I purchased a license for Advanced Recent Access ("ARA") back in 2016 from Bits du Jour ("BDJ") for the giveaway $0 price. BDJ is an online software marketplace I've used for years. I've found some very useful software there on occasion at very attractive pricing - sometimes free, but not always. Users can comment on the software being offered. I've commented on BDJ about the app in the past. I stand by my earlier comments based on what I knew at the time. Obviously, most developers that are giving their product away for free are looking for some pay off down the road in terms of future paid upgrades, up-selling to a "Pro" version, expanding their user base to market to corporations, etc. I have no problem with that.
ARA keeps track of files you create or modify, and lets you access them again later more easily than hunting for them in Windows Explorer or from within your office app or whatever. TriSun Software, the developer, released a new version recently. The upgraded functionality was mostly cosmetic. It didn't entice me to pay for the newer version, which isn't free. As the license for the old version is "lifetime", I just decided to continue to use the old version.
But there is a problem: Every time I restart ARA (which is every time I reboot my PC), it puts up a "nag" to tell me a new version has been detected, and to press "OK" to go to the upgrade page or "Cancel" to get rid of the nag. As this would be a PAID upgrade (the app doesn't tell you that... you only find that out later), I don't want to upgrade. Yet now I have to put up with this nag box every time the app is launched. That's poor.
I had an e-mail exchange with TriSun. I was told that if I applied the upgrade, it would invalidate my earlier BDJ license. (No problem there. That was in the "fine print" at the time of the 2016 purchase.) I was also told that there is no way to get rid of the nag screen. (That is a problem. Thanks for nothing.) They did offer an unspecified "big discount" for a lifetime upgrade license.
Instead, I decided to see if blocking the app from internet access with my firewall would do the trick. ARA doesn't appear to need internet except to check for a newer version. I created a rule to block ARA from outbound internet access and, voila!, no more nag box.
I wanted to share my experience with this app for those who are in the same situation as I who continue to use the prior version. I'm also putting this up for people who might consider purchasing a license in the future and would like to know what type of support the developer offers. Some developers that offer products on BDJ are really top notch. Others, less so. Readers can be the judge here. I appreciate that I did get responses from TriSun support. However, to build this nag into the app with no way to permanently dismiss it is inconsiderate to say the least. In my opinion, for what it does, this app is way overpriced. Getting it for free originally was great, obviously. I could see paying up to $5 for it... maybe. If it were designed better it might be worth a little more. The list price on this thing is $30. So even at 50% off it would still be overpriced IMO.
You can see the current BDJ offer page here.
That's it! Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.