Airmail, a very popular email client for Mac and iOS, announced this week that it was reshuffling its pricing strategy — the app is now free to download, with numerous "optional" features locked behind a new subscription ($2.99/month or $9.99/year). I say "optional" because included in this list of pay-walled features are notifications — something most consider an essential function of any email application. Another damning component of this rollout was the fact that users were notified in the app the day the changes went into effect — no forewarning or advanced explanation of the reasons behind this change took place. Naturally, many users of Airmail are incredibly frustrated with both the way these changes were announced as well as the changes themselves. Although I don't use Airmail personally, I'm still frustrated with how this went down because it muddies the waters for other independent developers also considering subscription pricing.
There have been a lot blog posts and podcast segments about this situation (and yet here I am adding to the pile) — but I think the conversation that best captures how I feel was on this week's episode of Connected. Stephen, Federico, and (half of) Myke excellently explain the blowback to this pricing change, and even share some advice that developers considering subscription pricing plans might benefit to hear. Stephen hits the nail on the head as to why this decision hurts so badly:
When your strategic advantage is being a thoughtful, independent developer with a devoted user base, mistakes like this can easily be deadly. Hopefully Airmail reassess this decision and considers what steps they can take to regain their users trust — and hopefully other developers will learn from Airmail's mistake.