Subscription services that are worth paying for

A few days ago, I listened to episode 330 of the Connected podcast, and during that episode the hosts discussed the trend of apps moving to a subscription model and identified many that they consider worth paying for.  This made me think of the iPhone/iPad apps and services for which I pay for a subscription.  I'm sharing my list in today's post.  Perhaps it will give you ideas for subscriptions that you might want to try.  And if you have any suggestions for other subscriptions worth considering, feel free to post a comment to this post or send me an email.

Subscription versus pay-one-price

Before I share my list, I want to discuss the subscription model.  When the App Store first opened in 2008, all apps were pay-one-price.  And for the most part, those prices were fairly inexpensive.  There were a few exceptions, and I discussed some of them in this post from 2009 — such as an $899 app for viewing security cameras, a $449 accounting app, and a $199 home automation app back when that market was in its infancy.  Not long after that, I discussed the first expensive law-related app:  BarMax, a $999 California bar review app.

Pay-one-price makes sense to me for certain apps, like a game.  But for many apps, I think that a subscription model makes more sense because it provides the developer with a stream of income to fund future improvements to the app.  For apps that I am likely to use for years, I want the developer to have an incentive to make his or her app better.  Of course, it is up to the developer to price the subscription appropriately; I'm not going to pay $500 a year for a weather app, especially when there are so many other options.  But I do pay $29.99 a year for the Premium Ultra tier of the CARROT Weather app because that app is fantastic, works well on all of my devices, and gets frequent, substantial improvements.  (You can also pay $6.99/year for a subscription to CARROT Weather with fewer features.)

One thing that I really like about the way that Apple handles app subscriptions is that if a subscription is no longer useful, Apple makes it easy to cancel the subscription.  Just tap one button to cancel in the App Store app.  It is the exact opposite of canceling many other services such cable TV or a newspaper, where you have to call a number, wait on hold for a long time, and answer questions from someone trained to get you to change your mind about canceling the service.  Ugh.

Here are the services that I currently consider worth paying for.

App subscriptions

If you want to see all of your app subscriptions, open the App Store app, tap on your picture/icon at the top right, and tap on Subscriptions.  You will see a list of your active and your expired subscriptions.

Here are my current subscriptions:

• Apple One.  This is the service that allows you to pay for multiple apps/services from Apple in one bundle.  There are currently three different plans.  The $14.95/month Individual plan includes Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, and 50 GB of iCloud storage for one person (a savings of $6/month versus subscribing to each service individually).  The $19.95/month Family plan gives you all of that for yourself and five other people and increases the iCloud storage to 200 GB (a savings of $8/month).  The iCloud storage is shared among all members of your family.  This means that you don't see each other's files, but if your spouse uses 150GB that leaves 50GB for you and any others sharing the plan.  The $29.95/month Premier plan is what I pay for.  This adds to the bundle Apple News+ and Apple Fitness+ and increases the shared iCloud storage to 2 TB.  The main reason I signed up for this plan was to get the additional iCloud storage, both for my own files and to have sufficient space for online backups of my kids' devices ... since you know it is just a matter of time before something happens to one of them.  I originally considered News+ and Fitness+ to be bonuses that I was getting for no additional cost.  But I've learned over the last few months that I really like both services.  News+ is a nice way to get a convenient overview of the news and to read articles from news services that I don't pay for separately, such as the Wall Street Journal.  (See this post for tips on using the Wall Street Journal with News+)  And as I noted in my recent review of Fitness+, I'm using that service a few times a week and I really like it.
• PDF Expert.  PDF Expert is my favorite app for managing and annotating PDF files, and it is a critical part of my law practice for all of the reasons that I outlined last year in this post.  Although you can use that app for free, I pay $49.99/year for the PRO subscription which adds lots of useful bonus features, which I also described in that post.
• CARROT Weather.  I mentioned this one above, and I reviewed it in 2018.  You don't have to pay for CARROT Weather, but you get lots of additional features if you do, and there are lots of plans available depending upon the features that you want to use, ranging from $19.99/year to $59.99/year.  I pay for the $29.99 Premium Ultra tier, which unlocks all of the features that I use and then some.  I consider $30 a lot to pay for a weather app considering that there are so many inexpensive ones available, but this app is packed with features, works great on all of my platforms (such as an amazing Apple Watch app and an amazing iPhone widget), and is updated frequently.  Just last week, it was updated to version 5, which makes the app interface almost infinitely customizable.  I used to try different weather apps mainly to see the way that different clever developers came up with to display what is essentially the same information.  But now, with the latest version of this app, I can try out an almost unlimited number of interfaces for a weather app, and there are even options to save and share templates so that over time I can see what others come up with.
• Overcast.  I love to listen to podcasts, and Overcast is my favorite app for doing so on both my iPhone and in my car using CarPlay, the two primary ways that I listen to podcasts.  I especially like the way that this app can speed up a podcast, not just by playing it at 1.5 speed but also by reducing silence between words in a way that sounds very natural, allowing me to hear more content in less time.  It has been a while since I reviewed this app in 2014, but it is still one of the most-used apps on my iPhone.  The optional premium subscription costs $9.99 and removes ads, but the main reason I pay for this subscription is to support the developer and encourage him to continue to add additional features.
• Launch Center Pro.  This app does lots of different things, but at its core I use it as a way to create shortcuts, giving me a way to tap one button and have multiple things happen.  But it does so much more.  For example, almost two years ago, I talked about how you can use this app with NFC stickers so that you tap your iPhone on a sticker and it performs some task.  Over time, as Apple's Shortcuts app has become more powerful, I find that I need Launch Center Pro even less.  Many of the things that I still do in that app I'm sure I could also do in Shortcuts.  But the subscription is only $9.99/year, and my guess is that the developer will continue to find ways to push the boundaries on automating tasks on the iPhone, adding new features long before they show up in Apple's Shortcuts app.
• Tweetbot.  I've been using Tweetbot as my Twitter client for an incredibly long time.  I find the interface far more useful and less annoying than the official Twitter app.  The company behind Twitter has had a strained relationship with third-party apps over the years, often limiting new features to Twitter's own app.  But the company has recently started doing more with outside developers, and because those developers need to pay Twitter for access to new features, Tweetbot recently switched to a $5.99/year subscription service.  
• Deliveries.  Whenever you receive a shipping number for an item that you purchased — FedEx, UPS, USPS, DHL, etc. — copy that number and then open this app.  The app will sense the number on the clipboard and help you to select the correct service and jot down the item name.  With that information, you have a central place to keep track of all of your deliveries, with notifications from the app when an item has arrived.  Since the last time that I discussed this app in 2017, it moved to a subscription model, which costs $4.99/year.  
• Lit Suite (TrialPad, TranscriptPad, DocReviewPad).  I was almost finished writing this post when Lit Software debuted the Lit Suite, a subscription for all of the latest versions of its iPad apps designed for attorneys.  These have long been some of the very best and most valuable apps that any attorney, but especially litigators, can use on an iPad.  For many years, these apps have followed the pay-one-price model, but as of February 1, 2021, there are new versions of all three apps available with a subscription.  The regular subscription price is $399.99/year, but for a limited time there is a special price of $299.99/year, and so I subscribed right away to take advantage of the discount.  I have just started to use these new apps, but once I have had more time with them, I will have more to say about these incredibly powerful apps.

Subscriptions outside of App Store

Some services don't use the App Store's subscription feature.  That makes it more complicated to manage all of your subscriptions because you cannot see them all in one place, and it can be more difficult to cancel subscriptions when they are not part of the App Store.  Here are the ones that I currently use.

• 1Password.  Everyone who uses an iPhone or a computer should strongly consider using a password manager.  That is even more true if you are an attorney because many of your passwords can be used to unlock confidential and/or privileged information.  1Password has long been my password manager of choice, for the reasons I described last year in this post.  An annual subscription is $36, or you can get the family plan like I do for $60/year which works for five people and makes it easy to designate certain passwords to share between multiple family members (such as a Netflix password or the password for a utility company).
• Dropbox.  As you probably know, Dropbox is a simple way to sync documents between computers and other devices such as an iPhone or iPad.  I use it every day.  The free plan gives you 2 GB of space, but I pay for the Plus plan ($119.18/year) which provides 2 TB of space.  I wish there were other options — it would be nice to pay less for 500 GB or 1 TB of space — but I cannot imagine using an iPhone or iPad without Dropbox.
• Fantastical.  I use the Fantastical app on both my iPhone and iPad as a superior alternative to the built-in Calendar app.  I discussed the app most recently in this post from 2020.  The free version of this app is plenty powerful for most people, but you can take advantage of advanced features for $39.99/year, which is what I do.  I don't actually use very many of the advanced features, but this is such a useful app that I mostly pay just to support the developer.
• LogMeIn.  Although I haven't written a post about this app since 2011, I use this app frequently to get remote access to the PC in my office using my iPad (or my Mac at home).  I find this app incredibly valuable, but for individual use, it is expensive — $349/year.  My law firm pays for a bulk license for this app, which makes the price cheaper and means that the cost doesn't come directly out of my pocket (although I suppose I am still paying for it as a partner in my law firm).  But whether you use LogMeIn or some other remote access software, this type of app is very valuable.  When there is a task that cannot be done directly on an iPad, I can bring up my PC on my iPad screen, get the task done, and then export the resulting file to my iPad.
• TripIt.  TripIt makes it easy to assemble all of your travel details in a single itinerary.  Simply forward to "[email protected]" any travel emails (hotel, airplane, car rental, etc.) and the service takes care of the rest. You can access and edit your itinerary on the TripIt website, but there is also a great app for the iPhone, which is what I use when I travel.  You can use TripIt for free, but if you pay $49/year, you get access to very useful TripIt Pro features (some of which I described in this post) such as real-time flight alerts, help finding alternative flight and better seats, check-in reminders, security wait times, and more.  During the pandemic when I haven't been traveling at all, the company hasn't charged for renewals, which was nice.  TripIt is great even without a paid subscription, but if you travel a lot, the extra features are very nice.
• BackBlaze.  BackBlaze is a $60/year service that constantly backs up your computer and any attached hard drives so that if you have a crash, you can obtain a backup.  There have been several times over the years that it has been a lifesaver for me — either for my own computer or for a family member for whom I serve as the IT department.  I mention it here because there is also an iPhone/iPad app, which exposes another useful aspect of this service.  You can use the app to download any file that was backed up from your home computer.  Thus, if my home computer is turned off, I can use the app to access the most recent backup, navigate to the correct folder, locate the file, and then download the document to my mobile device.  
• Quicken.  Like BackBlaze, Quicken is something that I primarily pay for ($35.99/year) to use the software on my home computer.  As I'm sure you know, Quicken is an electronic checkbook.  But there is also a Quicken app for iPhone which makes it easy to add an item when I am away from home so that it syncs over to my computer.  And I can also view recent activity from Quicken accounts in the iPhone app.  Unfortunately, to get the new information into Quicken on my Mac after I added it on my iPhone, I need to remember to click a sync button at the top of the screen of the Mac software.  I wish it would just sync automatically every time that the app is opened, the way that it does on the iPhone.  (As a workaround, I use an app on my Mac called Keyboard Maestro to trigger a sync every time the Quicken software is launched on my Mac, but I wish that I didn't need to use that hack.)
• eero Secure. As I mentioned last year, one of the most useful things that I did during the early part of the pandemic was upgrade my home Wi-Fi to an eero Pro system.  I cannot say enough good things about it.  Everywhere in my house, and my backyard, the Wi-Fi is very fast.  There are no dead spots.  The company offers an optional service called eero Secure that typically costs $29.99/year.  It adds parental controls, protection against certain unsafe sites on the Internet, and more.  I didn't think that it was worth it for me, but the service went on sale last year for $14.99 so I figured that I would take advantage of the discount and check it out.  (This month, you can get the same discount because of Groundhog Day; use the promo code PHIL when you sign up.)  I haven't yet decided if I will keep this service when it is time to renew after the first year, but I might.  If you want to prevent kids using an iPad or iPhone on your home network from getting access to unsafe and/or adult websites, you can use this service to do so.  Of course, if your kids have an iPhone or iPad with a cellular plan, they can bypass the parental controls in eero Secure by disabling Wi-Fi and using cellular data coverage.
• Adobe Creative Cloud.  I use Photoshop on my Mac to edit photographs and to create simple images for iPhone J.D. (like the dollar sign on the iPhone at the top of this post — I hope that you appreciate my amazing artistry), but another reason that I pay $119.88/year for Photography Plan (20 GB) is so that I can use the powerful Adobe apps on my iPad such as Lightroom and Photoshop.  The iPad apps don't (yet) have all of the features of the desktop apps, but I often find it so much easier to work with images on an iPad with an Apple Pencil than to do so on a computer.

Video services

There are so many subscription video services nowadays that it can be difficult to keep track of them all.  Here are the ones that I currently use the most — often on my iPad, but also on my Apple TV.

• Netflix.  I seriously doubt that you need me to say anything about Netflix.  I use the $17.99/month Premium plan which provides the highest quality video on up to four screens at a time.
• Prime Video.  This is included with an Amazon Prime subscription, and there are lots of great shows.
• HBO Max.  This is part of my DirecTV package, but I think it is actually free for me because I have an unlimited AT&T cellphone plan.  I love the HBO content, but sometimes I am surprised by other things that I find.  For example, there is a show available only on HBO Max called The Flight Attendant that my wife and I recently watched, and it was really good. 
• Hulu.  We recently signed up for Hulu just to try it out for a few months, and I was surprised at how much really good content is available.  There were some shows I already knew about and that I enjoyed, such as The Handmaid's Tale.  But my wife and I have found lots of other shows that we have enjoyed.  This past Friday night, we watched a movie — more of a recording of a stage play — called In & Of Itself.  It was unlike anything that I've ever seen before, and it was great.  Basic Hulu is $5.99, but I am paying for the $11.99/month plan that removes ads.  (Streaming service ads tend to be incredibly annoying and repetitive.).  My plan is to cancel/pause this service after using it for a few months, and then perhaps come back to it next year, but right now there is still so much good stuff to watch.
• Disney+.  I don't currently subscribe to Disney+, but I have in the past and I plan to resume my subscription in the future as there is more that I want to watch.  I first subscribed for a month in mid-2020 when Hamilton came out, and of course, it was excellent.  As each season of The Mandalorian has neared completion, I've subscribed for a month so that my son and I could catch up on all of the episodes.  I'm not a big fan of the Marvel content, and I no longer have young kids so I don't need access to the extensive family-friendly content.  But I love Star Wars, and if there is a time in the future when Disney+ has new and good Star Wars content throughout the year, I might find myself subscribing more frequently.  The new Pixar film called Soul is also excellent, and it was the last thing we watched on Disney+ before I most recently paused the service.
• Apple TV+.  I mentioned this one above because it is included in my Apple One bundle, but I'll also mention it here for the sake of completeness.  If you are looking for something good to watch on Apple TV+, I recommend these:  Ted Lasso, For All Mankind, The Morning Show, Mythic Quest, Tehran, Dickinson, Home, Bruce Springsteen's Letter to You, and the movies On the Rocks and Greyhound.

Conclusion

I suppose this is not a complete list because there are other subscriptions that I pay for that have at least some connection to the iPhone and iPad.  For example, I subscribe to several podcasts (that I listen to on my iPhone or Apple Watch) that are typically free but offer a subscription option to support the hosts and get extra content (such as Mac Power Users, Upgrade, Six Colors, and Dithering).  I also subscribe to the digital version of certain newspapers that I often read on my iPad (The New York Times, The Washington Post, my local newspaper in New Orleans called The Times-Picayune, and a local business publication that I read on my iPad called CityBusiness), and I also pay for some news-oriented websites that I typically read on an iPhone or iPad (such as The Athletic, Six Colors, and TidBITS).  

Nevertheless, if I just look at the services that I listed above, I see that I had been paying close to $1,000/year, and now I have increased that by another $300 with the addition of the Lit Suite.  That is real money, but these subscriptions allow me to do so many wonderful and powerful things on my mobile devices that, for a large number of them at least, I cannot imagine not having them.  I guess that it should not come as a surprise that there is so much for the iPhone and iPad that is worth paying for.