Aperture discontinuation breaks ecosystem?

PeterBreis0807 wrote:

Can you list them? Virtually all that I know of don't. The ones that do like Safari, start falling over rapidly.

What Apple said about Photos in Yosemite is this, cited by ArsTechnica:

When asked about what Aperture-like features users can expect from the new Photos app, an Apple representative mentioned plans for professional-grade features such as image search, editing, effects, and most notably, third-party extensibility.

Info about apps (which don't use what we call plugins) is here: https://developer.apple.com/ios8/ It has info about app extensions, which perform some of the same functions as plugins (maybe more like frameworks). They're promoting a system that is very like plugins in that an app can put it's filters and such into the Photos app. So I guess you could use editing/filters from say Nik, Photogene, Instagram, etc all within one Photos app on one image, rather than importing that one image into each of those apps. That would be VERY cool, especially considering how hard it is to move stuff around on an iOS device as opposed to OS X.

And "third party extensibility" is, of course, maybe not limited to plugins. My Nik plugins seem more like separate applications that integrate a little bit, compared to say other plugins that enhance functions within LR or Aperture. And of course Apple makes the system, so system-level stuff could allow for integration in other ways.

As to the quality, who knows? LR and PS have a lot more stuff available, but then PS is the standard for photo editing that others conform to, so it's only natural. And with Aperture sort of lying dormant for a while, you could see why there might not be as much stuff for it. But there's still plenty that work well, even if with other applications (like Safari) they might not be as high quality as you wish.

And consider this: Apple wants developers to sell apps; they make 30% of that. So it only makes sense they'd set up a Photos app that takes advantage of that. If Photos app made Photogene, Nik, Filterstorm or whatever obsolete Apple would make less money I expect. And perhaps that's true on the Mac OS as well; I am just speculating out of my aperture like everyone else, but maybe rather than produce a product very like every other DAM, why not something very very different that could open up OS X to photo editing with a slew of applications in the MAS that could also net Apple a 30% cut? Might be way better than Aperture 4.0.

Thank you ever much for the detailed response! 🙂

I guess the degree and length of the disruption, as well as the initially limited market of Yosemite only users will dictate how successfully any developers can add the extensions.

There will also be an inevitable drift away to other solutions, as there was for Final Cut Pro.

Whether both users and developers will want to commit to a very disruptive Apple environment is going to be interesting. Would you rent in a building where the landlord at short or no notice demolishes where you run your business, usually with no practical or easy way to save or transfer your work, other than starting all over again?

Let's hope that this time Apple has changed its spots. Going on what they have done to virtually all of the apps in Mavericks Photos will have to be a real change of tactic.

…fingers crossed.

Whether both users and developers will want to commit to a very disruptive Apple environment...

One of the dangers in commentary is that we assume that everyone's perspective is our own. For instance I'm quite impressed with how little comment I'm seeing online - even on Mac sites - about the changes to the photography management that Apple have announced. Developers don't seem to have to many problems committing to Apple. The new frameworks give them more ways to interact with the app and they have the App Store which handles all the business end of it for them. They don't have to worry about piracy, they don't have to expend energy managing storefronts and so on. They see a framework designed to make their job easier and an uncomplicated path to the market for their work. There's a reason why there are 20k apps for sale on the Store, and it's not because developers are are miserable. And while some users are concerned about the forthcoming changes - and rightly so - the simple fact is that the vast majority are not. They don't see disruption they see progression.

Apple's changes to photography for iOS (I assume by "apps" you meant OS X applications) will really open things up. Not that we need yet more photo filter apps, but there are some very very good ones out there. And price-wise they are extraordinary for what you get. The changes there are, I think, much more important than what Photos on the Mac OS will bring.

And the people stung here are basically a pretty small group by comparison to the set of people who stand to benefit from Apple's new Photos scheme. That includes Aperture users who are willing to change and adopt Photos or other alternatives, iPhoto users, and all of us that use other DAMs. I might not switch over from LR/PS, but I don't see it as an either/or anyway. And I would love to see more integration with iOS, not necessarily for organization or sharing, but just to take advantage of editing on my iPad. You didn't have to be an Apple FanBoy to appreciate that when iPhotos and Aperture came along that it was a good thing, even if you used alternatives. I suspect Apple's adoption of geotagging in Aperture early on prodded LR to belatedly adopt it, for example.

But I'm still not a fan of the MAS. It's sorta like shopping grocery store vs famer's market for me, and 19.9k of that 20k is junk. I suspect half are just open source stuff repackaged in a UI to decode video 😠. But WWDC announced some changes coming to the MAS, so maybe we'll get better tools for finding the good stuff. At this point I think Apple would be justified in doing a bit of editing. Wouldn't it be cool to have a separate Mac Photo App Store, with a selection of stuff chosen by working photographers, with educational material, online teaching, etc?

To hardcore & purist photographers, yes, there is likely a break. Apple is catering to the majority, though, the iUsers and casual photographers who are not as demanding....in other words, those who butter Apple's slice of bread. It is what it is....adjust and adapt to meet your specific needs.

Personally use Photoshop to fix scanned in photos - then imported them into IPHOTO for easy print for distribution to family members after putting names on faces.

Was looking at Aperture as a possible change from IPHOTO - and Photoshop so glad I did nothing in that area.

Steve Jobs was excited about everything he developed - so what he missed and the new Apple CEO needs to get the staff in line to - whenever software is dropped that are large number of people are using it is extremely upsetting and frustrating.

Future question will be - should you keep things digitalized and risk not being able to open or access them - or just keep everything on paper.

Rob Gendreau wrote:

Apple's changes to photography for iOS (I assume by "apps" you meant OS X applications) will really open things up. Not that we need yet more photo filter apps, but there are some very very good ones out there. And price-wise they are extraordinary for what you get. The changes there are, I think, much more important than what Photos on the Mac OS will bring.

If some of the better developers of iOS apps that have thus far not ventured forth to offer OS X apps (and vice-versa) begin to offer their solutions on this new foundation, it could make many folks forget about the dominant names currently in the business of image processing.

For these developers are offering some pretty amazing apps already ... given the advancements and extensibility of CoreImage and PhotoKit ... we could see some very welcome offerings in the not too distant future. These apps will likely carry very affordable price tags as well, because these developers have already earned record sums for meager price points on their iOS apps ... they will likely want to reap similar rewards for their efforts in OS X ...

I, for one, am hoping the competition for my dollars is heated and lively ... if so ... we all benefit. I have grown weary of billion dollar corporations behaving like I owe them something purely because they exist. I want to see these firms have to really excel and push the envelope to earn my contribution to their bottom line.