I don't use leech but from my experience you should go with how the application performs and not the negative reviews seen here. Pertaining to the price and bugs I know nothing about that, but I just wanted to chime in that when you see crazy 1 star reviews for apps that you know are decent then go with the app not the reviews. Everyone can come here and post on MU. I would send bug reports to the dev, the developers have been around for a long time making great software. I too am hesitant paying for an upgrade but you have to also think that they never promised lifetime updates. Another item of interest is that they have released big upgrades over the years w/o asking for any fees, isn't there a discount that previous paid members get? I see where your coming from though, I might be saying something else if I paid for the app... Hope you get those kinks worked out and I would contact the dev, not post it here on MU. If you want to post it on MU, post the dev's response or lack there of.

I think that, since coming out of stasis, Many Tricks has shown enough dedication to their software and customers that they deserve another chance. Just look at all the major updates they've put out recently and the dedication to addressing customer concerns that Rob Griffiths has shown since coming to the company. I'm sure that everyone probably already knows the story of why Many Tricks dropped off the map for a while, but the evidence now suggests that they're back and taking their business very seriously. I've had only good experiences with Many Tricks since their reappearance. I've purchased upgrades for both Witch and Leech and been very happy with both. I don't think there's any reason to keep Many Tricks in the doghouse any longer or to be worried about them dropping off the map again.

Ahoj MILE,

I can very well sympathize and relate to the feelings/thoughts you're expressing, but when I try to “empathize” with Peter (whom you may also virtually know if you are the same MILE I used to read eons ago in that German forum) it feels as if this brillant developer with high attitude and morale was overwhelmed by the success of his early works-which all were donationware and most of which he may just have put out because he wanted such a thing for himself-and later might have gotten overwhelmed as well by requests for support or at least a highly risen need for communication in a business world.

And at the same time he probably saw an underwhelming number of donations … if you add all this together, the projects he began could easily have begun to eat their creator.

Now, with Many Trick's new blog, it feels like having both Peter and Rob within virtual shouting distance … and what I see now I could describe as a wild and playful young pony being tamed by an old and knowing workhorse (if everybody would please forgive my crude comparison) … there have now been updates to several of their apps (thankfully these now are payware, so I trust they can and will be continued), and if you follow them on Twitter you'll also know that there are limited beta tests running, obviously this brillant young developer has found a good partner who knows about the business world and the world of business and who can handle the enormous communication needs of such a company.

Most of what I wrote comes »aus dem Bauch«, “from the guts”, so to speak. So, well, I guess I have to admit that my utterances are subjective and not objective ;-) Anyhow, from what Many Tricks have shown in the past two or three months I'd say give 'em the bonus of trust.

What you are describing is ancient history. What's happening now is that I'm onboard, full time, and this is my *job*. I gave up a career at Macworld to join Peter, walking away from a site I launched nearly 10 years ago to do so.

I wouldn't do that if I didn't believe in Peter, believe in our products, and believe that we can make good stuff that Mac users will enjoy using going forward.

I can't speak for Peter, of course, but I think a lot of the initial reply is spot on: being an independent developer (when it's not even your full time job) and trying to do end-user support at the same time is enough to drive anyone away. Add in the fact that Peter used the donationware model, and you've got a hobby that takes thousands of hours and contributes little to your income. That gets old really fast.

So now, with me onboard, Peter is free to focus on coding. I'm handling all the business stuff at Many Tricks, including customer support, marketing, sales, promotions, accounting, etc. This lets both of us draw on our strengths, so that together, we can present a great suite of apps *and* support and update them going forward.

Since I've come on board, we've added a regularly-udpated blog, a customer support site, revamped the entire web site, and released three major product updates (with a fourth in the works).

This is the new Many Tricks; all we share with the old Many Tricks is the name and a very talented programmer. In every other way, we're a new company, and we'll be doing our best to earn your business.

-rob.

@Bonobo: Yeah, even though I'm not really active on Apfeltalk anymore (for oh so many reasons) I do know Peter from there as well as from other virtual gatherings and remember you as well, of course! :)

That being said, I'm not really criticizing or judging him by any means -- he is a great creative mind when it comes to Mac apps and has proven to deliver awesome products over the years! I'm merely stating my own, personal disappointment with getting hooked on some of the stuff he publishes only to abandon it soon after for some other new shiny project...

It's not just "Leech" and other stuff he's done with 'ManyTricks', but what about 'Goose Apps' and the "Lounge" Twitter app?! So much promise and then after a few weeks everything goes silent and the only thing left to do is to remove a half-baked application from your Mac...

But then again -- and this is also directed to Rob -- I will keep an eye on what's going on with the stuff at 'ManyTricks' over the next few months, that's for sure! I just kinda doubt that I'll be willing to invest (time or money) in their apps any time soon...

I agree. Bought this app just before 1.1.4. It was being updated quite frequently before this and thought that trend would continue. I am very dissapointed.

The developer site hasn't been upgraded and the forums seem to have been close a couple of months ago.

At least one of the developers seems to have moved off to different projects with a different developer.

I for one will certainly not be purchasing from this developer again.

+1
Developer doesn't even bother to reply to e-mails.