upgrade IOS to 13.3 kills SignalScope

Bandit

The original SignalScope has been useful to me as a church sound guy.  I don't have a lot of money, but I went out on a limb and spent it on this app.  I have loved it.  However, the new IOS 13.3 update killed it.  The app launches and immediately crashes.  I cannot afford to replace this with a subscription.  I have only ever used the FFT and it was awesome. 
What can I do?  Is there a competitor that has something like the FFT that is reliable and cheap?
Thanks

benfaber

Unfortunately, iOS 13 broke compatibility with legacy versions of our apps. End of support for these apps was announced in January, 2018 and they were removed from sale on the App Store in July, 2018. At that time (when iOS 11 was current), we could not have known that Apple would break them in iOS 13.

Please understand that the apps you purchased still work just fine on the versions of iOS they were developed for and you can continue to run them on compatible devices.
If you have a device running iOS 12 or earlier, you can re-download the original app you purchased from your App Store account.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201272

If you need to always be able to run SignalScope on the newest versions of iOS, we recommend that you download SignalScope X and choose a subscription option that best meets your needs (the Advanced Tool Set most closely matches the functionality of the old SignalScope Pro).

In case you prefer to avoid subscriptions, we still offer new perpetual license versions of our products for those who need them (with the understanding that they will also be retired and replaced at some point, as the old apps were).

Unfortunately, since our app distribution must go through the App Store, we cannot offer discounted upgrades for purchases of our earlier apps, which is largely why we moved to a subscription model for our software.
A note about SignalScope X's auto-renewable subscriptions

swredcam

This is pretty disappointing. I bought your product in 2008 when you probably had six customers. I provided you with feedback on how it could be improved. I only use it about twice a year and now I am supposed to buy it again? Or worse, get a subscription? I am really getting tired of sw devs trying to extort every last nickel out of their customers. Or should I say former customers.

benfaber

swredcam, I can certainly understand your disappointment that an app you purchased is not compatible with the current version of iOS. What I don't appreciate is the suggestion that Faber is "trying to extort every last nickel out of their customers." It isn't free to update our apps to work with each new version of iOS. We can't give away free upgrades forever and we can't offer discounts for previous customers via the App Store. Before the App Store existed, we sold new versions of our Mac apps every 2 to 3 years. At that time, we offered discounts to customers who had purchased previous versions. SignalScope and SoundMeter were in the iOS App Store for nearly 10 years(!), receiving free upgrades from time to time, before we sold separate new versions. We now offer our customers a choice between perpetual-license versions and subscriptions, for those who need to keep things up to date. We're offering significantly more value in our apps than ever before, at prices that are equal to or less than we've offered before. We're doing the best we can with what amounts to a difficult set of circumstances.

swredcam

Ben, you are building a business. You build it by offering new products and, more importantly, getting new customers. Instead you are focusing on extracting more money from your existing customers. Your app is only worth to me what I paid for it, which was I believe $9.99 or so at the time. It was the most expensive mobile app I purchased way, way back then. I rarely use it. I get it, it costs you money to update it over time for different iOS versions. If you need some money that makes sense with my original purchase price in order to stay afloat, OK that is fine. Instead though you have gone crazy with the pricing and your app is not even in the ballpark of where it once was. You blame Apple's approach but why not just price the app similar to what it was back then? Nobody has forced you to charge monthly amounts that are multiples of the original purchase price. I'm sorry you (seem) offended, but it's a simple fact that subscription software is universally despised and only those with no other option will choose it.

benfaber

swredcam, There appears to be some misunderstanding, here. The original SignalScope for iOS was $24.99 and SoundMeter was $19.99. Currently, all the original functionality of SoundMeter, and more, can be downloaded and used indefinitely for free in SoundMeter X. SignalScope Basic 2020, which far exceeds the original SignalScope app can be purchased for $19.99.

Nobody has forced you to charge monthly amounts that are multiples of the original purchase price. We don't. Currently, SignalScope X's basic subscription is $0.99 per month. Our most expensive monthly subscription is $14.99 per month and that's for our Pro Tool Set, which offers the full functionality of SignalScope Pro 2020, which currently costs $299.99 (which is the best value we have ever offered for our complete set of tools). By the way, SignalScope Pro 2020 runs on macOS, iOS, and iPadOS with a single purchase.

swredcam

OK so for $19.99 I can get back to where I was before. I still don't like having to pay for what I have already purchased, but that is better than a subscription. Thank you.