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At one time, there were plans to try and put together a "playstore-compliant" version of Pimlical by removing several advanced features. However, since that time Google has chosen to discard all the licensing information for all users, and since the product is no longer listed, any "update" would be treated as a new product, and any existing users of the V-3.7.110-G would have to repurchase it anyway. Given that this 'playstore-compliant" version would never be further developed, it would appear that offering this would be of little benefit, and not justified on the basis of the amount of work involved.
Remember that Pimlico Software has no knowledge of who purchased Pimlical from the Playstore after May 22, 2013 as google stopped providing any identifying information after that date. Amazon has never provided any identifying information for anyone purchasing from the Amazon Market. Only those Users who are already listed in the Master Licensing and Subscription database will be recognized as licensed for the Direct Download Version. You can test to see if you are eligible for the Direct Download Version by sending an email to Tech Support with the subject line: PimlicalAndroid Download Request using the same email address as you used for the original purchase. If you no longer have that email address available, you will have to send an email to Tech Support and include as much information as possible (full name, mailing address, etc.).
Click here for the page with all the pricing information on the Subscription Plans.
A copy of the original notice posted on October of 2023 on the Pimlical Discussion Group: https://groups.io/g/Pimlical follows below:
New versions (V-4.0.x) of Pimlical/Android and Pimlical/Desktop are now available. Along with the release of these new versions, the method of purchasing and accessing updates has been significantly changed, so you will want to read this carefully.
Over the past 16+ years since Pimlical became available, users have been treated to free major upgrades and free Tech Support with never a requirement to re-purchase. Documentation had stated that while minor upgrades (V-3.4 to say V-3.5) would be offered at no cost, that was not guaranteed for major upgrades (V-2.x.x to V-3.x.x), although in practice that was not done.
Going forwards, there will still be no requirement for existing users to re-purchase Pimlical, but neither will there be free access to all the new features. Bug fixes, changes to maintain compatibility with OS environments will continue to be made and Tech Support provided to all users.
For new users, Pimlical will only be available on a subscription plan - annual, five year and lifetime plans are available for Pimlical/Android, Pimlical/Desktop and the bundle of both P/A and PD. There are also Qty2 plans which incorporate a 50% discount on the second subscription. Along with the licensing information, you will also notice that the About dialogs in the new versions now display a Subscription Field which shows when the subscription will lapse, along with a button to purchase a new subscription. Automatic re-purchase of subscriptions is not supported.
All EXISTING, registered users of Pimlical will remain perpetually licensed, and have a subscription enabled through the end of this year (December 31, 2023), which means that they will have access to all the new features for evaluation purposes. If they choose not to purchase a subscription, access to the new features will lapse, but the application will remain licensed and functional. So users who do nothing will continue to get access to new releases with bug fixes, etc. but after December 31, 2023 will no longer have access to any new functionality.
New users who never purchased Pimlical before this announcement and who now purchase a subscription will be licensed only for the duration of the subscription they purchase, so when their subscription lapses, their license will also lapse. Note this only applies to NEW users who have never purchased Pimlical before.
Those of you who have been actively purchasing software over the years are well aware that the vast majority of software developers now have these types of plans in place -- even an old compass app (a relatively simple App) now wants $3.99/month for its use (!). And most of them now FORCE their users to pay up to even be able to continue accessing the App - something which Pimlico is not doing here for all of its existing user base.
These new versions do now incorporate a Trial Period for use (P/D has always had that, but this is new for P/A) which should facilitate evaluation of the applications for new users, and during the Trial period, access is provided to all the new features.
These new versions incorporate some new features, but the most important changes have involved the long-standing issues with trying to maintain compliance with the Google PlayStore. Recently, these restrictions have become so onerous, that the decision was madse to no longer go through hoops trying to modify Pimlical to be in compliance, especially since some of these modifications involves crippling functions in P/A many other users find really useful. Pimlical/Android DOES now regain its full page alarm dialog functionality that was lost when Android-10 first came out (and which the PlayStore may soon not allow anyway). That is not being considered a new feature, so non-subscription users will be happy to see that functionality restored in P/A.
A release of a V-3.9 of P/A through the Playstore is planned in two weeks or so, but it will have none of the new functionality (since some of that new functionality runs contrary to Google's PlayStore restrictions), and there are no current plans to add any new functionality to that version either as the source code will be forked (split in two) in order to put together a Playstore-compliant version. It will be maintained at that level for as long as it is still feasible to maintain compliance with google's ever changing restrictions on functionality. Also, users of the Playstore version will have to manually move their data from the old Pimlical folder to the new Pimlical folder in Scoped Storage.
The next release of Pimlical/Android WILL incorporate an automatic download and install of the application (controlled by existing preference settings) - so there will be no ongoing need to manually download updates and install them.
Some users may be disconcerted by these changes, but the vast majority of users realize that Tech Support and on-going development of an application involves significant costs and effort. And as a mature application, almost everyone who would want to use Pimlical has already found it and purchased it. And removing the work necessary to maintain PlayStore compatibility will free up time to put into future development (hopefully not too much just to maintain compatibility with the ever-changing Android OS!).
The new Subscription Purchase page is:
https://www.PimlicoSoftware.com/PayPalSubscription.html
and this can also be accessed from menu | About (or menu | Help | About in P/D), where there is a button/link to reach this page in these newly released versions, and also from the Buy Now! buttons on the home page.
This page includes links to download the latest releases of Pimlical/Android and Pimlical/Desktop. For existing users, these versions will now pick up the current licensing/subscription information in the licensing databases - you should see the application marked as licensed with a subscription expiring on December 31, 2023. If you do not see that information, it will be because you have a NEW registration name for P/D or a new ReferenceID for P/A - in which case contact Tech Support and provide a screenshot of the About Dialog.
For new users who have never used Pimlical before, these download links will currently run a single 30-day trial period for Pimlical.
If you are switching from the Google V-3.7.110, you will need to uninstall the Google version first before installing the Direct Download version. I recommend that you make a copy of the Pimlical folder first before uninstalling the Google version, just to protect against inadvertent mistakes in handling the transition.
V-4.0.x of Pimlical/Android uses "scoped storage" - meaning that the Pimlical folder is now located at: /Android/Data/com.pimlicosoftware.PimlicalA/files/Pimlical. If you are an existing user, V-4.0.x will automatically move your existing data from the old Pimlical folder location to this new folder in scoped storage on initial launch (at which point the original Pimlical folder contents will remain, and can be treated as a backup copy). And remember that using Scoped Storage means that when you uninstall the App, you *MUST* check that all-important checkbox to preserve your existing data. Otherwise Google will delete all of your local data and preferences, and there is no recovery from that!
Finally, note that these new versions of P/A require a MINIMUM OS version of 6.0. They will not run on earlier versions of the Android OS.
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