MacPaw’s new Mac application subscription service, Setapp, has officially launched to the public, following a beta testing period where they shook the bugs out to make sure everything ran smoothly. The new “app smorgasbord” service currently offers over 60 apps for $9.99 per month. (MacPaw says the number of available apps will continue to grow.)
Instead of paying for upgrades, expensive in-app purchases to unlock important product features, or freemium apps that ‘trick’ users into buying more later, users of Setapp get access to fully functional software with the latest updates delivered continuously in the background. Setapp has been under development for more than a year and is now emerging from a private beta period in which more than 35,000 consumers got a sneak peek at the service.
Setapp offers a number of popular titles, as well as some lesser known apps. We’ve been using the service during the beta testing period, and we found that Setapp offers a nice variety of apps, many of which we already owned, as well as a number of apps we had heard of but hadn’t taken the time to sample.
To get started, users download a small app which creates a folder that is available via the Finder on their Mac. Inside the folder, there is a directory-like library of apps, including descriptions and screenshots, each of which users can click on to install and use as long as their subscription is active. At any time, they can browse the available software and download as many applications they may like, all for one set monthly fee. While a connection to the internet is needed to download and update the software in Setapp, as long as the subscription is active it remains fully functional while offline meaning users always have access to the apps they’ve downloaded unlike cloud-based services.
We liked the fact that Setapp doesn’t download all of the apps to your hard drive at once. instead, the app is downloaded and installed only when a user chooses to do so. That’s great for users with smaller hard drives. Users can view an app description of any not currently installed app by double-clicking the app’s icon. Downloading and installation of most apps took under a minute on our 60 megabit cable modem connection.
Users can use the apps as long as they continue their subscription, and access is immediately terminated when your Setapp subscription comes to an end. While an online connection is required for installation and updates, the apps are functional when no internet connection is available.
PRODUCTIVITY
VIDEO
UTILITIES
DEVELOPER TOOLS
BUSINESS
FINANCE
GRAPHICS & DESIGN
LIFESTYLE
PHOTOGRAPHY
OTHER
Setapp looks like an interesting way for Mac users to access and try out apps, both old and new, and it will likely prove to be a nice revenue stream for independent developers. (Revenue, equal to 70% of the total generated by their apps, is shared with developers based on which applications certain customers use during the billing cycle. As a reward, two-thirds of the remaining 30% goes to developers in the form of a “partner fee” which is based on the lifetime value of each subscriber they have brought to the platform.)
It remains to be seen as to the longevity of MacPaws’s new app subscription service, but it looks to have the chops to stay around for a good while, as long as MacPaw continues to offer fresh apps, and treat the developers fairly.
Setapp is $9.99 per month, but new users get a free month trial. For more information and to try the app service, visit the Setapp website.
