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Yeah, I don't play that game. After 10 years of use you would be in it for $1000. If you manage to stay alive and active, they could really get some good money out of you.
They have another option: the use of in-app purchases. You want to unlock certain features like new map layers? Five more bucks. You want the ability to import or export waypoints? Five bucks. Don't want to see ads while downloading maps? Five bucks.
The struggle with software pricing in a smartphone age is not unique to Gaia. Their app was already priced "high" by App Store standards, and that's silly. But a GPS app seems an odd candidate to me for the subscription price model. I'd rather see them launch a new version priced at say $50 and then prove why it's worth the cost.
So to counter the subscription model, when would it be okay for an app maker to disco one version and leave it unsupported to release another paid version? For $20, how long would be a satisfactory amount of time for an app to work without ongoing updates?
It looks like that's what they just announced (or $95.40)...and that's the cheapest option:There's a $100 per year plan?
It looks like that's what they just announced (or $95.40)...and that's the cheapest option:
https://www.gaia.com/plan-selection
I'd be okay with $10 a year...I agree with @slc_dan that they have to stay in business somehow, and I'm certainly getting more value out of their app than I would a $300 Garmin GPS. Shoot, I'd be willing to pay $200 for the app. But I don't think the subscription app would still work if you stop paying...that's one of the big deal breakers for me. I'd even be okay with a $50 per year plan as long as they would let me still use the software without updates if I ever chose to stop paying.
I think their blog post basically says it all: we can't get money from new customers so we have to start getting it from the old customers.
But they're letting the old app still work, I guess, so I'll keep using it. But I'm still using MotionX-GPS for my primary navigation.
I agree on the later, but not the former. I HATE in app purchases. THE WORST
Wrong Gaia.Base membership is $10 a year, the premium is $30 a year.
https://www.gaiagps.com
https://www.gaiagps.com/member/
but would you expect to get over 10 years out of a Garmin style device?
I was able to test my Gaia GPS on a Kyocera Duraforce Pro phone against a Garmin 62st hand held today. It was a very short test. I started my hike in an area that is very slow to get a pure GPS signal. The Garmin took 7 minutes to get 41 foot sensitivity. The phone had 10 foot sensitivity in about a minute. I assume this is due to cell tower/satellite triangulation. My companions were keen to get going and ran out of patience with my GPS obsession so I powered off the Garmin and recorded a track with the Gaia. It worked very well.
In the future I want to run a series of tests where I hike the same route while recording on the Garmin and Gaia simultaneously. I'll then measure the tracks with multiple methods. The outcomes are then averaged for the best accuracy showing which is closest to true.
The big caveat I have with the phone based service is that it runs down battery power really fast. There is no way I would take it on a backpack except as a backup.
I'd really like to see how this stacks up against Gaia. Better still, I'd like to have a Caltopo phone app.I've used the Earthmate App - and it is FANTASTIC. Delorme was bought by Garmin some 16 months ago or so - now it is a Garmin product. $29 a year, but you have access to all maps from Delorme/Garmin. https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/577212
I was thinking about this yesterday, and there are a couple of ways to justify, or not the spending. It all comes down to that magical device-the smart phone.
On one hand, you could think of the phone as a standalone device-only for GPS. If you use it as such, you could easily get what? 5 years? 10 years out of it? If you bought Gaia, never updated it, or your phone for that matter, it would continue to work. This isn't that much different from a Garmin style device, right? They used to be around $300, I know the phone isn't included in the Gaia app money, but would you expect to get over 10 years out of a Garmin style device? I only got one trip out of mine, the interface was way too much of a pain in the ass, I just didn't use it.
When Apps first came out, it was pretty revolutionary. Buy an app for 1, 2, 5, or maybe 10-20 for something, HAVE IT FOR LIFE!!! The problem is that as our phones are upgraded, or changed, that app isn't going to work. It costs money to rewrite that code, change it for the new platform, upgrade it along the way.
I have never had a problem purchasing software when it's written as systems upgrade. I don't mind buying good piece of software, as it gets upgraded. I think that's where most of us have an issue bridging that gap.
The subscription service take away that ability to upgrade when you want to. You now have to constantly upgrade when they want you to. I wonder if you'll be able to "subscribe" for a year, not update the software, and use if for a couple years. Would that even work?
As a guy that doesn't use a smart phone in every day life, I get it, both ways. Gaia needs to keep the lights on, and the constant updates/upgrades that are prevalent in the smart phone infrastructure makes that need a little more necessary than years past.
At this point, I don't think the cost difference is too much. $10 a year? that's $100 over 10 years? yeah, that's fine to me. $30 a years is a bit much for me though, and I don't need the extra's available. So I guess they are fitting the market for me.
....Better still, I'd like to have a Caltopo phone app.
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