A subscription for a menu bar, though, kills it for me. I have apps on Macs that are over 20 years old. Some of those companies don’t exist anymore. I’m not going to risk paying $100 for a decade of your app and hope that your company, or your goodwill, stays around that long.
Show HN: boringBar – a taskbar-style dock replacement for macOS
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Re: Show HN: boringBar – a taskbar-style dock replacement for macOS
#12Re: Show HN: boringBar – a taskbar-style dock replacement for macOS
#13Re: Show HN: boringBar – a taskbar-style dock replacement for macOS
#14Re: Show HN: boringBar – a taskbar-style dock replacement for macOS
#15I use uBar for this: https://ubarapp.com but this looks like a nice lightweight alternative!
Re: Show HN: boringBar – a taskbar-style dock replacement for macOS
#16I am the target audience for this, from a UX and tech perspective. It addresses a problem I have and for which I periodically audition solutions. A subscription for a menu bar, though, kills it for me. I have apps on Macs that are over 20 years old. Some of those companies don’t exist anymore. I’m not going to risk paying $100 for a decade of your app and hope that your company, or your goodwill, stays around that lo…
Re: Show HN: boringBar – a taskbar-style dock replacement for macOS
#17Subscription is a big nope here, though. Especially for Mac software, I'd expect something where you pay for one major version, that is guaranteed to works on specific macOS versions, and gets minor bugfix updates too. But maybe the next macOS version requires a newer major version update to run, in which case you pay an upgrade fee to buy the next major version - or maybe the next major version has new features you might want to upgrade to as well.
My old Macs are stuck on 10.13, and I see Ubar mentioned elsewhere in this thread and that it's still compatible with 10.13. I might consider the $30 one off price to buy Ubar and keep it forever, but I wouldn't do a $10 subscription.
Re: Show HN: boringBar – a taskbar-style dock replacement for macOS
#18We really have entered the age of everything being a subscription.
Re: Show HN: boringBar – a taskbar-style dock replacement for macOS
#19Re: Show HN: boringBar – a taskbar-style dock replacement for macOS
#20I use uBar for this: https://ubarapp.com but this looks like a nice lightweight alternative!
and https://noteifyapp.com/activedock/, which is less extreme but has a start menu-like launcher option
Both have one-time/lifetime purchase options. Taskbar is $25 one-time with a free but expiring older version. ActiveDock's one-time prices are $15 (1 year of updates, but usable forever) and $60 (lifetime updates).