Bait and switch for older user/developer ignores feedback. – Fantastical Calendar Review

Update 10/6/2020:Lowered to one star for canned answer from developer. In addressing the developer’s response, it is very apparent that because I shared similar disappointments as so many other users, my review was skimmed and given a mostly canned answer. I, on the other hand, will address, point-by-point, their response in order to make clear how little care for their customers they have. 1.) you did not explain the need for a separate account, you obfuscated and claimed that it was required to have a subscription across platforms, this makes no sense as this is the exact mechanism of action of apple’s payment system 2.) you did exactly what I said support has done, and you’ve pointed me to a privacy policy that has holes bigger than Swiss cheese in it 3.) a claim of “end-to-end encryption” is exactly that, a claim. Apple has decades of trust, any trust you’ve established with me is quickly vanishing. 4.) the first three points lead back to the point I made several times, which you so clearly missed based on your need to justify switching to a subscription model, which is that I am more than willing to pay a subscription, just make it so I can use iCloud and not your own system. If you have no way of viewing my information, then why do you need it at all? Your logic is flawed. 5.) it is not my responsibility as the end user to know to go to your obscure link to read why your feature parody wasn’t there before, and why it is there now. All I see as an end user is that features I know I had are now behind a pay wall, that I’ll underline again, just in case you’re skimming this too, I have no issue paying for, if I didn’t feel my security would be compromised. I’m sorry that I wasted my time with this app and I’m sorry I tried to point out things that cause your core users for years to be disgruntled. It’s obvious to me now that outside criticism is not welcomed and is actually ridiculed. I will not be returning to this app, but I hope, for the sake of people who actually still care, you start listening to it. The same complaints are echoing out in your reviews, and if you keep ignoring it, you’ll keep bleeding customers. Original: Today was a sad day. After 5 years of Fantastical being my calendar app of choice on all devices, I finally removed it in favor of Timepage. The two stars I’m giving are for the years of support that the app received, and for the overall design. However, the benefits stop there. That wasn’t always the case, but last year things started heading south in a major way. Let’s start with the reason I came to Fantastical. As stated above, the design matches with my aesthetic, so that was a good start, but the app’s understanding of real world sentences was amazing. Being able to type a sentence with all the relevant information on an event in it was truly groundbreaking at the time. But that’s the problem, it was just impressive for the time. This has become common place in most calendar apps. This leaves just the design of the app keeping me, but that was more than enough for a while. This all began with the switch from a standard payment system, to a subscription-based system. That in and of itself is no issue, as I would want to keep giving financial support to the developers who work to earn it, but coupled with that, in order to access all of the new functionality, you were required to start a “Flexibit Account.” Yet the whole reason I used Fantastical for years was it’s sole integration with iCloud. I have zero interest giving away my data to another company who cannot insure the amount of privacy that iCloud offers. Strike one. Next was the debate I had with the support team of Flexibit, who insists that all functionality that was available in the previously paid for apps would be available moving forward without the need for a subscription. That was patently untrue. It started as truthful, but over the months, more and more functionality that has been in the app for years has begun to slip behind the pay wall. Strike two. My breaking point was earlier this week when I updated my app, opened it to find that now even MORE has slipped behind that pay wall. This time in the form of basic iCloud Calendar syncing functionality. Things that are available as a part of the core iOS calendar app and in turn are a part of the calendar API have now been blocked. I can’t set up travel times for an event without paying Flexibit, when I can simply go to the iOS calendar app and do that myself. Strike three. I would take the time to reach out to support yet again, but I’m very aware that they will just insist that any features hidden behind the paywall are new features that weren’t available in the old app, that functionality I’m seeing as previously not apart of the subscription, has always been and I’m just imagining using those features without the subscription for, in some cases, years. I’m also aware that they will insist that they take my privacy extremely seriously and employ the highest level of security they can, but those are all just words. Every company insists their accounts are safe until they’re hacked, and this is my work calendar we’re talking about. I’d like to ensure I’m safe, not assume it. And why would they admit to taking features from users? That would be a severe issue that they don’t want to face. So instead of wasting my time and energy with this game, I’ll just take my business to another app. One that I still gladly pay a subscription for, but won’t require me to choose basic functionality over my privacy. It’s truly disappointing to be leaving this app behind, but with the increasing focus on the subscription model leading to decreasing functionality of their base users, and with no option to pay money, without needing another unprotected account, I have no interest in continuing to use this app. If you get rid of the requirement of a Flexibit account, I may reconsider, but until then, Moleskine has my support.
Review by Adchum on Fantastical Calendar.