BBEdit Returns to the Mac App Store

Bare Bones Software:

When the Mac App Store debuted in 2011, BBEdit was one of its first products available for sale. However, due to technical and business constraints we encountered in the store, we decided to withdraw BBEdit from the Mac App Store in 2014.

Following BBEdit’s exit from the Mac App Store, we had many conversations with our customers, and with Apple, regarding the issues that we had encountered with the store.

In the spring of 2018, Bare Bones and Apple announced that, subsequent to the release of macOS Mojave (10.14) and the accompanying refresh of the Mac App Store, BBEdit would be returning to the store.

This was made possible by changes to the OS itself which allow Mac App Store versions of BBEdit to function to their fullest extent while complying with Mac App Store rules; as well as changes to the Mac App Store business mechanics which make it possible for us to distribute our software through the Mac App Store as part of a sustainable business model.

They’ve made this work by using a subscription model for the Mac App Store version: $40/year or $4/month — a veritable bargain.

The App Store has welcomed BBEdit back warmly, with a nice top-of-the-front-page feature on developer Rich Siegel and BBEdit’s incredibly long history as a Mac stalwart, along with two other features: “BBEdit: A Writer’s Secret Weapon” and “Tame Your Text Files” — both good guides to BBEdit’s rich feature set. (Those App Store articles will open in the App Store apps on Mojave or iOS.) Even a nice tweet from Phil Schiller.

This welcome news coincides with today’s 12.6.3 update for all BBEdit users, which, as ever, is accompanied by copiously detailed release notes.

★ Thursday, 4 April 2019