JotterPad switches to subscription model without informing current users

It’s becoming more frequent that some paid apps are switching to a different mode, usually to a subscription model, just to be able to continue with their operations. But oftentimes, they would inform current users and then give them a few weeks or even months to adjust. Unfortunately, users of popular writing app JotterPad suddenly found out that their favorite app is now sporting a subscription model, to the chagrin of those who already paid a one-time fee to unlock premium features.

Ever since it came out around 2014, a lot of writers have enjoyed using this app because of features like custom fonts and display styles, dark mode option (before dark mode became a thing), Markdown support, view-only or edit-only mode, snapshot history, built-in dictionaries and thesaurus among other things. If you wanted most of these features, including cloud syncing, you had to pay a one-time $5.99 Creative unlock fee.

According to Android Police, previously cloud sync was part of that one-time fee so you could connect your content to Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive. Now it looks like they switched to a subscription model, starting at $0.99/month but has now become $29.99 per year. They did so without any prior notice to users. There was no pop-up message on the app or an official blog announcement about this.

They just removed the single-account cloud sync feature from the Creative pack. So basically now, if you want to sync to one or many of your cloud accounts, you’ll have to pay the $29.99/year Pro Cloud Subscription. Users only found out when they’re reinstalling the app or switching to a new phone and they are not able to add a cloud sync service. The good news is that if you still have the app installed currently, you can keep syncing.

That might change soon though when they start strictly implementing the cloud sync subscription or when they make the official announcement. But the lesson here for app developers is to always let your users know about major changes like this before implementing them, lest you risk losing their loyalty.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *