Thoughts on TextExpander

TextExpander is a tool which has made my life far easier for many years. I've derived enormous value from it, and we part on good terms. But all the same, I'm out.

In short, they've started selling their product as a service on a monthly or annual subscription, rather than a perpetual license. The cost has gone up for what is mostly the same set of features. This stings, but I get it. It's difficult to make money as a developer of pro software and the world seems to be moving to a SaaS model. Somehow the proposition doesn't quite add up.

More worrying is that they want me to sign up to yet another bloody cloud service if I want to use the product.

So I want to look at the way I use TextExpander and perhaps come up with a business plan that won't piss me off.

TextExpander's Two Jobs

I use TextExpander in two ways:

A Personal Productivity Tool

It expands phrases such as my contact details and email signature, common typos (teh -> the), or to perform simple operations using Brett Terpstra's awesome TextExpander Tools.

It's main job is to lower friction and it's extremely effective at that.

A Team Wiki

In team situations I install TextExpander to share agreed-upon templates. It's an incredibly useful tool. A quick glance at the "statistics" feature in TextExpander tells me that it's saved me nearly fifteen hours of typing in the last couple of months.

These templates can change over time and syncing those changes can be a real pain since many companies regard syncing backends like Dropbox as shadow IT which is often - and with good reason - suppressed. They would likely feel the same about TextExpander's new syncing backend.

I have no reason to trust in Smile Software's skill as a vendor of secure cloud services. TextExpander deals with some pretty hot data including contact details, sensitive corporate data as well as processes and procedures. Plus, TextExpander is basically a keylogger! It is madness to allow such a tool unfettered access to the networking stack, which is why I lock it down using a host-based app firewall like Little Snitch.

Why should we trust a small developer like Smile over companies that can afford to hire teams of InfoSec professionals? I think it's quite egregious that Smile has removed TextExpander's support for third party backends in favour of its own unencrypted solution. This is a major impediment to TextExpander becoming a credible tool for business, or indeed anyone else concerned about privacy.

An Alternative Business Plan

I get the feeling that Smile is trying to straddle both jobs using the same model. This feels like a mistake. I would like to propose a business plan which respects the two jobs that I hire TextExpander to perform, and generate good recurring revenue to Smile in exchange for increasing the value it offers to customers.

Backends

Let's look at some basic needs:

• Users need to sync their TextExpander snippets across their devices
• Users also need control over their data, where it goes, and how it syncs
• A desirable feature is to track changes to snippet data
• Users may want to collaborate with their snippets
• Corporate users will want to keep all their data within their network, preferably using supported software standards.

I think that Git would be an excellent solution.

• A Git backend would allow users to sync, track changes, and collaborate. Users can self-host, use Github, or perhaps use a Git-based sync service that Smile could sell for a small fee.
• Users can choose not to sync at all, or use their own service via the static text file format.
• It is far easier to convince an IT department to support Git, a known industry standard.

Known-Good snippets

One of the great benefits of TextExpander is its ability to share, then apply "known good" pieces of information such as internal processes, documents and communications.

Smile could commission experts in various fields, such as law (in jurisdictions such as US/UK/Canada/EU, etc) and health to produce known-good snippets for common documents and make them available for sale. Other examples could include financial documents such as invoices and expense claims, code blocks, project plans, and covering letters.

Revenue

This, plus bolstered features (perhaps more analytics in the Statistics tool so users can get insights into their working habits), would easily justify an increase in price, perhaps towards the $80-100 region.

Smile could offer a Git-backend to sync snippets for a small monthly fee. The world knows Git. It is a trusted and reliable standard and I'd feel a little more comfortable if Smile offered it over some arbitrary or proprietary service.

Conclusion

I'm not a business guru so my ideas might be a silly fantasy, but I believe that users will respond positively to a better product. I'd gladly pay more money - upfront - for a superior product which offers more value, rather than be lumbered with yet another recurring monthly bill for a feature set that I've already paid for.

Do you have any thoughts on this? Tweet me @inkandben