Ulysses on Setapp

Our friends over at MacPaw have just launched Setapp – a permanent, subscription based, ever-growing, curated app bundle for Mac. And Ulysses is in it from day one.

Setapp is $9.99/month, currently offers 60+ apps, among which are such greats as Hype, Rapid Weaver, Aeon Timeline, Marked, Screens and Clean My Mac. It’s an awesome package of immense value, and since this is just the beginning, it will get insanely better over time, just by design.

You can read all about Setapp on their page, so I won’t bother you with subscription details or update policies. Instead, I’d like to be pre-emptive for once and answer some of the questions that are surely infiltrating your minds right now.

Are you leaving the Mac App Store?

No. We are not leaving the App Store at all. We see Setapp as an interesting opportunity for a certain kind of user, and we want to be part of that opportunity. Our goal is to reach as many users as possible, and if you find Setapp attractive, if you have use for the included apps, if maybe these apps are all you’ll ever need, then you may be happy to have Ulysses included. For us, Setapp is just another way to get Ulysses into the hands of users. It’s an option.

Wait! 60 apps for $9.99/month, that’s like… $2/app/year! Doesn’t that devalue Ulysses? And by a lot?

No. If you get Setapp just to get Ulysses, you’d actually be paying twice as much per year as you would for a single purchase, so… no.

But why add a new channel of distribution? Surely this will irritate users.

We don’t see Setapp as a new channel of distributing Ulysses. We see Setapp as a service on which Ulysses is available. We won’t tell you to “go and get Setapp, if you want Ulysses” – instead, we’re saying “if you get Setapp, you’ll also get Ulysses”. You need to think of Setapp as a productivity package, similar to apps that come bundled with new devices: You don’t buy a Mac to get a Calendar app, but if you bought a Mac, a calendar is included.

Come on. Surely that’s the height of semantic nitpicking.

Not at all. If you want Ulysses, get it from the App Store. If all you want is Ulysses, don’t subscribe to Setapp. If you don’t care for all the other apps on Setapp, don’t get it. If you don’t trust another third party with your purchases, don’t subscribe to Setapp. App Store FTW! There you have it.

Ok, but… then why are you participating in Setapp again?

Look, Setapp is an awesome offer, and MacPaw are an awesome company with an awesome track record. The idea behind Setapp is just incredible, and we want to be a part of that idea. The world ain’t black and white, and neither is running a software business. If in two years’ time Setapp is dead – at least someone tried. If it’s the greatest success since Facebook – we were there when it happened. And as a user – Setapp could be all you’ll ever need. And if it was, wouldn’t you rather have Ulysses included? We know we’d rather be included. And it’s an insanely great service to boot: You can try it for a month, no strings attached; the way it blends into the OS is pure genius, and if you decide to ignore it or leave it or whatever, there’s no harm done.

We’re excited to be part of this. And let’s just see what happens. Have fun. Be productive.