Inspiring

Answered

[Documentation]-Discussion on XD Starter changes

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
December 16, 2019
8 replies
4674 views

Anyone else think this change next April will be the end of XD? I know I won't be using it anymore after the BS changes go through! Might as well cancel my Photoshop subscription too and move to alternate platforms. Yes?

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Correct answer Atul_Saini

Hi AlWie,

Thank you for reaching out, you may see the changes starting April 2020. Feel free to take a look at this article for more information on this topic (https://helpx.adobe.com/xd/kb/changes-to-xd-starter-plan.html).

Thanks,

Atul_Saini

A

AlWie

Participant

Im using the free version for a while now and I see that some features will be in the premium version in the future. I understand the commercial route you are taking but I really want to know when these changes in the free plan take affect? so I now what and when to take some action if needed. looking forward to your reply.

Atul_Saini

Correct answer

Community Manager

Hi AlWie,

Thank you for reaching out, you may see the changes starting April 2020. Feel free to take a look at this article for more information on this topic (https://helpx.adobe.com/xd/kb/changes-to-xd-starter-plan.html).

Thanks,

Atul_Saini

A

AlWie

Participant

Thnx mate. somehow could not find this info. thnx for the reply and have a nice one!

G

Glen Greenwood

Participant

To all defending Adobe on this change:
I think no one is saying that Adobe XD should be free. It's a product that's supposed to make money.
BUT
The way they are planning on making that money is just dumb. Blocking basic functionality won't make me pay, it'll make me check out the competition. I have no incentive to stay.

Figma manages to make money and still offer a good, fully functional app for free. And there ale a lot of other apps that work similary. Only when you reach a certain level skill and professionalism, you start to pay.

I'm a UI Design Instructor/Lecturer. I used to teach based on Adobe XD. But I won't make my students pay for an expensive app just at the start of their journey, I'll just switch to Figma. And they'll learn based on Figma, and will keep using Figma, and then, at some point in their career, will start paying for Figma. Not Adobe.

Not to mention that Adobe XD is a "gateway drug" that leads to other Adobe products. That's how they make money. Adobe XD on it's own isn't enough for a professional. You'll need at least Illustrator and Photoshop if you want to create proper assets like icons or photos for your products. That's where Adobe makes it's money.
Sketch and Figma (with plugins) are enough. They're just bigger, better rounded products. And that's where some people will jump.
But Adobe will make it's money. Being such a huge monopoly might be terrible for us, users, but for them, they can't go wrong.

Peter Villevoye

Community Expert

First off: Adobe is certainly not a monopoly.

They are and used to be – at best – a very dominant brand in the print media and imaging industry. And in A/V they're a strong player. But in web and app design they're just one (even a smaller one) of many, in an ever-expanding market of developers and services.

Second: students can already have the exclusive benefit of getting the whole Adobe enchilada for just a fraction of the normal price ! Any school with official credentials can offer their students an affordable subscription plan. And that's how most students indeed learn to pick up the tool they already know, and keep working with it. So if your students or course attendees are not eligible for such a plan, then they're probably already 'in business'.

For the rest: stop telling Adobe how to run their business, or even how to hand out their freebies. If they decide to let students get started with Adobe CC for a huge discount, and retract certain free features from XD, then that's their call.

G

Glen Greenwood

Participant

First off: Ok, they might not be a monopoly per se, since the world is filled with small studios and freelancers. But go ahead and try to apply for a proper design job in a first class company/studio without "Adobe Creative Cloud" on your resume. All big and medium companies have Adobe as their basic requirement, not Affinity or anything else. Just Adobe. That puts them in a position of unquestionable dominance. They set the market standards and there's nothing anyone can do about it.

Second: Oh, thank god, the small percentage of people lucky enough to be able to afford a higher education in an accredited school get discounts on Adobe products. I'm so happy they're not being left behind. The thing is, a lot more people are left outside of that system: people who want/need to/are forced to change industries, jobs or extend their skillset, people that live outside of the comfortable western culture, people that want to pull themselves from a difficult situation etc. etc. Those are the people I usually train. Talented, driven, hungry for knowledge, but also desperate and often with limited resources. But thank god those collage kids get discounts.

For the rest: I'm not telling them what to do. I'm just saying that's a bad, borderline evil practice. I'm just pointing out that other companies, on the same market, with similar products, manage to get paied in a more reasonable way. And that I'm switching. Nothing more, I have literally no push on a company like Adobe. All we can do here is to vent.

Dan Rodney

Community Expert

Are you really surprised that Adobe (maker of professional apps) wants to make money off an app? The free version of any app is like a trial version to get people started. If a company doesn’t make money with an app they can’t afford to maintain it and add features.

No this won’t be the end of XD, because professionals will pay for it (if they weren’t already).

I don’t know of any pro app that’s completely free. No one wants spend more money than required, but I know that software development isn’t free. Someone needs to support it (and that’s the users of the app).

— Adobe Certified Expert & Instructor at Noble Desktop | Web Developer, Designer, InDesign Scriptor

F

flávioc71942358

Participant

It's just ridiculous that one very simple function requires a "Premium" account. That's just ridiculous. Isn't Adobe satisfied with the very expensive price they charge in countries like Brasil? Now you are charging for a very stupid function? Now we have to pay if we want to share our Adobe XD prototypes. Thank you for nothing, Adobe.

HARSHIKA_VERMA

Community Manager

Hi Flavio,

We understand your frustration. We have a similar discussion going on here: https://community.adobe.com/t5/adobe-xd/xd-starter-changes/m-p/10808823 regarding the similar situation.

We would request you to please join the discussion. I am also merging this post with the similar thread.

Thanks,

Harshika

Preran

Community Manager

While I understand your sentiment, I suggest going through the FAQ https://helpx.adobe.com/xd/kb/changes-to-xd-starter-plan.html for a complete understanding of what's changed, and the reasons behind the decision. All design and prototyping features continue to be available for free through the starter plan.

M

matthewv48511876

Participant

I see saving locally is no longer considered a "design and prototyping feature." I believe that makes XD no longer a "usable tool." This is a bizarre and antagonistic feature choice to pull out from under your users.

"Why is saving local documents a premium feature?

Local documents, when used with 3rd party systems, provide an alternative collaboration workflow. Paid plans fully support this solution as well as collaboration workflows within the Adobe XD platform."

That doesn't answer the question at all. Why are you removing this basic and essential feature?

Why should I support the company knowing they'll arbitrarily remove my ability to save my own work? What happens if I can't connect to the Cloud? Why should I trust Adobe to maintain the integrity of my files? If you're trying to block me from exporting XD to invision or marvel with a paywall, why block Saving instead of Exporting? This is a bad decision and should be seriously reconsidered.

L

lifesalichAuthor

Inspiring

I think it's simple.

They aren't allowing you to share your work unless you pay.

-If I can save locally, I can email the file to my co-worker so they can view it on their computer.
-If I can share links, my co-workers can view the XD on their computer.

-If I can invite co-workers to view my XD, they can view the XD on their computer.

Peter Villevoye

Community Expert

Oh yes ! It will invoke mayhem ! The sky will collapse, the Internet will come to a grinding halt, and Adobe will go out of business.

On a more serious note: the Starter Plan is a freebie of which Adobe changed its policy. You're gaining many cloud features, and losing some. If you use XD and like it, why don't you step up, and get a full subscription ? It's a professional tool – not a toy.

M

megamancito

Participant

Adobe knows a lot of people aren't aware of their crown jewel: Adobe Cloud. This will force people to interact with it, even if it is to download the uploaded files (which I bet you once people get used to this workflow, they'll make it a paid feature).

It's like when you tell your kid, "YOU'RE GROUNDED! You can't go to your friends house for a week!", and the says, "well, I didn't wanna go to his house in the first place, I'd rather stat here and watch TV!"... A smart parent will just go down the list and remove privileges until the kid is pissed off 😁

M

megamancito

Participant

Corporate Commander is back! 😂

In all seriousness, what did you expect? They managed to grow the community and now the tables have turned. XD has been able to gain momentum (you're welcome Adobe) and that's how the corporate world works. It is a shame though, but they do have to pay developers and based on the feedback the software gives them these are the features people are using the most. There's no incentive for people to upgrade if there's no pain point.