent on adding the newest, latest, must-have, can’t-live-without features.
Sometimes simple just works and if the developer is happy then we, the users, benefit.

username

You could just have a patreon for people who like to sub. Some basic support tiers.

timo

username From what I understood, on Patreon you usually give some "extra content" to those who subscribe, to give some incentive. But I wouldn't know what that content would be in the case of Diarium. If it is only for donations, I don't think it would make much of a difference - from my experience, only a very few percentage of users donate to apps without getting anything "in return" (and I totally get that! I also only every donated like $10 to the Signal app). But yeah, I could still try it and see how it goes...

username

timo I suppose it's just a simple way to have a subscription model for stuff totally separate to the app itself so as to not interfere with anything as it is.

Then you can just do it for things like social/cosmetic features like. Perhaps like access only to specific supporter forum here or features of the forums/communities like custom titles or even custom cosmetic items in app.

As long as it does not fall into the trap of locking core in app features behind subscriptions, i don't think people would find that approach particularly offensive as we know it is supporting your efforts overall.

SumitDharewa

i too think the subscription model would keep me away from this super duper app where i log my views of the future and extrapolations and ofcourse notes for today. thanks for developing it. :-)

Yannick

One time purchase is good enough for pro version. If you go subscription, app would end up bigger size with more complicated features. This just a simple diary app, or do you want it doing everything like Twitter / X? Com'on.

John Gaudy

Subscription model is "overbought" / over-extended itself in our society.

Yes there are instances where subscriptions makes sense, but not for a small app where there is no need to constantly create new and endless features, just tweaks and low maintenance. If there are cool features that took some time to build in, the one time cost sounds completely appropriate. If in the future there is some crazy awesome feature that needed extensive time to create, maybe consider an "add on." The subscription is only there if there are a constant stream of new and USEFUL features that everyone wants. Can't imagine how that would work out with a journal app, either too much pressure as an honest developer to deliver or else a clear attempt at a money grab.

I recently moved from Journey app (free). I found it disgusting that even the most basic functions, like bolding or italicizing text, required an overpriced subscription. As if adding the "bold" feature took extra time and tons of resources to add. Wrong. It was there from the beginning, took zero resources to make, and paywalled just for an easy money grab. And getting constantly bombarded to be upsold. No thanks.

timo

John Gaudy The subscription is only there if there are a constant stream of new and USEFUL features that everyone wants

Subscriptions are also necessary to cover ongoing costs. Like I need to pay ongoing fees to Google, Apple etc. For example the server costs to host this website. The yearly Apple App Store fee. Access to the WeatherKit API of Apple to provide the Weather feature in Diarium. Or to Google to provide certain features like the location search or map thumbnails (for the Strava feature). And those ongoing costs are only going to increase as more people are using the app.

Also, don't underestimate the work involved just to keep the app "alive" and up-to-date. Not only are Google, Apple and Windows coming out with new technology every year and I need to adapt the app, they also deprecate APIs and I need to implement the new APIs. Or they introduce new privacy features that the app needs to adapt to in order for the app to be allowed in the Store. There's always work to be done, even if that work doesn't manifest itself in new features 😉

There might come a time when these ongoing costs (caused by features like weather, Strava integration, location search) will grow too large and I will have to make a decision if I

somehow deal with them and pay them with the one-time fees. This would become more and more difficult as long-time users continue to use these features but less new users buy the app
remove the features
lock those features behind a subscription
some other solution (e.g. a way to buy "tokens" as in-app-purchase that can be slowly consumed when using those features)

Fcgiii

zinzon

Changing to a subscription model drives users away. I have been using Microsoft office since it first arrived on the scene and Word longer than that.You paid for it, you owned it.

Then they introduced the subscription model. I stuck with Office 2010 as whatever new features introduced were not worth it.

Then they susetted the paid versions.

So I quit using Office. I miss it but i will get along.

The Nomad

The lack of subscription is why I considered this App. I have always purchased software that I need and have no problem paying for updates when they were released, but when I felt the time was correct. I was a huge user of several Adobe products for over a decade and spent thousands on their software. Since it became subscription only I have spent money on alternatives.

Several Apps have an initial Pro purchase and then an optional additional purchase for when there are major upgrades. Even Apple's Final Cut Pro does this. When a new version is released I can choose when/if I want to upgrade. My existing FinalCut Pro does not stop working. I would have no issue with paying for major upgrades to Diarium but if it was a subscription only model that pushes me out the door. I do not want a bunch of ongoing and randomly spaced out future costs that are part of the subscription model.

OrigamiManguy

I dont have much I want to say besides wanting to express my appreciation for your commitment to Diarium. I'm absolutely loving Diarium, it's such a nice thing to have at the end of a day writing about what I've done while being able to customize all these little things for each day, it's really been a delight to use. If I'm being honest the no subscription aspect is what solf me on buying this app and, on android at least, It's really the only app that isn't doing a subscription based model. I'm happy to hear you're sticking with your guns on this one.
Please keep up the amazing work!