NirvanaHQ June 2022 Updates

If you use NirvanaHQ, are you excited about upcoming changes and features?

  • Yes, bring on the new features!

    Votes: 10 76.9%
  • No, I like things to stay the same.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Meh, I don't care either way.

    Votes: 1 7.7%
  • Who uses NirvanaHQ these days?

    Votes: 2 15.4%

  • Total voters
    13
  • Poll closed .

mickdodge

Registered
Hey Nirvana users... I hope you bought a lifetime Pro account when you could. Now that they've hired dedicated developers, they dropped the lifetime Pro option and are strictly annual or monthly subscription based.

They completed some technical clean-up in order to improve app performance and build a stronger base for future feature adds and improvements (https://medium.com/nirvanahq/june-2022-app-updates-260b9b5fbe25). I do already see improvements in overall load and app response times.

It appears that one of the change-log items is to prepare Nirvana on iOS and Android to be able to connect and transfer information with third-party apps. :cool:Definitely curious about how that will play out.
 

ivanjay205

Registered
Hey Nirvana users... I hope you bought a lifetime Pro account when you could. Now that they've hired dedicated developers, they dropped the lifetime Pro option and are strictly annual or monthly subscription based.

They completed some technical clean-up in order to improve app performance and build a stronger base for future feature adds and improvements (https://medium.com/nirvanahq/june-2022-app-updates-260b9b5fbe25). I do already see improvements in overall load and app response times.

It appears that one of the change-log items is to prepare Nirvana on iOS and Android to be able to connect and transfer information with third-party apps. :cool:Definitely curious about how that will play out.
I did buy a lifetime subscription but ended up moving away from Nirvana. I never understood how they could possibly offer lifetime subscription and not drive any revenue in the future to existing users. If they are getting developers and getting serious that would be exciting. I ended up switching to Omnifocus which I have a love/hate relationship with. 80% of the time I love it as super flexible. But the 20% is the complexity of it. Nirvana is so beautiful in that regard.
 

FocusGuy

Registered
Like @ivanjay205 I bought a lifetime Nirvana and also use Omnifocus with the same relashionship. Nirvana is such a great software. Sadly it is not secure. There is no safe and also it needs some new functionalities. Hope they will improve it so I may be back to it. Anyway if they dont never mind. OF does the job, very well !
 

tdurden

Registered
I'm excited about potential new features for Nirvana! It's always been my favorite, but I've used it off and on over the past 10 years. It's a solid product and, IMHO, beats many/most others in spite of slow development. For me, I struggle between being attracted to various features Nirvana doesn't have (more hierarchy with nested labels and folders; custom views/filters; tasks that recur based on completion date; reminders) or just needing the simplest, lightweight way to keep track. I always seem to "come home" to Nirvana.

There are a few minor tweaks in the Windows beta (3.5.21-beta) that leave me hoping there might be a surge of development.

There are some subtle colors on the list icons:
1657030544604.png

The preferences menu has a facelift:
1657030447183.png

A new choice of colors for the UI. BTW, while you can't set colors in the web version, if you set a color with Windows, it's carried over to the web.
1657030693858.png

I use the web, Windows and Android versions and I'm only seeing these tweaks in the Windows beta.
 
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Luis Neto

Registered
In iOS, they removed the Lifetime Pro option in version 3.5.1 and in the release notes, they only stated:

"The app behaves much better now for users with lots and lots of todos."

(to see this, go to https://apps.apple.com/app/nirvana-for-gtd/id1022913190 and click 'Version History').

They released that on May 11, 2022.
Almost 20 days later, in May 30, 2022, they added an entry about that release to the their Updates page where they stated:

"We also updated the in-app purchase/subscription flow to support both iOS and Android devices".

It would have been nice if they had been transparent and revealed that the Lifetime Pro option was being removed.
 
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ivanjay205

Registered
In iOS, they removed the Lifetime Pro option in version 3.5.1 and in the release notes, they only stated:

"The app behaves much better now for users with lots and lots of todos."

(to see this, go to https://apps.apple.com/app/nirvana-for-gtd/id1022913190 and click 'Version History').

They released that on May 11, 2022.
Almost 20 days later, in May 30, 2022, they added an entry about that release to the their Updates page where they stated:

"We also updated the in-app purchase/subscription flow to support both iOS and Android devices".

It would have been nice if they had been transparent and revealed that the Lifetime Pro option was being removed.
I think it is a bit strange not to share that information. That being said I never understand how they even offer a lifetime pro account. I do have one but any software development company is out of their mind for that. How could they possibly generate revenue to drive feature improvement and pay employees to do so.

I hope with the elimination of this they are on the path to get back to the developing the software. I have tried it a few times and send numerous suggestions for options etc I need to see in my routine and I get told we are a small team of developers and will consider it for a feature. Looking at the update frequency i dont think it is ever coming. My biggest concern with that is the adoption of new technology out there. Lock screen widgets being an example of a great potential use for a tool like Nirvana but they probably would never update their ios app to add that feature. Maybe that will start to change. I know some people say it is great as it is so why do we need new features but with the speed of technology there are always opportunities to do better.
 

mcogilvie

Registered
I think it is a bit strange not to share that information. That being said I never understand how they even offer a lifetime pro account. I do have one but any software development company is out of their mind for that. How could they possibly generate revenue to drive feature improvement and pay employees to do so.
”Lifetime” licenses are not such a bad deal for developers. A reasonable market price seems to be 2-3 time the annual rate. These licenses give developers money up front, and can be used to raise money from investors or get loans. Of course, some developers charge more than once by saying the perpetual license doesn’t apply to Version 2, or Nirvana Pro- you get the idea. Of course, a lot of people buy licenses then stop using the app, so you dont have to support them. Some even pay monthly for apps they don’t use, which is amazing.
I hope with the elimination of this they are on the path to get back to the developing the software. I have tried it a few times and send numerous suggestions for options etc I need to see in my routine and I get told we are a small team of developers and will consider it for a feature. Looking at the update frequency i dont think it is ever coming. My biggest concern with that is the adoption of new technology out there. Lock screen widgets being an example of a great potential use for a tool like Nirvana but they probably would never update their ios app to add that feature. Maybe that will start to change. I know some people say it is great as it is so why do we need new features but with the speed of technology there are always opportunities to do better.
Looking at the new annual pricing (more than Todoist, which is itself now kind of pricy), and the rate of development (not fast right now), my guess is that what they were doing was not sustainable, so they are trying to improve Nirvana to justify a sustainable price. Speeding up development increases costs, and I am not sure how things will end up for them over maybe a two-year horizon.
 

ivanjay205

Registered
Looking at the new annual pricing (more than Todoist, which is itself now kind of pricy), and the rate of development (not fast right now), my guess is that what they were doing was not sustainable, so they are trying to improve Nirvana to justify a sustainable price. Speeding up development increases costs, and I am not sure how things will end up for them over maybe a two-year horizon.
I would certainly imagine what they were doing was not sustainable. Although not software development I do own a business so I certainly cannot imagine sustaining payroll and overhead with one time income. That would mean you constantly have to generate new users which is hard to do with a higher price point (full license vs 5 a month etc. for someone trying) and in a saturated market.

I do have a perpetual license but even if I didnt I would be happy with this change even if it affected me as I would certainly be willing to pay annually if the development would pick up. there is value in that in my opinion
 

TesTeq

Registered
Looking at the new annual pricing (more than Todoist, which is itself now kind of pricy), and the rate of development (not fast right now), my guess is that what they were doing was not sustainable, so they are trying to improve Nirvana to justify a sustainable price. Speeding up development increases costs, and I am not sure how things will end up for them over maybe a two-year horizon.
@mcogilvie Taking into account the popularity of Nirvana here versus Nozbe I am really surprised how it is possible that their business model is not sustainable and so slow. Nozbe is supersonic in their software development in comparison to Nirvana. And they are sustainable with sufficient and stable development team.
 
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FocusGuy

Registered
@mcogilvie Taking into account the popularity of Nirvana here versus Nozbe I am really surprised how it is possible that they business model is not sustainable and so slow. Nozbe is supersonic in their software development in comparison to Nirvana. And they are sustainable with sufficient and stable development team.
I have never tested Nozbe for GTD. For now I still use Omnifocus 3 I have hardly optimized and which is 100 % fully operational. I love it and it perfectly suits for my GTD use.
 

mcogilvie

Registered
@mcogilvie Taking into account the popularity of Nirvana here versus Nozbe I am really surprised how it is possible that they business model is not sustainable and so slow. Nozbe is supersonic in their software development in comparison to Nirvana. And they are sustainable with sufficient and stable development team.
You just don’t know, most of the time. Maybe they have a key person who is moving on, or the devs are bored with maintenance, or this is just a part time gig. Somebody wants to “go big or go home.” People wind up and wind down businesses for lots of reasons. Money is an important factor, but even there it can be complicated. Omni group is also on my “maybe having problems” list of small developers. Meta is also on a list too, but the scale is different.
 

YannCharlou

Registered
Ho yeah.

Pleeease :
- give us an open API to let the community create and share some cools tools and connect to other apps. :)
- add markdown support to task description.
 

Luis Neto

Registered
Ho yeah.

Pleeease :
- give us an open API to let the community create and share some cools tools and connect to other apps. :)
- add markdown support to task description.
@YannCharlou : you're requesting features here using the 2nd person point of view, but people in this forum thread don't work for Nirvana.
We are users, like you.
 
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