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Wotja 23 Planning Commences!
01 July 2022 by Tim Cole
Updated since first posted. See also Part 2Wotja 22 has been a big one...
The Wotja 22 product cycle has seen us add to Wotja a whole raft of new features, capabilities and improvements. It has been a huge one for Wotja and a massive undertaking from us.
We understand from reviews and other feedback that it has been well received and enjoyed by many - and we are truly very happy about that!
Jan 1st 2022 saw the big V22.0 initial release. There have been 16 further updates since then, many including new features. And, another 'feature' update is being readied, that being 22.6.0 (coming soon).
However, time presses on and we have now reached the time of year that we must to turn our minds to V23.
Wotja product cycles... Wotja 22 and Wotja 23
Wotja software has an annual product cycle where the major version number matches the year number.
This means that in 2022 we have V22. In 2023 we will have V23 etc.
The date of first release in any product cycle is always Jan 1st.
To have V23.0 ready for a Jan 1st 2023 release date means that we have to start work on it this summer. We must to do that because we require a good long run up to build and test new features and capabilities!
That being the case we are now soon to focus all our energies on that. So, as set out 6 months ago in our Wotja 22 Will Be Here Soon blog post, there will be no further V22 'feature' updates (except 22.6.0 of course!).
We will, however, continue to release occasional V22 bug fixes when we need to.
What's coming in Wotja 23?
Yes, that is the big question :).
We never pre-announce new features as in our eyes they are not done until they are done and dusted.
What we can say, though, is that we are stoked by what we think we might be able to do in V23.
There should be a lot for you to get excited about in due course but we are sorry if we cannot say any more at the moment!
V23 Business Model
This may be the boring bit, but we rethink/tweak this every year to make sure we have it right.
Wotja is a unique system and we continue to work very, very hard on it. We also regularly kick to tyres to see if we can improve how we do things.
As we started our planning for V23 we did so knowing that the world economy is entering an even more tricky time. Inflationary pressures will be hitting you, and they hit us equally as hard :(.
Not only that, Wotja continues to get deeper and more powerful every year (and V23 will be no exception!) which means there is more to maintain and test. That all meant we had quite a lot of tyres to kick!
As an aside, we buy apps and software ourselves, and we know we would like to get a heads up on what is likely to happen to pricing next year (even if it is still subject to change) simply so that we can plan for it - and so that we do not miss out, either, on any special deals!
We started out with a few 'givens'
- We always try and we will always try to do the best we can by our customers (new or existing)
- We have always held the view (and it has never been more important) that we need to make it as simple and flexible as we can for customers to purchase in a way that best suits them at the same time delivering as much value as we can.
- It means we always try to figure out how to deliver maximum value for all our customers, be they paid-for 'Pro' variant customers or Subscribers.
- To do that we always plan ahead and are always kicking tyres.
- If possible, we'd like to find a way to cut down on the number of variants we need to update/maintain
- We currently have Free and Pro variants to build and maintain for 4 different platforms. That means there are 8 variants for Apple (iOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS), 2 for Windows and 4 for Android (Amazon and Google Play are separate builds).
- Each of these 14 variants takes precious time to build (and test as necessary) for each update (and there have been 16 updates so far for Wotja 22), time that could be spent on developing more features etc. - it represents an enormous amount of work.
- It would therefore help us enormously if we could just build and test ONE free variant per OS and then rely on Subscriptions (or some other means e.g Tip Jar (TJ), below) to unlock a 'Pro' Feature Set (FS).
- HOWEVER, we understand that there are customers that for several reasons prefer to purchase a paid-for 'perpetual' fullgrade 'Pro' variant (one key reason being because they do not like Subscriptions, despite the many benefits to Subscriptions). So, for them we may just need to carry on as now - we don't yet know!
- Wotja is a deep, complex, powerful and unique system ... and we want to continue to evolve it
- We cannot hide the fact that Wotja represents a LOT of work (see above to get some idea!), but it exists in a small niche.
- We try our best to hold prices down and will continue to do so.
- We currently expect Subscriptions to remain at the V22 level.
Our tyre kicking led us to this "mixed" solution...
- We need to increase the SRP price of the paid-for V22 'Pro' variant...
- But, we heavily discounted it for those who purchased early in the product cycle.
- We need to bring Feature Set (FS) Subscriptions to Windows...
- These have advantages for those using Wotja on multiple devices.
- To support the above approach for our longstanding Windows customers we have at last (in upcoming 22.6.0) figured out how to implement support for Feature Set (FS) Subscriptions.
- We will add to all variants a Tip Jar (TJ) with 'one-off' tips that allow 30 days use of 'Pro' mode!
- We have now finally figured out a way we might be able to use single purchase tips to support occasional use and/or for those that do not like Subscriptions (see Part 2).
- One-off tips are ALSO for those that really love Wotja and have deep interest in seeing it continue to evolve, and who can afford an occasional tip!
And, another big thank you to our users and fans!
We hope you can see the sense in what we are doing above, and, as we move forwards, how the mix of more formal Early Bird Discounts and Feature Set (FS) Subscriptions can deliver for you both in terms of value proposition and flexibility.
At the end of the day, we do it all for you and we could not do it without your continued interest and support.
We hope you enjoy Wotja 23 when it duly arrives - and continue to enjoy Wotja 22 in the meantime!
If you have any feedback or suggestions, please do Contact Us.
Best wishes
Tim and Pete