OmniKeyMaster
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Apple stops Omni Group from offering upgrade pricing for Mac App Store apps
Last week we told you how The Omni Group released OmniKeyMaster, an app that works by searching your Mac for Omni apps from the Mac App Store and then lets you purchase the newest version from the web at upgrade pricing. At the time, I said OmniKeyMaster was a "clever way to get around the fact that the Mac App Store doesn't offer upgrade pricing -- something Apple will hopefully change in the future." As of today, OmniKeyMaster is no more. The company announced that OmniKeyMaster violates Apple's Mac App Store policies. Writing in a blog post, the company said: My apologies: I'm afraid we will not be able to offer upgrade pricing to our Mac App Store customers after all. So long as we continue to sell our apps through the Mac App Store, we are not allowed to distribute updates through other channels to apps which were purchased from the App Store. We still feel upgrade pricing is important for customers purchasing serious productivity software, since the initial value received from purchasing an app like OmniGraffle or OmniPlan is much different from the incremental value of upgrading that app from version 5.0 to version 6.0. We will continue to ask Apple to support upgrade pricing in the App Store, and I would encourage others to do the same, but until that happens, upgrade pricing will only be available to customers who buy our apps direct from our online store. This move will be sure to generate a lot of outrage -- particularly since Apple was no doubt behind the cessation of OmniKeyMaster. Hopefully the Cupertino company will one day allow app upgrade pricing in the Mac App Store -- something both users and developers want.
Omni Group releases OmniKeyMaster OS X app for discounted upgrades of apps bought in the Mac App Store
The Omni Group, makers of popular productivity apps like OmniFocus, OmniGraffle, OmniOutliner and OmniPlan have released a small, free OS X app that allows users who have previously purchased versions of its software through the Mac App Store to qualify for upgrade purchasing through the company's web store for the next version of its apps. Called OmniKeyMaster, the app works by searching your hard drive for Omni apps from the Mac App Store. It then lets you purchase the newest version of the app at upgrade pricing. As Omni Group explains on their website: OmniKeyMaster is a simple app that finds App Store copies of Omni apps installed on your Mac, then generates equivalent licenses from our store -- for free. This gives Mac App Store customers access to discounted pricing when upgrading from the Standard edition to Professional, or when upgrading from one major version to the next. Another benefit: since they don't have to wait in an approval queue, our direct releases sometimes get earlier access to new features and bug fixes. OmniKeyMaster lets App Store customers access those builds, as well. OmniKeyMaster is a clever way to get around the fact that the Mac App Store doesn't offer upgrade pricing -- something Apple will hopefully change in the future.
