Panic Blog

Coda users need some love! (waiting forever for something better than CSSEdit)

Sounds like the Mac App Store is truly an efficient piece of work. Keep up the progress, Apple! The whole world is aspiring to be as fast as you are… ::eyeroll::

I understand Apple can’t brazenly play favorites, but I’m amazed that a company with a history like yours has to deal with any kind of lengthy review process.

All the more reason (among others) to keep buying from you directly. I like the app store for some things but I greatly prefer to do business directly with developers who deserve it.

Thanks for the super-quick Twitter reply, guys. Figures that my test case for the App Store is the one that has a bug that renders it useless for me! Using the time-limited, fixed demo in the meantime. :)

What Mario said :)

I second what Mario said about Coda.

looking back i’m unsure why i bought the transmit through the app store. i guess just to try it out. however, i certainly know now that i will never do it again!

It took 20-days for our update to get approved. We feel your pain. It seems that Apple requires almost 3 weeks to get an app reviewed and updated. If you’re in review it will be very soon. Once we moved to that state it was like 24 hours and it was live. I agree, Apple getting in between developers and customers is going to be tenuous at best. I applaud your gumption for doing what you have to do in the early days of App Stores until the bugs get worked out.

I will continue to purchase my software directly from the developers website over the Mac App Store for this exact reason (among a few others).

This furthers my skepticism of the mac app store. I like the idea of having a unified place for acquiring apps, but not at the expense of customer service, quality, and efficiency. I think I’ll stick to buying apps directly. I hope you guys keep that option available moving forward. Thanks for making sweet software!

I’m thinking that for mission critical software, buying direct from the manufacturer is the way to go. If I ever start buying software from the Mac App Store it will be trivial apps only. After all, the main use case for the Mac App Store is to make life easier for people who are confused about installing software. I (and Transmit users in general) am not the target audience.

I’m still rocking a 2006 iMac running 10.5 for my main dev/design machine, so App Store is not remotely relevant to my interests. And yes I find it irksome that Apple’s unfathomable workload stiffs users out of patches.

Thanks for confirming what I thought… Looks like I’ll be buying direct from debs that opt out or dual release outside the app store

So where is the changelog? What bugs were fixed aside from Mac App Store bugs?

Hey.

if we truly love you, should we buy apps directly on your website rather than on the Map App Store to make you earn more money?

Add my vote to the list of people who will be more likely to buy direct from a dev than the App Store. (also, Sparkle library ftw… just saying)

Oh—plus don’t forget that here in Australia we usually get hit with about a 20% “international tax” on the App Store that doesn’t happen when buying direct. An example from right here: Coda is USD$99 direct, about AUD$100.08… or AUD$119.99 from the MAS… meaning I’d have almost 20 bucks more in my pocket after buying it straight from Panic.

Thanks, Apple! :-S

I just bought Transmit on the app store yesterday and would just like to say not to worry about it. Transmit is an AWESOME product and I completely understand if you release updates to non appstore purchasers first. At least it isn’t a major update ;). Anyways, keep up the awesome work.

Thanks for the update. Proud to be a “real” panic customer. Don’t like the app store.

I don’t like the MAS!

I hope Panic will give me the chance to buy direct from your online shop for all times — I don’t need a third party between the developer and me. And I wonder how developers selling over the Mac App Store only get in touch with their new clients in the future.

If there is an update/upgrade/beta of the software I want it *now* — not after one month because Apple has to review it!

We support you guys and your decision. As someone who bought direct from you, I really appreciate you looking after all of your customers. I depend on Transmit! I recommend everyone that can purchase straight from the developer, Apple screws them for 30% off the top anyway!

You should recommend your users to download and use the free trial version until the update is approved.

Bravo. Another reason to love Panic.

Please don’t go “exclusively” when it comes to “mac app store”. Don’t like it. Waiting for another important update for days now. Unfortunately this developer decided to post it for pre-MAS customers when it is live on the app store.

Remind me again why MAS was looked upon as a “good thing”? I’d much rather buy direct from the developers so that they get more of my money directly, and actually regard me as a customer. MAS makes the whole process faceless, tedious, and more expensive for everybody, all so Apple can get its 30% cut and lock down the Mac app market.

Mystakill: developers are likely gonna love the MAS since it’ll boost their sales by A LOT (it’s already happening, see Pixelmator). As we can see there are still issues to be sorted out, luckily it’s not the only way to get great software on our macs ;)

Apple and their stupid “private API” rules. I’m sure devs have been using them in their applications for years. MAS will never fully replace developers’ only private distribution methods. And there will always be two target audiences. The tech-ignorant (to whom MAS is targeted) and the tech-savvy.

Cabel, thank you for posting the update to us ‘paid the old way, long ago’ users. Apple’s review process should NOT be your problem. I think they should have some automated API scanner (or SOMETHING) set up to catch things like this? I know, probably not that easy.

I understand the MAS, for ‘beginning users’ they get the whole ‘Apple is your System Admin’ experience. Some of us, however, have never needed this.

I sincerely hope that you will continue to offer your software directly — unless it’s stupid cheap (like $5), I’m just not willing to wait for Apple. I have work to get done and frequent updates/patches to my desktop software cannot wait for an appstore “review process.”

Something about being at the mercy (yes, by choice I realize) of Apple before you can sell a Mac application just doesn’t sit right.

Panic has awesome tech support. Within an hour of writing them, they had gotten back to me and nailed down an issue with Transmit that I had spent more than 2 hours trouble shooting this evening. I owe Les a pizza if I ever meet him in person.

Was going to buy Transmit on the App Store… will stick to direct now.

Why on earth would I ever buy an app through the Mac App Store? Less money to devs? Delayed updates? Loss of developer control? Yeesh.

And, yeah: Let’s get rockin’ on some Coda updates! ;-)

Bear in mind that when it’s approved you won’t get notification.

Is anyone else (other than the support guys, it sounds like) really disappointed that the App Store held up the release of this version for traditional customers, period? Bravo for doing the right thing eventually, but I’d hate to see companies make App Store delays a regular part of the release cycle. You certainly won’t see Apple delay the release of the new Mac Books just because Best Buy isn’t ready to shelve them, yet.

Even though Mac App Store deploys the update later, they may still patch their whole user base faster than the direct download version.

I already have the direct download version of Transmit v4, but if Transmit v5 is upgrade-priced at Mac App Store (even if only for a limited time) I will definitely buy it there instead of direct. Mac App Store is better. Even when compared to Panic, who do an awesome job with purchasing and serialization and so on, unlike many developers.

This is a great example of why the Mac App Store is not the best since internet porn. I’m glad I am a “direct” customer.

apple rejects transmit… fail

I like the concept of the App and iOS Stores, but I’m beginning to HATE Apple’s walled garden. It’s perhaps no bad thing trying to ‘protect’ users, it’s quite another to manipulate and control what they can and cannot do (or use).

I say this as an Apple fanboy who *has* fallen out of love…. I still love the hardware and the software; Apple, the company, not so much.

The Mac app store is the future. Look at what Valve and Microsoft are doing with their gaming stores. Hell, look at yum/aptget/etc on Linux. They are already successful app stores. Apple has made theirs the way they make everything, a joy to use, but also a little distant and uptight. App stores have made installing software fun; it empowers people. The problems will get ironed out. Amazon will make a platform agnostic app store and it will be clunkier than Apple’s, but it will be the most interactive and it will be good. We’ll be able to download software from the web, but we’ll do it less often, the same way that Installing software from a CD is less common today than it used to be. Thinking negatively about the app store will not stop the future.

The Store is grossly under-staffed and under-resourced.

The review process itself currently has a delay of about 2 weeks. That’s the delay before someone at Apple will even LOOK at a new application submission.

The submission process for paid apps is extremely complicated and error-prone (thanks, in part, to bugs with Apple’s tools).

The “review” itself appears entirely arbitrary. An application can be rejected for incredibly trivial things, as well as mistakes and misinterpreations by Apple.

Basic features are missing from the Store: Customers cannot try a demo or a trial; developers cannot transfer an existing customer to the store; developers cannot give freebie codes to users; the Store cannot update existing apps; you can’t purchase most non-Apple apps unless you first remove them from your hard drive; and so on.

The refunds policy is a joke. 90 days to lodge a refund request, in which event Apple KEEP their 30% of the full purchase price, charging it to the developer. (WTF?)

Let’s hope they improve the Store, and the submission process over time!

Chris, certainly nobody need to agree on Apple’s enforcement of official APIs.

However, developers know when they are using private APIs. They might not remember it anymore now, since it has become relevant just recently, but they need to know when doing it. This can become quite an issue if you have 3rd party libraries, or old code that you haven’t looked at in years.

On the long run software which sticks to the APIs is much less affected by OS version changes, and thus more stable. Developers who choose not to use MAS for distribution for avoiding “Private API” conflicts need to manage OS changes very seriously. Private APIs are usually work in progress, and their implementation or behaviour changes over versions.

The App store is great, I use it all the time and will opt to buy there before elsewhere. There are many like me. Its just too convenient, especially if you have more than one Mac.

Having said that I have no doubt Apple will smooth out the process as we go along. People need to chill a bit. This is a great thing Apple has done, especially for the smaller developers.

I for one appreciate them keeping code correct so my Mac doesn’t turn into the blue screen garbage PC of old.

Thank you for this. I’d like to suggest that, in light of the opaque and potentially lengthy MAS review process, you (and others) release updates for “classic” purchasers your software upon their submission to the MAS. People will then have a clear choice: the simplicity of purchase with the MAS, or timely updates to their software.

All of which is why I’m not buying from the Mac App Store. To the developers who put all of their eggs in the MAS basket, I sincerely wish you every success. But I’ll always prefer going direct and if that isn’t an alternative, well I guess I don’t need the software that badly*.

(* Not sold on the whole MAS easy update premise. A disk image is a two-step process. Is that really so hard? The no upgrade deals is off putting as are the restrictions on what tools developers can use. The only advantage I see is the “buy once, install everywhere” license. The only software that I ever bought that didn’t let me run a copy on my MBP and iMac (not at the same time ) was deleted as there was a freeware alternative available.)

I’ll just pretend MAS is not there and never happened.
Please please Panic, don’t ever force me into MAS.

Keep doing what you guys do! Working on the web would be a pain if it wasn’t for y’all!

It looks like the update has been approved, I’m updating as I type.

Apple’s turn around on updates seems to be 14-days. I would be that is when you can expect the update to hit the Mac App Store.

The app stores only work when the checks are consistent and quick. The double-check is important, but what *should* have happened was the update should have been approved, but all additional updates held until said private API was removed. If I had to guess, said PAPI didn’t show up magically in 4.14.

Here’s to hoping policy matures quickly, Apple. Otherwise, we the power users are going to seek out non-MAS purchasing.

Awesome update, I love that Transmit has been getting a lot of love from you guys. Disk mounting server + TextMate is where it’s at!

I’ve just purchased a copy of Transmit 4.1.5 via the AppStore and it is absolutely awesome – it is worth every cent IMHO.

As for those raising the issue of private API’s – there is a reason Apple don’t want people to use private API’s; this became apparently with 10.5 and the infamous ‘blue screen’ caused by ApplicationEnhancer.bundle; there 10.6 blocked these frameworks but in the end Apple won’t be able to block everything out there so it is time for developers to either stick solely to the public API’s or if there is functionality lacking then they might need to use a low level public API and recreate what they need from scratch.

@Agos: I own Pixelmator, but will likely not be upgrading to 2.0 as I also have Acorn and PhotoShop CS5. Pixelmator made the decision to go MAS-only for all future sales. I can understand how letting Apple handle distribution, sales, and marketing can boost sales. However, if existing customers are unable to trial or upgrade an app at a discount, then a good portion of them will likely choose to look at other apps instead.

I really don’t understand how DMG-based installers and automatic Sparkle updates are “too hard” for people to understand.

@Mystakill: Actually the entire concept of a virtual disk (DMG) is a bit confusing to inexperienced users. Having to mount, drag and drop, unmount, etc. is not so obvious…which is why most apps also include a link to the Applications folder within the DMG and instructions to drag&drop the app.

Even so, the idea of ejecting an application you just downloaded scares some, which is why you see several mounted DMG-s on many new user’s computers…

### please read this carefully and over and over again ###

Guys – i love your products and Im a Transmit and Coda user for years now …..

Please ….. please …… pretty please with sugar on top ……
Please transform Transmit into a full blown “dual pane filemanager”.
Basically – please use your excellent skills and rock solid code foundation to give us what Binarynights with their Forklift constantly fails to deliver …..
It´s a disaster – for years now theyre providing their customers with buggy software that leads to crashes every day.

Once again – pretty please – transform Transmit into a Dual Pane Filemanager for all purposes.
– you have the code right there …
– you have the skills
– you could simply take over the market

Willing to pay basically anything (not kidding) ….. all productivity junkies are in need of a Dual Pane Filemanager (like Total Commander on Windows).

Dont make be beg …. but ….. please !!!!

@peter fonda: If you want a dual-pane file manager for Mac OS, you might like Pathfinder (http://cocoatech.com/). Haven’t used it, but I’ve seen it recommended elsewhere and it might meet your needs.

(I hope it’s not a faux pas to link to other companies’ software on the Panic blog.)

Pathfinder is not a solution.

This is so sad – we have Pathfinder for local file actions – Transmit for remote file actions – and inbetween – a giant gap where Forklift was so promising but for 2 years now the programmers fail to deliver a stable and working app. Ive stopped counting the number of times when Forklift crashed when copying/uploading and it all eneded up in rebooting the machine.

We need ONE app that does both.

I agree that nothing beats the technology and speed behind Transmit.
The only need to adjust the user-interface a bit and add some copy/move functions :)

This evolution of Transmit would enhance our productivity by miles …..

Copy/Batch-Rename / Move / File Actions(Automator+Applescript) / Sync/Edit (Text->Coda etc.) / Terminal/Tabs / Favorites from Finder in Sidebar + Smart Folders / Icon+List+Column-View per tab /

That’s what we need to handle the many thousands of files we have between our local disks and remote servers.

He’s right – Panic already have everything in their hands to give that us where Binarynights utterly fails with their poor programming.

So yes …. please let Transmit become THE ONE productivity app on the Mac.

I’m a Transmit 3 user. Is there still no way to move get Trasmit 4 from Mac App Store at the same upgrade price of Panic site?

How can tell the MAS that I have NOT installed yet Trasmit 4? It says it is already installed…

Thanks,
Fed

Can I buy through MacUpdate? I am always losing serial codes, so an option like the Apple Store is useful.

Is there any restriction on installing more than one computer on the same network with one licence?

I love this app. I just a floundering novice and this makes everything so easy and it seems much faster than when done through the Finder.