As it became known in November 2024, one of the most popular image editors for Mac, iPhone, and Vision Pro - Pixelmator and Photomator - was acquired by Apple. Now, three months later, the apps have officially notified users that they have become part of the Cupertino company.
With the latest update, all users of Pixelmator, Pixelmator Pro, and Photomator received the following message, according to 9to5Mac. It also includes a link to Apple's privacy policy, which now applies to these apps as well.
However, the fate of the programs is still unknown. Currently, Pixelmator Pro for macOS is offered for $59.99, and Photomator still has subscription options starting at $9.99 per month. Pixelmator for iOS costs $11.99. Neither Apple nor the Pixelmator team has yet disclosed further plans and potential changes in the cost or distribution model of image editors.
As a reminder, Apple also used to release its own photo editor, Aperture. It appeared in 2005 and was offered as an alternative to Adobe's Lightroom. However, in 2015, the company stopped supporting it (the final release took place in October 2014), and some of its features were left to the native Photos.app app on macOS, which also replaced iPhoto.