Life changing app
I didn’t expect much out of this app when I hesitantly bought it a few years ago. Now, to say I’m dependent on it would be an understatement. I fear going to work without preparing content to listen to. I work in construction. Long days of mindless labor transformed into exhilarating intellectual experiences. Everything I listen to doesn’t have audio book versions. I mainly listen to Chinese light novels. All of those will never see official English releases let alone audio book releases.
Now to sad news. This is where I hesitate to give a 5 or 1 star review. 5 stars for exceptional app. 1 star for shifting to a subscription based service even for those who have already spend money to fully purchase the app. Some even spend hundreds of dollars too buy every last voice. Essentially the devs have chosen to steal the app from people like me. I bought it, period. Imagine buying a video game or movie or literally anything, then when you go to use the thing you bought it says “we are changing to a subscription service.”
It is just scummy. This should be illegal. It is actual theft. But what can I do?
Well for starters, I’m never subscribing. I’ll just have to find spending else.
You know it’s funny really. This company is beloved by its users. If they simply advertised a donation spot countless people would have been willing to throw money at them.
As the Chinese would say, they picked up a rock only to drop it on their foot.
Now to sad news. This is where I hesitate to give a 5 or 1 star review. 5 stars for exceptional app. 1 star for shifting to a subscription based service even for those who have already spend money to fully purchase the app. Some even spend hundreds of dollars too buy every last voice. Essentially the devs have chosen to steal the app from people like me. I bought it, period. Imagine buying a video game or movie or literally anything, then when you go to use the thing you bought it says “we are changing to a subscription service.”
It is just scummy. This should be illegal. It is actual theft. But what can I do?
Well for starters, I’m never subscribing. I’ll just have to find spending else.
You know it’s funny really. This company is beloved by its users. If they simply advertised a donation spot countless people would have been willing to throw money at them.
As the Chinese would say, they picked up a rock only to drop it on their foot.
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The developers listen to feedback
After hearing the user base’s criticisms of their decision to make the app subscription oriented the team has retracted their decision and apologised. It’s great to to see a company that seems to actually care about the consumer I will be supporting from here on out
Legacy Perspective
This is a really amazing app, and I am very happy about the recent decision to allow legacy users to continue to use it. The interface is easy to use, the font size and voices and speed choices are great, I can’t say enough positive things about what the app has meant to us. It was a shock to realize it could go away, as Voice Dream Reader has become so important in our family, and although occasionally something has gone wrong briefly, it’s always quickly gone back to working smoothly. I am sad about the move to subscription, and at such a high price. I know it would be complex, but hope that the developers if they ever go to subscription only, will keep legacy people in mind and find a way to allow items to be exported. I am sad that the subscription price is likely to be an obstacle to young children ever benefiting from this app, as it takes awhile to learn to use assistive technology and it’s hard to imagine parents wanting to spend so much on something their child will not be ready to use for some time, maybe months, after trying out. Still, I hope that the app can be enjoyed and appreciated by as many as possible, and although most will likely not be young children anymore, this app is worth trying for anyone who needs or wants to listen to text.
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Updated Review
Update: I’m glad they rolled back their sleazy decision to force legacy users into their subscription model with very little notice. I can afford the subscription and was still questioning if I could support a company that would do that despite this being an app that I use daily and have done for years. I think the app is worth the money, but it was an ethically unsound decision and I’m glad they’ve instead decided to only offer new features to subscription subscribers. I look forward to seeing new features and then deciding whether or not an upgrade is worth it to me.
Original Review: I’ve always loved this app because it is WAY more affordable (and versatile) than an audible subscription and the voice selection is great (check out UK Amy), but it just got even better with the most recent update. The ability to intelligently skip margin notes until the end of a pdf page is just what this app needed to go from amazing to practically perfect. Thanks!!!
Original Review: I’ve always loved this app because it is WAY more affordable (and versatile) than an audible subscription and the voice selection is great (check out UK Amy), but it just got even better with the most recent update. The ability to intelligently skip margin notes until the end of a pdf page is just what this app needed to go from amazing to practically perfect. Thanks!!!
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Another Slimy Developer
Yet another developer who is taking an app people have already paid for and switching to a subscription model, removing features people have already paid for.
Thieves
I bought this app years ago and have been using it daily ever since. Now I’m being forced into a subscription model for what I already paid for.
I refuse to partake and in this nonsense app subscription business model, where features you’ve already paid for are being removed and sold back to you on a monthly premium.
I refuse to partake and in this nonsense app subscription business model, where features you’ve already paid for are being removed and sold back to you on a monthly premium.
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This is rung
You applause group, horrible company, you buy the app from the wrong person, you have bought an app from an honest owner who cares more about the A1 1Y community, you are switching all users to a subscription model, even the existing users, what do you think you’re even doing? You want to ruin all the users of this amazing app? You don’t even know what this app is designed for, all you care about is the money, money, money, the money, money, money, you will never get it from any of us who is part of the A1 1Y community, OK? I have purchased this app since 2019, and I primarily used it at school whenever I had image base PDF documents that were not accessible, and I mainly use this app to perform OCR on it, in addition, I also use this app to read my journal, and to calculate the remaining time/duration of my journal, Also, I have spent over $200 purchasing nearly all American English voices, Australian English voices, Indian English voices, and mandarin Chinese voices as well, you’re expecting me to put everything that I paid for down the drain? What kind of people are you. I am not giving you my money, money, money, the money, money money, I will not ever use this app ever again, until you reverse your decision on the subscription model, or at least for legacy users, or else you’ll get zero customers, zero subscribers, and no money from people with disabilities.
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You applause group, horrible company, you buy the app from the wrong person, you have bought an app from an honest owner who cares more about the A1 1Y community, you are switching all users to a subscription model, even the existing users, what do you think you’re even doing? You want to ruin all the users of this amazing app? You don’t even know what this app is designed for, all you care about is the money, money, money, the money, money, money, you will never get it from any of us who is part of the A1 1Y community, OK? I have purchased this app since 2019, and I primarily used it at school whenever I had image base PDF documents that were not accessible, and I mainly use this app to perform OCR on it, in addition, I also use this app to read my journal, and to calculate the remaining time/duration of my journal, Also, I have spent over $200 purchasing nearly all American English voices, Australian English voices, Indian English voices, and mandarin Chinese voices as well, you’re expecting me to put everything that I paid for down the drain? What kind of people are you. I am not giving you my money, money, money, the money, money money, I will not ever use this app ever again, until you reverse your decision on the subscription model, or at least for legacy users, or else you’ll get zero customers, zero subscribers, and no money from people with disabilities.
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“Death” by a thousand subscriptions
I love this app. I paid for it and for a few voices, and though it was more expensive than I usually pay for apps I thought it worth it. Now they are going to subscription, at an outrageous price of $80 a year. Some other apps might cost more, but I would NEVER consider using one of them. They say they’re giving us a 25% discount, so generous, but that is still $60 a year. In 5 years, I will have paid $300 for the app and it never ends. As I said, I appreciate this app and use it often, but that is way too expensive. If it was 20 or even 30, I would not complain. It’s not like the app has earth shattering features. It can’t read many common formats. The voices are made by other companies and leased by the developers. Will there be word count limitations? What will I be paying so much for? There better be updates every week for that price. And a better selection of premium voices. And how about less data collection.
How can companies expect customers to pay so much for so many subscriptions? The streaming services are experiencing decline because people can’t afford to pay for all of them. Is the App Store immune?
How can companies expect customers to pay so much for so many subscriptions? The streaming services are experiencing decline because people can’t afford to pay for all of them. Is the App Store immune?
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Disappointed
When I bought this App a few years ago I was happy to pay the one time fee (cost) to use it. The App itself is good but the politics of getting rich , pisses me off. Now - as of 2024 this developer wants to recharge its customers per year instead of the one time cost. It’s like buying a car last year , but now the car dealership wants to put you on a lease program where it’s a monthly payment plan. That’s exactly what this developer is doing to us customers who already paid for this App. There should be a grandfather clause ; but of course, App’s are the Wild West where they can do whatever they want. Apps should be highly regulated ; such a shame! I already paid for this App - so why am I forced on the monthly payment plan. They say,” We have to be fair to everyone “ LOL ! How about being fair to the customers who support you in the beginning!
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