'Fantastical 2' Launches for Mac With Yosemite-Style Redesign, Full Calendar Window

[longterm]

The price on Fantastical 2

I can offer a different perspective:

As someone who has been in a computer consultant for a lot of years, I know that making a living off of software can be a risky endeavor.

Apparently, there are only 2 guys in this company; this means that they're putting in enormous hours to write their software and have no guarantee that they can make a living off their work.

I don't mind paying $40 US for Fantastical 2 because I love their iOS apps and the Mac app that I've had now for a long time. I've tried almost every iOS calendar app, but always return to Fantastical on the iPhone (it's not my favorite on the iPad though).

I bought Fanstastical 2 but can't get it to run. I will admit that I was a bit taken aback that they were hitting me for $40 after I've been a registered user for so long, but knowing how hard it can be to make a living selling custom software, i don't mind paying for great products--and Fantastical has always been a first-rate calendar app on the Mac.

Now if they could just get it running on my Mac I'd be happy.

 

[mw360]

I bought fantastical 1 through their website so they could offer an upgrade version that way.

No, they can't. They cannot sell it anywhere cheaper than on the App Store. It doesn't matter what you call it, upgrade, special offer, loyalty concession or a bowl of goldfish, its the exact same product as on the App Store and the rules state they cannot sell it cheaper than on the App Store.

 

[longterm]

I can offer a different perspective:

As someone who has been in a computer consultant for a lot of years, I know that making a living off of software can be a risky endeavor.

Apparently, there are only 2 guys in this company; this means that they're putting in enormous hours to write their software and have no guarantee that they can make a living off their work.

I don't mind paying $40 US for Fantastical 2 because I love their iOS apps and the Mac app that I've had now for a long time. I've tried almost every iOS calendar app, but always return to Fantastical on the iPhone (it's not my favorite on the iPad though).

I bought Fanstastical 2 but can't get it to run. I will admit that I was a bit taken aback that they were hitting me for $40 after I've been a registered user for so long, but knowing how hard it can be to make a living selling custom software, i don't mind paying for great products--and Fantastical has always been a first-rate calendar app on the Mac.

Now if they could just get it running on my Mac I'd be happy.

UPDATE: I got Fantastical 2 working once I turned off Apple's 2-factor authentication.

Do I think it's worth $39? Not sure yet, but not blown away at this point. The one thing that I see already that I'm not pleased with is that the menubar pulldown doesn't work unless FT2 is running...

 

[pickaxe]

What a scam. There's not even any Hipster Glitter to make this more appealing - it's literally space-efficient calendar app with todo integration and natural syntax recognition.

There's absolutely NOTHING here to explain the price.

 

[Weaselboy]

UPDATE: I got Fantastical 2 working once I turned off Apple's 2-factor authentication.

I have it working with two factor turned on. You just need to create and use an application specific password.

 

[C DM]

No, they can't. They cannot sell it anywhere cheaper than on the App Store. It doesn't matter what you call it, upgrade, special offer, loyalty concession or a bowl of goldfish, its the exact same product as on the App Store and the rules state they cannot sell it cheaper than on the App Store.

That's as far as iOS goes, as I recall, but is it just like that for OS X (where pretty much any software can be installed and used without involvement of the App Store at all)?

 

[posguy99]

To put things in context, this app is more pricey than text expander and pdf pen, and I don't see its functionality reaching anywhere near that.

This is probably answered later on in the thread, but I just had to respond. In what universe is PDFPen < $ 39.99? The non-Pro PDFPen is $75, the Pro version is $125. I know what PDFPen Pro costs, I own a copy.

Fantastical is priced comparably with other calendaring apps on the Mac.

 

[indychris]

Reviews on the App Store don't seem to be all that hot. Seems like an awfully big article for a simple calendar app.

 

[Toltepeceno]

No, they can't. They cannot sell it anywhere cheaper than on the App Store. It doesn't matter what you call it, upgrade, special offer, loyalty concession or a bowl of goldfish, its the exact same product as on the App Store and the rules state they cannot sell it cheaper than on the App Store.

You are wrong, I bought fantastical from them with a teachers (Education) discount for 20% less (16.00). They sent me a code, they could do the same for upgrade pricing so your bowl of goldfish stink. How about posting a link to that rule?

Do you offer education discounts?

Yes! We offer a 20% educational discount. Contact us with your educational institution's name and your relation to the institution (student, teacher, etc.) and we'll send you a coupon code.

Agilebits is just one of the companies that have upgrade prices outside of the app store, 1password and their other products have an upgrade price for their products but you have to buy them on their website.

https://agilebits.com/store

It helps to know what you are talking about.

CLEARLY they could give upgrade prices for fantastical, I'm not sure why you are spreading false information for them.

Another company, Omni:

https://www.omnigroup.com/blog/update-no-upgrade-pricing-for-mac-app-store-purchases

We will continue to ask Apple to support upgrade pricing in the App Store, and I would encourage others to do the same—but until that happens, upgrade pricing will only be available to customers who buy our apps direct from our online store./QUOTE]

Also, this company DOES have a way to offer upgrades through the app store:

Mac App Store
While we’re not able to offer discounts on the Standard version of OmniGraffle in the App Store, we are able to reduce the price of the Pro upgrade (an in-app purchase) for those who purchased OmniGraffle 5.Please note that we can not migrate customers from the App Store to our store or vice versa. If you did not purchase OmniGraffle 5 from the Mac App Store, your upgrade needs to come from our store; follow the instructions at the top of this page.

 

[Barrierfreeman]

No, they can't. They cannot sell it anywhere cheaper than on the App Store. It doesn't matter what you call it, upgrade, special offer, loyalty concession or a bowl of goldfish, its the exact same product as on the App Store and the rules state they cannot sell it cheaper than on the App Store.

Fairly sure I bought 1Password from their webstore cheaper than it was on the MAS.

Anyway, I prefer the look of F1's mini window. So just going to stick to that and the regular calendar for a while. £30 here in the UK, with discount, which is about £10 more than I would be willing to pay, not saying its not worth it to others, just not to me.

 

[diesel]

You are wrong, I bought fantastical from them with a teachers (Education) discount for 20% less (16.00). They sent me a code, they could do the same for upgrade pricing so your bowl of goldfish stink. How about posting a link to that rule?




Agilebits is just one of the companies that have upgrade prices outside of the app store, 1password and their other products have an upgrade price for their products but you have to buy them on their website.

https://agilebits.com/store

It helps to know what you are talking about.

CLEARLY they could give upgrade prices for fantastical, I'm not sure why you are spreading false information for them.

And I've bought certain games cheaper on steam from one of their frequent sales than was being offered on the App Store (example being civ 5).

 

[pappy53]

I, for one, am shocked that Flexibits would dare charge a price for a niche software product that can sustain a small business.

This thread is a perfect case study on how the App Store's race-to-the-bottom pricing has created a group of consumers who feel entitled to quality work for an unrealistic price - developers' time and livelihoods be damned.

But if they had priced it at $20, and only 100,000 people bought it, that is still $2,000,000. $1.4 million in their pocket. Not bad pay for R&D, IMO.

 

[Lestdog]

Damn, I got excited about this app and even opened up the App store to buy it thinking it would in the $20 - $25 range. Then I saw the price and said Nooooooooooo thank you!

This is app is seems absurdly overpriced, almost everyone on here is a bit surprised at the cost.. but who know's, maybe their research tells them that this is the best price point. Time will tell

 

[terryzx]

I also bought it as it does make it easier to add events than version 1 did. I also like that it's much nicer to not have to go to Google to do my updates...but I also think that it IS a bit high priced. However BusyCal is also in that price range and I can't stand using that one. At least I di like using this version better, but I sure hope that they figure out how to do more REASONABLY PRICED UPGRADES in the future versions.

 

[longterm]

Not any more than its competitor

BusyCal, which I also own, is $49.99 on the Mac App Store.

$39.99 with a discount is not that bad...

I did figure out that one can open the app without having the main window--which makes it similar to the way that v1.3 worked.

I do like that you can detach the mini-window; I like natural-English creation, which they had in the previous version; I like the look and feel. Is it worth the price? That's up to users.

There's always a free Calendar in OS X for people who are happy with that; with my schedule, as busy as I am, I like having a calendar that's a bit better than the stock app.

 

[Swiss-G]

I have it working with two factor turned on. You just need to create and use an application specific password.

Using the demo version.

I have two factor turned on in iCloud and created an application specific password. It accepts the password and syncs the calendar but then requires a new application specific password after about 5 mins which I assume is the sync interval.

Works fine with exchange accounts as its pulling them from the mac calendar.

 

[Weaselboy]

Using the demo version.

I have two factor turned on in iCloud and created an application specific password. It accepts the password and syncs the calendar but then requires a new application specific password after about 5 mins which I assume is the sync interval.

Works fine with exchange accounts as its pulling them from the mac calendar.

Hmm... yeah maybe the demo is the issue. I'm on the purchased version and it seems fine with the application specific password.

 

[Truffy]

it's a popular and one of the top third party calendar apps in the Apple ecosystem

it's already #6 in the ranking of top paid for apps in the app store

But for how much longer?!

 

[AlliFlowers]

It doesn't come close to the features available in Informant, which finally come out with a Mac version. And it is GORGEOUS. (And slightly cheaper.)

 

[pappy53]

It doesn't come close to the features available in Informant, which finally come out with a Mac version. And it is GORGEOUS. (And slightly cheaper.)

Where do I find this?
Never mind, I found it. It's $30, and will go to $50.

 

[macUser2007]

Or it's a popular and one of the top third party calendar apps in the Apple ecosystem.... Seems like a very likely straightforward rational explanation as well.

Hm, I must have missed all the news items about random "top third" app updates in various categories.

Sorry, it just doesn't make sense as a news item to me, and apparently to some others.

The Fantastical 2 app has 2 star rating in the App Store, it is not featured in Editor Choice and it is nowhere near the top in terms of popularity when searching for "calendar" in the App Store (yeah, I did the search, because I thought maybe I am missing something).

It's an ad, without calling it an ad....

 

[AJsAWiz]

?

I can offer a different perspective:

As someone who has been in a computer consultant for a lot of years, I know that making a living off of software can be a risky endeavor.

Apparently, there are only 2 guys in this company; this means that they're putting in enormous hours to write their software and have no guarantee that they can make a living off their work.

I don't mind paying $40 US for Fantastical 2 because I love their iOS apps and the Mac app that I've had now for a long time. I've tried almost every iOS calendar app, but always return to Fantastical on the iPhone (it's not my favorite on the iPad though).

I bought Fanstastical 2 but can't get it to run. I will admit that I was a bit taken aback that they were hitting me for $40 after I've been a registered user for so long, but knowing how hard it can be to make a living selling custom software, i don't mind paying for great products--and Fantastical has always been a first-rate calendar app on the Mac.

Now if they could just get it running on my Mac I'd be happy.

I have Fantastical on my Mac and Fantastical 2 on my iPad and iPhone and I agree with your views on this software. I was just about to buy Fantastical 2 for the Mac then I saw your post. What kind of problems are you encountering with Fantastical 2 for Mac?

 

[sladey]

Does Macrumors have a financial interest in Fantastical?

Seriously guys, do you get money for reporting this as as story?

After you raved on about Fantastical for iPhone I spent what I thought was too much money to get a couple of calendar features, and was more than underwhelmed. It was rubbish and a complete waste of money. My mistake.

Now you're waxing lyrical about spending $50 on an upgrade for a freaking calendar app for your Mac. That is INSANITY.

How much money do you make from this?

 

[Abazigal]

This is probably answered later on in the thread, but I just had to respond. In what universe is PDFPen < $ 39.99? The non-Pro PDFPen is $75, the Pro version is $125. I know what PDFPen Pro costs, I own a copy.



Fantastical is priced comparably with other calendaring apps on the Mac.

It's $45 with the education discount which I got since I am a teacher. If not for the discount, I might never have picked it up either.

I don't really consider myself a heavy user of these apps, but I do find myself needing their functionality from time to time. So for me, it's a "nice to have" app, and I consider the price accordingly.

Same with fantastical. I don't really use calendars much these days (mostly on my phone and the todoist app). I like the concept of the fantastical Mac app, think it looks cool, and were it cheaper, I don't mind just buying it and displaying it on my Mac, even if I never really use it. But definitely not at these prices.

 

[C DM]

Hm, I must have missed all the news items about random "top third" app updates in various categories.

Sorry, it just doesn't make sense as a news item to me, and apparently to some others.

The Fantastical 2 app has 2 star rating in the App Store, it is not featured in Editor Choice and it is nowhere near the top in terms of popularity when searching for "calendar" in the App Store (yeah, I did the search, because I thought maybe I am missing something).

It's an ad, without calling it an ad....

Plenty of articles over the years about popular apps (sometimes popular in general, sometimes popular amongst the MacRumors community, sometimes popular in other respects) being updated, redesigned, etc. People can certainly think of it as they wish, but it doesn't make it that simply because of what some people might think it might be.

In this case the article is even worth having simply given the "less than usual" pricing and related aspects of it all and the discussion that presents to the community here.

----------

Seriously guys, do you get money for reporting this as as story?

After you raved on about Fantastical for iPhone I spent what I thought was too much money to get a couple of calendar features, and was more than underwhelmed. It was rubbish and a complete waste of money. My mistake.

Now you're waxing lyrical about spending $50 on an upgrade for a freaking calendar app for your Mac. That is INSANITY.

How much money do you make from this?

Plenty of people find it great, others not so much. Nothing unusual that something great for some might not be so for others. Plenty of articles about all kinds of other apps getting updates or redesigns, various free ones and various paid ones. Part of the reason to have these types of discussion threads--spurred by these types of articles--about these apps and the changes and related things so that people can ask their questions and see feedback from others. What else is new?