Aperture development stopped by Apple. What now?

Aperture goneApple just announced that they will stop development on Aperture and instead concentrate their efforts on the new Photos app, which will also replace iPhoto. On the one hand it makes sense to consolidate efforts, on the other hand losing Aperture makes me sad.

I have been a Lightroom user from day one, actually from the first beta. I know Lightroom in and out and whenever I used Aperture it felt a bit foreign. My connection with Lightroom goes so far that I have released several video workshops to make it easy for beginners to get up to speed with Lightroom.

But still, monopolies are bad and competition is good for product quality. Competition is what keeps both, Apple and Adobe on their toes. So I really hope the new Photos app that Apple announced on the 2014 WWDC keynote will be a worthy successor to Aperture that has the potential to keep Lightroom in check.

Still, Aperture will not disappear from your computer right away. It won’t evolve any further, but according to TechCrunch “Apple says that it will provide compatibility updates to Aperture that allow it to run on OS X Yosemite”. And Adobe announced that they will provide a migration path for users who want to switch.

In the meantime, if you are an Aperture user who is now searching for a new home, let me point you to two products that I made and that I’m very proud of:

  • Discover Lightroom – a Lightroom video workshop that takes you from the first steps to proficiency. Over six hours of DRM-free 720p HD video.
    DRM-free H.264 (watch free sample videos)
  • 1 Hour 1000 Pics – Supercharge your Lightroom Workflow – how much is your time worth? This highly rated ebook (and free audiobook!) explore and explain why a solid workflow is key and then provides you to the point with a fail-safe method that allows you to quickly boil down that pile of images to the essence, to your very best photos

Both sites give you a ton of free demo content to help you decide.

Author: Chris Marquardt

Chris Marquardt is an educator and podcaster. He wrote Wide-Angle Photography and is the co-author of The Film Photography Handbook and Absolut analog. He's the host of this podcast and a few others. Chris teaches photography all over the world. He is a regular on the TWiT Network.