Dark Sky (left) was shut down, Apple Music Classical (right) was acquired, so what happens to Pixelmator?
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If Apple's surprise acquisition Mac developer Pixelmator faces regulatory scrutiny, the future of his beloved apps could be bright — or there could be dark skies ahead.
Pixelmator has announced that it has agreed to be acquired by Apple, pending regulatory approval. Assuming the acquisition goes through, that means Apple will get Photomator, Pixelmator, and perhaps most importantly, Pixelmator Pro.
Pixelmator has been an independent developer for 17 years, and when it first introduced what would become Pixelmator Pro, it looked like a cheaper alternative to Adobe Photoshop. It looked like it, it was it, and to this day it remains that inexpensive option, but it has also become so much more.
You don’t buy Pixelmator Pro anymore because it’s a one-time purchase that’s ridiculously cheap compared to the cost of an Adobe subscription. You buy it because it’s a world-class image editor, and the price is just a huge added benefit.
Few Mac apps become beloved, but Pixelmator Pro is one of them. It's incredibly powerful, incredibly fast, and the team that now joins Apple updates it with astonishing regularity.
So as surprising as the acquisition news is, there should be optimism that with Apple's push, Pixelmator Pro will find a wider audience. There should also be hope that the one thing users have been waiting for might now happen.
Because if the acquisition gives Pixelmator more resources, it might finally bring Pixelmator Pro to the iPad. There's already a simpler version of Pixelmator for the iPad, but bringing Pixelmator Pro to iPadOS would be a boon.
Pixelmator Pro as it was when it launched in 2017
Keeping our fingers crossed
Only Apple has a very mixed history with the apps it acquires. The Pixelmator team writes on their blog that “there will be no major changes to the Pixelmator Pro, Pixelmator for iOS, or Photomator apps at this time.”
But as reasonable as it is to say “currently” when no one can know the future, it’s still a troubling phrase. If you’ve been using Mac or iOS apps for more than a couple of years, you’re at least aware of Dark Sky, a once-wildly popular cross-platform weather app.
Dark Sky Was Subsumed Into Weather
Apple bought the company in 2020, and while it took a while, it actually stripped the app of its assets. First, Dark Sky shut down on Android in late 2020, then it shut down on iOS in August 2022.
There’s no doubt that this was bad news for Android users, but also for a great many weather apps across all platforms. Dark Sky had a healthy business selling weather data to countless other apps, and they were all forced to look for alternatives.
It could be argued that this was bad news for iOS users. Apple did indeed shut down Dark Sky, but it incorporated its features into the Weather app — and it's debatable how well that worked out.
Dark Sky had a reputation for being very accurate, at least in the US, where many weather stations provide reports. In Apple’s updated Weather app, anecdotal evidence suggests that the accuracy has somehow dipped.
Workflow has become Shortcuts
On the other hand, Apple may have ditched the Workflow app name when it acquired it in 2018, but that turned out to be the best news for users. Workflow was an automation app that could do a lot, but Apple transformed it into Shortcuts, which can do much more.
With Apple, Shortcuts can embed itself deeply into iOS and macOS. Being part of Apple gives it far more access to the operating systems than the original developers ever had.
Back in 2018, there were concerns that Apple was buying Workflow to bury it. These were valid concerns, because Apple did indeed buy Dark Sky to take it off Android and make it an iOS asset.
But instead, Workflow has become this essential part of iOS and macOS, even if sometimes you wish Apple would update Shortcuts a bit.
The Third Case – Primephonic
So Dark Sky was stripped of its assets, Workflow was renamed, but it was actually reborn as a better version of itself. Of all the apps Apple has acquired, there's a third type that best describes what it did with Primephonic.
Primephonic is a classical music streaming service that Apple bought in 2021. It's very unusual that Apple itself made a big fuss about this, saying it would improve Apple Music for classical audiences and do so in 2022.
Then there was no word on it until 2023. Then it was relaunched as Apple Music Classical.
Apple has certainly brought classical music to more people than Primephonic could ever handle. But Primephonic has been unavailable for 19 months, and Apple Music Classical hasn’t launched.
Photomator runs on Mac, iPad, iPhone, and Apple Vision Pro
Which way will Pixelmator
The Pixelmator apps aren’t going away. They’re not going away for 19 months.
They might get a rename. Apple’s core productivity suite lacks an image editor.
So maybe we’ll eventually see Pages, Numbers, Keynote, and Pictures. That would mean abandoning 17 years of the Pixelmator brand, but it could happen.
The Pixelmator apps will likely stay as is. Perhaps Pixelmator itself will be replaced on the Mac, iPad, and iPhone by the better Pixelmator Pro.
But there’s also the question of why Apple did this now. It had plenty of time to buy Pixelmator, and maybe it did so now because it somehow fits into Apple’s future Intelligence Image Playground plans.
But Pixelmator Pro isn’t the only beloved, cheaper alternative to Adobe Photoshop. There’s also Affinity Photo — and it was acquired by Canva in early 2024.
Perhaps Canva has been circling Pixelmator, too. Perhaps there’s a reason Apple didn’t want Canva to own that market.
Or maybe Apple is aware of how Adobe has repeatedly alienated its creative user base. Apple has always been the preferred choice for image workers and illustrators.
So maybe this Pixelmator acquisition is Apple's attempt to maintain its position in this market. Maybe this Pixelmator acquisition will turn out to be a huge benefit for Apple, for the Pixelmator team, and for users.
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