If Apple’s surprise acquisition of Mac developer Pixelmator passes the regulators, the future of its beloved apps may be bright — or there could be dark skies ahead.
If Apple’s surprise acquisition of Mac developer Pixelmator passes the regulators, the future of its beloved apps may be bright — or there could be dark skies ahead.
The Pixelmator company has announced that it has agreed to be acquired by Apple, pending only regulatory approval. Assuming the acquisition goes ahead, it means that Apple gains Photomator, Pixelmator, and perhaps most significantly, Pixelmator Pro.
Pixelmator has been an independent developer for 17 years and when it first introduced what would become Pixelmator Pro, it did look like a cheaper alternative to Adobe Photoshop. It looked like it, it was it, and to this day it remains that lower-cost option, but it’s also become much more than that.
You no longer buy Pixelmator Pro because it’s a one-time purchase that is ludicrously cheap compared to the price of an Adobe subscription. You buy it because it is a world-class image editor, and the price is just a huge extra benefit.
Only a few Mac apps become beloved, but Pixelmator Pro is one of them. It’s immensely powerful, it’s very fast, and the team that is now joining Apple has been updating it startlingly regularly.
So as surprising as the news of the acquisition was, there has to be optimism that with Apple pushing it, Pixelmator Pro will gain a wider audience. There has to be hope, too, that the one thing users keep waiting for may now happen.
For if the acquisition gives the Pixelmator company more resources, it might finally bring Pixelmator Pro to the iPad. There is already an iPad version of the more basic Pixelmator app, but making a Pixelmator Pro for iPadOS would be a boon.
Fingers crossed
Only, Apple has a very mixed track record with apps that it acquires. The Pixelmator team say in their blog that « there will be no material changes to the Pixelmator Pro, Pixelmator for iOS, and Photomator apps at this time. »
But even as reasonable as it is to say « at this time » when no one can know the future, it’s still a troubling phrase.
