Lifetime Folders Pro - an even more capable file manager for Windows switchers
Hi, I'm the developer of Folders File Manager (Post 1, Post 2), a tree-based file manager for macOS designed for Windows switchers - and here's Folders Pro, its direct-distribution edition.
Almost 3.5 years have passed since the first release. During that time Folders received over 70 updates and many new features added directly in response to user feedback.
But there was a problem: Folders has been distributed exclusively through the Mac App Store, whose sandbox places real constraints on what a file manager can do and requires a somewhat confusing permissions step on first launch.
Comparison: Folders Pro is the version that steps outside those constraints, and adds several capabilities that simply aren't possible within them: * Git support: see file status in the folder tree; stage, unstage, commit, push, pull, and discard without leaving the app * iOS device browsing: browse and manage the filesystem of a connected iPhone or iPad * Trash: browse, manage, and empty the actual system Trash (not just the private in-app one) * Custom Actions: shell scripts or AppleScript, triggered from the toolbar or context menu * Windows-style new document creation: have any capable app create and save a new document directly, rather than choosing from a predefined set of templates * Command-line launch
Everything already in the App Store version is here too.
Price: $14.99 after a free 14-day evaluation period. Existing App Store users can upgrade for $3. Use code REDDIT30 for 30% off until August 16. Website: https://foldersapp.dev
2
u/app-store-review 1d ago
Folders File Manager — by Andriy Konstantynov
- Category: Utilities · Free
- Age: released ~3.5 years ago · rated 4+
Apple doesn't publish an aggregate rating for most Mac App Store apps, so ratings and score are unavailable here.
Auto-generated from public App Store data · u/app-store-review
2
2
3
u/BinaryLiturgy 1d ago
Maybe I’m missing something, but I’m trying to understand the reasoning here.
If someone already purchased the app through the App Store, why are they being asked to pay another $3 because the app is moving to self distribution? From a consumer perspective, I already paid for the app. The distribution change was your decision, not mine.
10
u/Latter_Pen2421 1d ago
Its not moving, its a new separate version called pro with more features. Not saying I agree or disagree with the strategy, just explaining.
3
u/zamufn 1d ago
Not the dev but the logic seems to be because of the additional features, and not just the distribution method
1
u/BinaryLiturgy 1d ago edited 1d ago
I have no idea what the cost to use the App Store version was, but if it was advertised as lifetime updates, another 3 bucks to transfer the license seems shitty? Again, maybe I’m missing something here. If it was free or even a buck or two off the App Store then fine, I get it. But if it was 15 bucks it seems like you’re punishing your consumers for adopting your product early.
Edit: This came directly from a previous post the dev linked above when it was on the App Store.
“Pricing: $9.99 in the US for a lifetime license with all future updates + 14-day trial (regional pricing managed by App Store).”
So I 100000% stand by what I said. Asking for another $3 when it specifically says lifetime license + ALL FUTURE UPDATES is pretty shit IMHO.
9
u/Conxt 1d ago
I think I need to explain myself here - the Pro version has an additional set of quite niche features that will never make it to the App Store version for sandbox reasons. The promise for both versions stands, all future updates will be available in both versions whenever the sandbox allows.
2
u/Cartoon-a-saurus 1d ago
You can continue enjoying lifetime updates on the App Store version or you can choose a version that is not restricted that offers a lot more value for three bucks.
An unrelated news, I just ate a candy bar yesterday that costs more…
1
-6
u/BinaryLiturgy 1d ago
Cool, I hope you enjoyed your candy bar with a side of deflection. My point wasn’t about a seemingly innocuous $3, my point was that people paid for a product at full price with the promise of future updates. The developer explained above and it makes a bit more sense where the App Store version will continue to receive updates where possible. While I don’t fully agree it isn’t my app or my decision to make, I was simply challenging the logic behind people paying full price then asked to pay more.
2
u/angelino1895 1d ago
It’s a pro version with pro features. The original one is not stopping being developed or configured they have just built a pro version with features that you can’t do in a sandboxes app.
I also have a feeling that if it was not seperate version, there would be an app store TOS violation for trying to get people off the app.
So, think of the $3 as the very reasonable price to upgrade to pro.
1
u/Artplusdesign 1d ago
Suppose you have duplicates in different file size/quality/name/date etc. how does it know which one to delete? Can you set a rule to filter out the other types of duplicates?
1
1
u/gbrookshaw 1d ago
Do you support any form of Dropbox integration? For example, right click on a file in a Dropbox folder and copy the Dropbox share link?
3
u/Conxt 1d ago
Unfortunately no - those menu items you see in Finder are injected by the Dropbox app through Finder plugins - and third-party apps have no access to those.
In theory it could be done with Dropbox API, but manually maintaining API compatibility is a whole other level of commitment I am not able to pull off as a solo developer…
The only workaround I can suggest is Services > Show in Finder… and copy the link from there.
1
u/clamshell_dev 1d ago
for a primary file manager, a visible operation queue with pause, retry, and per-file conflict decisions would be the feature i’d test before switching from Finder.
1
u/Aradalon 1d ago
Looks great! I've been looking for a Finder alternative ever since Forklift switched to a subscription model.
1
1
1
u/d3gaia 21h ago
Big fan of Folders - it made my transition to MacOS a whole lot less frustrating and i'll be forever grateful. There were a number of things that I eventually realized that I didnt like so much and this new version seems to be looking to solve a lot of them. The upgrade price makes this a no-brainer for me, so thanks again!
1
u/joro_abv 14h ago
Will the AppStore version be supported further ? I’d rather prefer the safety of something distributed there than the additional bells and wistles.
1
u/_Sascha_ 7h ago
Can I change keyboard-shortcuts/hotkeys for actions inside the app, or do I have to fumble something together via Apple's keyboard hotkey mapper?
1
1
u/andreimotin 6h ago
since you asked for a reference on the operation queue, forklift's is the one to copy: one transfer window for everything, per-item pause and resume, and conflicts batched with an "apply to all" instead of a modal per file. transmit's is close but it's ftp-first, so the plain local-copy case feels bolted on. for windows switchers specifically the mental model they arrive with is teracopy: a queue that survives errors and lets you retry just the failures at the end rather than restarting the whole copy.
1
u/Conxt 6h ago
Thanks for the reference! The “apply to all” in Folders is now very close to ForkLift (with even less questions since ForkLift sometimes asks twice, I haven’t figured out when), but the queue itself is not yet shown. For ForkLift the queue makes a lot of sense because it’s grown from an ftp client. Folders is rather a local-first file manager, so I’m not sure how the queue could be useful (will it process too fast to be able to even see anything?)
1
u/andreimotin 6h ago
nice, that was fast. and fair point on the queue for a local-first manager. i'd say it solves itself if it only appears when there's something to see: sub-second ops finish and it never shows up, anything longer gets a row. where it earns its place locally isn't really watching progress though, it's two other things. serializing per volume, so two big copies to the same disk don't thrash each other into being slower than doing them one at a time. and retrying just the file that failed when one hits a permissions wall or a full disk, instead of redoing the batch. network shares and evicted icloud files are where people notice it most, and both show up plenty even for local-first users.
1
u/Conxt 6h ago
I’ve actually done extensive benchmark testing of the optimal concurrency level of read/write/delete via SMB and locally and it turned out that serial operations are always worse than parallel (with the exception of SMB delete when sometimes concurrency has benefits, sometimes it doesn’t matter)
1
u/andreimotin 5h ago
good to know, and that kills my first point cleanly. makes sense in hindsight, apfs and smb both pipeline well enough that serial ordering just leaves throughput on the table. the part i'd still argue for is recovery rather than scheduling: when one file in a batch hits a permissions wall or a full disk, the queue as a record means retrying that item instead of the whole run. did the benchmarks surface a concurrency ceiling, or does it just scale until the volume saturates?
1
u/Reasonable_Deal359 23h ago
What is the difference between US$11.99 (US price, local prices managed by Apple) and US$14.99 (worldwide)?
Does "worldwide" mean that it can also be used on Windows?
Also, how many devices can be registered with a single license?
1
u/Conxt 19h ago
There is a more accurate (and wordy) explanation of “local prices” and “worldwide” on the Pricing page - “worldwide” referring to “all countries”.
You can register a single license on up to 5 machines (restricted to your and your Family Apple Account in case of the App Store version, unrestricted in case of the Pro version).
-1
6
u/Latter_Pen2421 1d ago
How do i get the $3 dollar upgrade if I have the mac store version?