Hi, I’m curious why the NNW app on the App Store isn’t built to be multi-platform and instead the Mac app is installed via the website with its own update service, etc.
I’d guess this is just how it had to be before Apple Silicon, etc.
But I think it would be nice to have the Mac app on the App Store. Is this in the timeline at all?
We’re not planning to put the Mac app on the Mac App Store. We could change our mind, of course, but right now we have no plans to add it.
Here’s the scoop:
Putting an app on the Mac App Store is a bunch of difficult additional work that doesn’t do anything to fix the bugs or add features that current users (who take priority over potential users) are asking for. It also adds additional support work (for instance, when people try to run both app-store and non-app-store versions of the app).
And: I believe the iOS App Store is an illegal monopoly, and protection of this monopoly leads Apple to behave in ways that are not in the best interests of users, developers, and society itself. (And ultimately not in Apple’s best interests either.) While I realize that the Mac App Store is not the iOS App Store, I would rather not contribute to any Apple app stores unless I have no choice (as with the iOS app).
It’s also a value to have as many people as possible using RSS readers, which could argue in favor of changing our mind on this. And it could, but it hasn’t.