Apple has announced that with the development of OS X Yosemite they will focus on the new Photos app and cease development of Aperture and iPhoto. That is not good news. With Aperture and iPhoto Apple had two very powerful tools for managing and processing images. iPhoto is targeted towards “normal” users while Aperture is a professional workflow software for photographers and also the only real rival (in terms of market share) of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.
In OS X Yosemite the Photos app will be the substitute for both. Without knowing the exact feature list of Photos one can tell that it is likely that the software will be a mix between its two predecessors. More functions than in iPhoto, less than in Aperture (that’s my guess). But however this may come out at the end, the main competitor for Lightroom will phase out of the market. Adobe has already announced that they will offer a migration tool for people who want to switch to Lightroom.
That means less competition for Adobe. Less pressure on the development of Lightroom. And finally, less pressure on the price. Now Adobe is more or less free to set a price for Lightroom. At the moment you have to rent the software together with Photoshop CC for 9,99 USD a month (or 12,99 EUR because Europeans love to get ripped off 🙁 ). With Aperture gone there might be less development on the software, but more development on the price tag.
Let’s hope Apple’s new Photos app will be a real killer.
