The problem is that many people, even in developer circles like here on HN, are still very negative when it comes to subscriptions.
From a consumer point of view that's understandable: Everyone wants to keep their recurring costs low.
But from a developer point of view, this is an antiquated way of thinking about software. Software that is not actively maintained (which is expensive) eventually stops working. Even more so on platforms like iOS, where you're beholden to the whims of the platform OS. So you need recurring revenue to offset that maintenance cost.
From a consumer point of view that's understandable: Everyone wants to keep their recurring costs low.
But from a developer point of view, this is an antiquated way of thinking about software. Software that is not actively maintained (which is expensive) eventually stops working. Even more so on platforms like iOS, where you're beholden to the whims of the platform OS. So you need recurring revenue to offset that maintenance cost.
I wish consumers would understand this better.