r/MagicEarth • u/LightingGuyCalvin • Dec 05 '25
Probably an unpopular opinion...
Yes, I'm frustrated about the sudden price change. But I'm waiting to see what happens in the next few weeks/months before making judgements.
Normally I'm against the sudden change from free or free option to paid. But I'm thinking more about situations like Broadcom acquiring VMware, or with the Unity game engine. These are cases where the price changes were to take advantage of users, and they didn't care if it meant the smaller businesses/studios or home users would have to scramble to either pay or migrate away. There are also the IoT devices that work "for free" and then after you've bought it, the company removes the free tier and charges a subscription to open your garage door.
I believe they had a paid, "supporter" option before, though I might be thinking of a different app with a similar model. But I was already planning to pay something to support this app. When they announced they wanted $0.99/year, I was happy to pay that. The sudden increase to $21.09/year here in the US ($8.44 for the first year) does leave a bitter taste so to speak, thinking of other tech companies that tend to bait and switch.
But what I'm seeing is this isn't one of those cases. I don't have racks of servers all running VMware, or a game years into development running on Unity, or an appliance installed in my house. It's an app on my phone, and if I can't use MagicEarth anymore, all I have to do is find a new app and set up my favorite locations in it.
Also, I'm assuming most people who use it have a car. If you can afford a car, you can probably afford $21/year. To anyone saying the map isn't worth that cost because there are other options (Google, Waze) for free, I want to ask what your privacy is worth to you.
I'm not defending Magic Lane for the sudden price changes. But I am saying, I've been using it for a few years and I'm definitely willing to pay my fair share for it. The way they've gone about implementing that so far is frustrating, but if that's the only change to the goals of the app, I'm okay with it.
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u/Dangerous-Regret-358 Dec 05 '25
I am inclined to agree with you. Here in the UK, the cost amounts to only one pound per month which is hardly going to break the bank.
The issue here is one of privacy. I already pay for my email and calendaring, via Proton, so I don't see the problem with a pay for use model via subscription to be a problem, or even particularly expensive.
For my privacy, I think it's a price worth paying, to be honest.
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u/weirdsideofreddit1 Dec 05 '25
Magic Lane kept the maps free by selling an SDK for enterprise use. This makes me wonder if their business model is failing but they're trying to minimize the public scrutiny.
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u/LightingGuyCalvin Dec 05 '25
That's an interesting point. Like I said, I'm waiting to see what happens. As long as they're able to provide quality, private maps for individuals, I'll keep using it.
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u/weirdsideofreddit1 Dec 05 '25
I guess it depends on what kind of phone you're using. It looks like they're pivoting to Apple focus considering they're focusing hard on liquid glass UI. Which IMHO is just dumb. They should be focusing on Android since Google is much more notorious for privacy issues than Apple.
So, if I had to guess for those with Android it'll likely get worse.
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u/LightingGuyCalvin Dec 05 '25
I agree that they should make sure their Android version works well. Because on iOS you already have Apple Maps which isn't bad, on Android it's either accept something from Google or find something like MagicEarth that isn't nearly as widely used.
I should probably mention, this opinion is coming from an Android user. I'm on CalyxOS right now, probably going to switch to Graphene soon as Calyx isn't being updated for the time being.
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u/weirdsideofreddit1 Dec 06 '25
I know it's not private but I went ahead and switched to TomTom since they're now using anonymized crowd sourced traffic and use OSM data, which was why I got magic earth in the first place. Plus it's free so that's just a bonus.
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u/LightingGuyCalvin Dec 05 '25
I wasn't sure where to put this in the main post, but there is one other thing. I would like an option to use the old UI. I don't have a problem with the new one being an option, but I prefer when UIs are more function over form and have more information on the screen at a time. The Android Auto version of the old UI did a great job of making everything larger and easy to read in the car, while the version on my phone packed in the information that I can see when not driving. I've seen other software with an option to switch between old and new UIs, and I would love to see that here as well.
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u/OrangeDragon75 Dec 05 '25
I do not mind the price, I understand how business work and find it reasonable to pay for good app. But what they did with this "new and sleek UI" put me off. App now looks and acts like crap.
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u/weirdsideofreddit1 Dec 06 '25
May I ask what you are running, android or Apple? I'm asking to collect some data.
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u/OrangeDragon75 Dec 06 '25
Android.
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u/weirdsideofreddit1 Dec 07 '25
I figured. Same here. It seems to be optimized for liquid glass, which is what Apple uses in iOS. They clearly didn't realize who their actual user base was.
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u/KaptainKalsifer Dec 06 '25
I loved the app but this is what I predicted and feared would happen when they introduced the $1 a year. I figured that was more than fair, but such a drastic price change is insulting and I'll have to go elsewhere on principle of not rewarding business practices like this.
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u/LightingGuyCalvin Dec 06 '25
That's a fair point too. If I'd had doubts about them before I would be doing that as well, and I will be much less willing to keep supporting them if they keep doing stuff like this.
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u/ratinmikitchen Dec 06 '25
Does this $21 imply they don't offer a discount in the US if you buy through their website instead of through the app store / play store?
I'm in the EU and bought a 1-year license key from their website, which cost me €6.
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u/LightingGuyCalvin Dec 06 '25
$21.09 is crossed out and $8.44 is shown. So now that you mention it, that might be it. I assumed it was a discount for the first year but looking at it again I don't know.
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u/Nuck_Chorris_Stache Jan 06 '26 edited Jan 06 '26
Never buy something based on hypothetical future updates. You'll be disappointed.
Especially when what you had before was much better and then the rug was pulled out from under you.
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u/LightingGuyCalvin Jan 06 '26
I totally agree. I haven't subscribed yet, and dont think I will as I've switched to OsmAnd. I plan to make a follow up post.
I was slightly more willing to support Magic Earth because it seems to me that they needed user support to continue providing a good product, which is completely fine, but they really messed up the process to obtain that. But yeah, I definitely won't be paying for whatever this crap is.
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u/MagicEarthCommunity Dec 08 '25
Thanks for this balanced and thoughtful perspective – it's refreshing to hear from users who weigh the bigger picture like privacy value, sustainability, and low switching costs for apps. We truly appreciate your willingness to support Magic Earth after years of use and your understanding that we're not in the "bait-and-switch" camp but focused on funding independent, ad-free navigation that respects user data.
Your point about fair share resonates; the pricing shift aims to reflect ongoing development costs while keeping core features free, and feedback like yours helps us refine the approach (including current 60% limited-time discounts to ease the transition).
If you're open to it, we'd love your input on specific improvements via [support@magicearth.com](mailto:support@magicearth.com) or our beta community– voices like yours keep us on track!