Get apps

[stereoscopic]

is Mac app store or cnet better?

 

[pigoo3]

If you go the "cnet" route…depending on the app…cnet may point you back to the Mac App Store anyway.

- Nick

 

[chscag]

is Mac app store or cnet better?

I agree with Nick. Additionally, if you buy an App from cnet, updates are not necessarily free, however, when you buy the same App from the Mac App Store, updates are always free.

 

[pm-r]

Wasn't cnet listed among some others by several knowledgeable members as a place to avoid for downloads. I seem to recall it being mentioned that such downloads often came with some unwanted extras like a bad sexually transmitted disease the just keeps on giving? Or maybe I'm thinking of another Mac discussion site.

 

[pigoo3]

Wasn't cnet listed among some others by several knowledgeable members as a place to avoid for downloads.

Maybe I'm wrong…but I think that CNET downloads are ok…but…you have to be REALLY careful which download button you click on. CNET webpages are "deviously" and confusingly setup that it can be easy to click the wrong download button. Instead of downloading the app you want…you end up downloading something like MacKeeper!

For example…I'm pretty sure you could download one of our favorite apps "Onyx" from CNET…and all is fine if the correct download button is clicked.

- Nick

 

[pm-r]

Thanks Nick,

I think I'll just stick to using macupdate.com as sometimes the comments are helpful and options are usually given and the developer's site is usually listed. And no hanky panky underdog stuff when downloading!!!

And BTW, I find the developers site is often better if they provide a download, as the App Store can be more expensive and doesn't always provide the full version. i.e.: Their ClamX AV version doesn't include the Scan option and I believe Little Snitch is similar or the App Store just screwed it up and/or any Little Snitch installation.

I also don't like the App Store "upgrade" policy - basically there isn't one!!! You pay again for the newer version, but not usually so via the developer's site.

Edit: Have you noticed the lack of some Apps from the App Store like Carbon Copy Cloner or Super Duper!, and I could go on and on… not impressed with it at all!!!

 

[chscag]

I also don't like the App Store "upgrade" policy - basically there isn't one!!! You pay again for the newer version, but not usually so via the developer's site.

You have that backwards. I have purchased numerous apps from the Mac App Store and have never been charged for an update. Buying from the developers site, you surely will get charged. That's one of the reasons why (among others) that some developers never put their app for sale in the app store. CCC is a good example, SuperDuper, and many others likewise.

 

[MacInWin]

CNET has been known to bundle "crapware" and "adware" into their downloads. I avoid them. I use either the Apple store or the developer website. No middle men who "help" the software with "features" the developer didn't intend.

 

[pm-r]

CCC and SD and many others aren't available via the App Store because Apple won't allow them!

Just like a lot of others even from years ago and things haven't changed much:
10 Top Mac Apps That I Can’t Live Without, and That You Won’t Find in the Mac App Store | 40Tech

And I guess the App Store "update" or "upgrade" price depends on the app or some unknown policy. I know they wanted me to pay for some app upgrade but I skipped it as I didn't really use it if I recall and it finally disappeared from my App Store list.

 

[pm-r]

Gee, I didn't think my old brain was failing that much regarding the App Store and upgrades etc. as a quick search showed, and it doesn't seem to have changed or improved much:
Why Upgrade Pricing Isn’t Coming To The App Store – MacStories
Upgrade Pricing is Dead. Hello, Ingenious New Upgrades. « Mac.AppStorm
Opinion: Apple needs a handle on App Store paid-upgrade problem | Macworld

Anyway, at least the OP has got some info to use for his question.

NOTE: Please note that I was referring to App Store "upgrades" and not "updates", which they usually handled at no charge.

 

[chscag]

NOTE: Please note that I was referring to App Store "upgrades" and not "updates", which they usually handled at no charge.

You're referring to new versions of the app. Of course you're going to be charged. And regarding apps like CCC and SuperDuper, it's because the developers do not want to put up with Apple's nonsense. Like the big "cut" they get from the sale of every app. I've read up on some of the rules that Apple has and their "take". Of course Apple says that putting your app in the App store gives it so much more exposure.

 

[pm-r]

It seems that you and Mike Bombich the developer of Carbon Copy Cloner have a different attitude to the situation, as do many other developers it seems.

Bottom line their applications just don't meet Apple's rules or conditions:
https://bombich.com/kb/ccc4/why-isnt-ccc-on-mac-app-store

"We would love to add the Mac App Store as a distribution channel for CCC, but there are certain classes of applications that do not meet the policy requirements imposed by Apple. Unless Apple changes these policies, you will never see a utility that can make a bootable backup of OS X on the Mac App Store. You can send Apple some feedback about this policy, but judging from the absence of the Mac App Store from Apple's Feedback page, and Apple's pertinacious position on this matter, we don't anticipate a change in this policy."

My point with the App Store and their paid upgrades, they are always it seems full version price, yet those who purchase directly via the developer are often and usually provided an upgrade discount.

At least that has been my experience.

 

[johnodd4]

See this comes back to a old standard there are alternative app stores for macintosh that apple has been suing for months bodega was one of these it was providing great free applications until apple threatened them with a lawsuit because they didn't want people to get confused with the mac app store sadly bodega was the only free app store that didn't give you shovelware like the mac app store does

i recommend this

Mac Informer

Mac informer has been around for some time and gives you access to updates and other application related updates without having to use the mac app store

 

[chas_m]

You're referring to new versions of the app. Of course you're going to be charged. And regarding apps like CCC and SuperDuper, it's because the developers do not want to put up with Apple's nonsense.

This is completely incorrect. The reason apps like CCC and SuperDuper are not allowed on the Mac App Store (it's not a case of the developers don't want them there -- they do, I've spoken with them!) is because such apps violate one of the rules of the story, which is that you can't offer any app that modifies system resources (this is why "system utilities" on the MAS are limited to duplicate finders and cache cleaners).

Don't take my word for it -- read it for yourself here.

Like the big "cut" they get from the sale of every app.

This again is a widely-debunked myth. Have you ever set up a web storefront, hosting and selling commercial wares? It ain't cheap. Apple's 30 percent cut of non-free programs includes ALL the infrastructure, billing, collections, distribution, accounting, refunds, analytics, publicity and profit dispersal associated with the store, which is as they say the single most popular distribution point of Mac software, bar none, on the planet.

If you think retail stores and distributors take less than 30 percent of (name any product), you're living in a fantasy world. Apple's deal (which is, incidentally, the same deal that Amazon, Google, and Microsoft's online software stores offer) is a bargain for what it includes. Ditto for Apple's competitor app storefronts.

I'm a huge fan of MacUpdate.com and I regularly buy software directly from developers when that's an option, but let's not try to promote such practices by trashing what has turned out to be a HUGE boon for developers -- and a place where nearly every developer would KILL to get into if their app fit the criteria.

 

[chas_m]

See this comes back to a old standard there are alternative app stores for macintosh that apple has been suing for months bodega was one of these it was providing great free applications until apple threatened them with a lawsuit because they didn't want people to get confused with the mac app store sadly bodega was the only free app store that didn't give you shovelware like the mac app store does

Bodega only just closed a little over a month ago after five years of selling paid and free apps from its own storefront. I used it routinely to update my software and to download or buy apps. Their model wasn't successful because their prices for paid apps offered no incentive to buy from them, and their tendency to interrupt users with software updates was incredibly annoying (and there wasn't anything you could do about the timing!).

 

[chscag]

"We would love to add the Mac App Store as a distribution channel for CCC, but there are certain classes of applications that do not meet the policy requirements imposed by Apple.

I rest my case. This first sentence from Bombich says it all. And in case someone thinks (not mentioning any names) that a 30% cut is not substantial, then they have never been in business for themselves.

 

[vansmith]

And in case someone thinks (not mentioning any names) that a 30% cut is not substantial, then they have never been in business for themselves.

30% is most certainly substantial. This is why companies like Paypal or Square charge a fraction of that for financial transactions. Having to hand over 30% of the sale of a product is a lot when you then have to use 70% to support further development, pay employees and do other business and personal things. This goes for all stores though - Google and Microsoft don't get a free pass here.

Having had to deal with Apple's sometimes draconian rules around submission and rule conformity (see here), I can certainly attest to the frustrations of having to deal with the rules.

 

[stereoscopic]

what about macdownload.informer?

 

[MacInWin]

For what? Why do you think you need it? What is it you are trying to do with this endless set of questions?

And Mac Defender is nothing you need, either. It's a rogue.

 

[pm-r]

what about macdownload.informer?

If it's anything like Mac Informer, and especially if you not right up to date with the latest OS X, I wouldn't bother.

I just recently tried the Mac Informer, and nearly every app that I have that it suggests there's an update for, all that I checked on were for Yosemite OS X 10.10.x - OK for some maybe, but one detail they didn't figure out - I'm running Mavericks OS X 10.9.5 and they aren't compatible!!

And most of those "informers" work the same way AFAIK.

So, you've been warned!!

Edit:
PS: I should note that Apple's own Software Update can do the same thing I discovered yesterday, if one switches between Purchases and Updates and one has clicked the "Show Incompatible App Updates", that also need OS X 10.10 and the window doesn't always refresh properly to not list the Incompatible apps.