Apple Acquires Pixelmator (!!!)

[ronnyb]

Big shifts incoming to the image editing landscape.

https://www.macrumors.com/2024/11/01/apple-acquires-pixelmator/

Pixelmator already has one of the best UI/UX for image editing out there. With native integration into macOS/iOS and of course Apple's AI (Image Playground) implementation and Pixelmator's heavy use of Machine Learning-based tools, this is going to be very interesting.

Affinity is way more powerful, but the UI/UX is very outdated in some fundamental regards.

I hope this puts some 🔥 under Affinity in terms of UI/UX. 

IMO Stability (bug fixes) and UI/UX are the areas where Affinity needs the most progress if they are going to thrive in the future.

LET'S GO!!

[Juhani]

I use both but often prefer Pixelmator Pro not because its UX, which is indeed very slick and pleasing to use, but mainly because it starts up so much faster than Affinity Photo and the general performance is also even faster than in Affinity, and it comes with some nifty ML based tools, so it's great for quick image manipulation work etc. It also integrates very nicely with macOS, especially with the Shortcuts app, which is very useful for building image manipulation actions that you can run without even opening the main application.

Of course Affinity could improve its UX so much, but its main strength for me is its one of a kind integration of all the 3 applications into one suite and now becoming a real alternative to Adobe's design tools for pros. So this is where I feel Affnity should really double down on, which of course starts with good stability but also building out the basic feature set, which is still lacking in so many areas.

[Andy05]

Unfortunately, for the world of Apple users, this could be Apple just doing Apple things again and killing the app sooner or later (like they did e. g. with Aperture by stopping any development and support for it after a while).

[Benfischer]

Apple's Object removal in the latest Photo app is already better than Affinity's Inpainting brush.  If they start borg Pixelmator into the OS or as a standard app, they could have a compelling competitor on their platform.

[Rudantu]

I hope Apple and the Pixelmator team makes something great. More players and options is good! I could see Pixelmator become like Final Cut and try sway professionals to an Apple-Only industry.

So the big players are Canva/Affinity, Adobe, Sketch (?), Figma, then Apple with Pixelmator? Are there anyone I'm kinda missing in the graphic/photo/publishing scene?

[Juhani]

Apple acquiring Pixelmator Pro and at the same time releasing Final Cut Pro 11 is interesting/promising. One could dream they're back building tools for creative pros, but we'll have to see about that. If they started developing Motion again, and possibly also acquired Sketch, then it's truly game on.

[ronnyb]

My guess is that since (a) Pixelmator has the best Apple-native UI/UX and a user-friendly AI/ML implementation for prosumer-level image editing, and (b) iOS18's big push in Apple Intelligence will allow Apple to quickly get up to speed in this basic area and buttress its software ecosystem with more advanced AI features.... 

[Dampsquid]

Seems I'm the odd one out here, I don't particularly like Pixelmator, preferring A. Photo.  I do use Pixelmator occasionally, mainly to produce .motn files from vector art created in A. Designer; I purchased it purely for that export capability.  I've also used it, on occasion, for its one click subject isolation / masking which is very good indeed.

Hopefully it won't go subscription based as Apple has done with FCP on iPad.

[ronnyb]

On 11/21/2024 at 4:54 PM, Dampsquid said:

Seems I'm the odd one out here, I don't particularly like Pixelmator, preferring A. Photo.  

There’s no question A. Photo is more powerful than Pixelmator, but the UI and UX is better in PixelMator IMO; if Affinity chooses to address these issues and modernizes the apps, it will certainly be the most compelling and competitive suite…

[Lunity]

This acquisition has the potential to make a big impact on the image editing industry. Pixelmator already excels in UI/UX, and with Apple’s AI integration, the experience could reach new heights. To stay competitive, Affinity should prioritize stability and a more modern interface. Investing in top-tier https://ideamaker.agency/mobile-app-development-services/ could help refine their platform and keep up with evolving user expectations.

[Xanadu]

On 1/29/2025 at 9:38 PM, Lunity said:

This acquisition has the potential to make a big impact on the image editing industry. Pixelmator already excels in UI/UX, and with Apple’s AI integration, the experience could reach new heights. To stay competitive, Affinity should prioritize stability and a more modern interface. Investing in top-tier https://ideamaker.agency/mobile-app-development-services/ could help refine their platform and keep up with evolving user expectations.

Not unless they bring a windows version out too which I can’t imagine happening. Wouldn’t surprise me if it dies and stuff gets put in to photo or a photo plus.