Screenshot via Filmic Pro
In 2022, Bending Spoons bought Filmic. Filmic is the premier video editing app for iOS. It features fantastic manual controls, perfect for a phone screen. You can control just about everything the iPhone camera is capable of. I used it extensively to record company events and technical talks in the past. I’d use multiple cameras, microphones, and combine them later. One of the best tools in my arsenal wasn’t a fancy camera. It was my iPhone with Filmic.
That all changed when Bending Spoons took over. I had to download the “Filmic Legacy” version of the app. The “Pro” version I owned had now become an ad for their subscription model. A camera app… with a subscription model. The response to it from fans was instant and negative. People are willing to buy new versions of apps as they increase their feature set. However, they’re less willing to pay weekly or yearly for an app that doesn’t improve much over time.
And while Filmic may have been willing to release new feature under a new app and charge users again, the standard model of software development, new owner Bending Spoons was less generous. The app costs $2.99/week or $49.99/year. For an app that used to cost users a fraction of the yearly cost, and was popular among amateur filmmakers because of that, it was an absurd ask. Filmic currently has 3.4 stars in the App Store, with the legacy version, frozen in place when Bending Spoons took over, at 1.4 stars. Ratings largely are in protest of the pricing model on the “Pro” version.
Bending Spoons might be making users miserable, but it’s profitable, right?
Apparently not.
Because Bending Spoons laid off the entire Filmic team, former CEO and all. Once the best app for video on the iPhone, now everyone who built it is gone.
More Massive Layoffs for Tech
Bending Spoons bought Filmic a little over a year ago, had the engineers work to ruin their own app with a subscription model, and then, once they had what they needed from them, laid them all off.
Yeah, remind me to immediately hand in my 2 weeks notice if Bending Spoons ever acquires a company I work for.
The app was central to many amateur and even professional filmmakers. It gave you all the manual controls you’d expect on a professional camera, from exposure, ISO, manual focus, zoom, white balance, audio source, resolution, physical lenses, and so much more. If you knew what you were doing with a real camera and wanted to shoot video that was worth showing to other people, you used Filmic.
Subscriptions Ruin Apps
Screenshot via Filmic Legacy
Filmic used to have a competitive film making festival. It seems it’s been canceled. It used to be a good entry point for young filmmakers and anyone wanting to dip their toes into film making. Then it cost a whopping $49.99/year or $2.99/week. The weekly cost seems absurd until you realize someone may want to use it to work on a school project or film a wedding. However, it’s more absurd when you realize that, a little over a year ago, it would have cost someone less than a month to buy the app out outright. They’re trying to get money out of the students that can’t pay $50, but need the app for a quick project. Making money from broke students like getting blood from a stone.
Bending Spoons also bought Evernote last year. Evernote was already a subscription note-taking app. However, much to users ire, they recently limited free users to only 50 notes this year. Many have left to find alternative notes apps since then.
No One Wants Another Subscription
Netflix, Hulu & Disney+, Paramount+, Peacock, Apple Music, Apple TV, VPN, a portion of the apps you use, internet, cellular, maybe cable TV, a gym, food, razors, protein and energy drinks, and more, and more, and more. You’re already drowning in a sea of subscriptions. Do you really want another subscription for… a camera app on your phone?
I could see offering the base features as a one-time purchase, the features in the “Legacy” app, and offering certain premium features via a subscription. Features that make sense this way, like AI editing tools and cloud storage that aren’t something you’d get out of a basic camera that simply unlocks manual controls already present on your device. But that’s not what this is, and it hurt users. It hurts the kid who wants to use it for their school project, or the person who just wants to film their sibling’s wedding.
Fortunately, for them, there are plenty of other options available. Halide, a manual camera maker that has a one-time purchase fee or a subscription, has announced they’re working on a video app. Moment, maker of fantastic lenses for mobile devices, also has a manual camera and video app, with many of the features Filmic offers, for just $7. Not $7/month, just a one-time fee.
The problem with subscriptions isn’t just that users hate them, it’s that users have better options. They can buy an app, even for $50, just once and use it forever. That’s what users prefer. When you introduce a subscription, paying users will leave, and you might not get enough subscribers to stick around to make up for that, especially if they don’t see the point in their subscription. Users who would have bought the new version of the app next year for $30 instead give you $0. Then you end up laying off all your developers on a project, taking it in-house for people with less experience with the app to fumble around in it until its users abandon it.
Subscriptions work for items where a constant service is provided. But an app that just gives you full manual control over the camera and equipment you already own? Locking that behind a subscription will always feel unfair. That’s enough to kill an app, apparently.
Sources:
- Wes Davis, The Verge
- Chance Miller, 9to5Mac
- Harish Jonnalagadda, Android Central