Rogue Amoeba quits 'restrictive' Mac App Store

With its latest update, audio software developer Rogue Amoeba has removed its last Mac App Store app, the Fission editor, saying Apple's service remains "beset with issues."

Rogue Amoeba has launched its updated Fission 2.7.1 audio editor for Mac, but at the same time removed it from the Mac App Store. The company's best-known app, Audio Hijack, has never been on the Store, but it has previously also had the audio recorder Piezo available.

The company removed Piezo from the Mac App Store in 2016, and now says that there were issues with Apple's store that were already long unresolved, and have even now yet to be addressed.

"[Despite] despite a decade of feedback from countless developers and users, Apple has made scant few changes and the store remains beset with issues," wrote Paul Kafasis, co-founder and CEO, in a blog post.

"When you couple the many shortcomings and issues with Apple's restrictive polices that preclude most of our software from appearing there," he continued, "the Mac App Store is clearly a poor fit for us."

Fission 2.71, Piezo, Audio Hijack, and more, are now exclusively available on the company's site. Mac App Store users of Fission are being offered a complimentary licence to download the new update from Rogue Amoeba directly.

The company's move comes as, separately, new research suggests that software developers are losing interesting in using the Mac App Store.

32 Comments

[Deleted User] 0 comments · 3 Years

About 3 years ago

So they want us to buy untested rubbish so then can alter it as they see fit with every update? No, thanks. Long live sandboxing!

crowley 10431 comments · 15 Years

Illusive said:

So they want us to buy untested rubbish so then can alter it as they see fit with every update? No, thanks. Long live sandboxing!

Untested rubbish? What is this based on, the blog post didn't mention anything about testing? Rogue Amoeba are a solid developer with a great track record, and they definitely test their software.

asdasd 5682 comments · 21 Years

crowley said:

Illusive said:

So they want us to buy untested rubbish so then can alter it as they see fit with every update? No, thanks. Long live sandboxing!

Untested rubbish? What is this based on, the blog post didn't mention anything about testing? Rogue Amoeba are a solid developer with a great track record, and they definitely test their software.

He is talking about Apple testing, but that is perfunctory. Just to see if the app works and isn't using private API or breaching privacy.

lkrupp 10521 comments · 19 Years

asdasd said:

crowley said:

Illusive said:

So they want us to buy untested rubbish so then can alter it as they see fit with every update? No, thanks. Long live sandboxing!

Untested rubbish? What is this based on, the blog post didn't mention anything about testing? Rogue Amoeba are a solid developer with a great track record, and they definitely test their software.

He is talking about Apple testing, but that is perfunctory. Just to see if the app works and isn't using private API or breaching privacy.

Developers using unsupported APIs has been problematic for decades. Developers have hooked into macOS without using a supported API to provide some feature or function. macOS gets updated and the user finds out their app has ceased to function because the hook no longer works. Developer is forced to update and/or remove the feature, then rage at Apple. Lather-rinse-repeat. And who does the user blame? “It worked before the update, now it doesn’t, therefore it’s Apple’s fault. Fix it NOW, Apple!”

In recent years Apple has locked down macOS more and more (kernel extensions, browser extensions, etc.) so we see it less. Developers rage.