Pixelmator’s image editing apps have been updated with no bug fixes and no improvements — but it did get a new splash screen confirming the firm’s acquisition by Apple.
Back in November 2024, it was announced that Apple was acquiring Pixelmator, the maker of notable Mac and iPad image editing apps. That acquisition was subject to regulatory approval, and it was also worrying as users feared Apple would asset-strip the apps for its own tools, as it did with weather app Dark Sky.
Now the acquisition has been completed. That fact has been announced not through an Apple press release, and not through a Pixelmator blog post.
Instead, each of the Pixelmator firm’s apps have been updated solely to show a new splash screen on launch.
The splash screen shows what looks like an arty closeup view of the rainbow stage at Apple Park. “We are excited to announce that Pixelmator Pro is now part of Apple,” says the text.
And that’s it. The sole visible change so far is the splash screen, as even the About screen does not mention Apple.
That About screen does include a Privacy Policy button, and that now goes to an Apple page instead of the previous Pixelmator one. It’s a general Privacy Policy page, though, which does not mention any of the Pixelmator apps.
And if you’re looking for the first signs of any change to the apps, any change at all, you’re also going to be disappointed by the App Store listings. Everywhere that a developer has to be mentioned, it says “Pixelmator Team,” rather than Apple.
Reassurance, for now
All of this could yet change, of course. These could be the final versions of Pixelmator, Pixelmator Pro, and Photomator, as we know them.
It would be criminal to gut these apps and kill them off, but no firm acquires any other firm without a plan to do something with it or its assets. So it could yet be that Pixelmator Pro, for instance, will be killed off and Apple’s Photos app will suddenly gain really, really good new image editing tools.
Plus Apple has shown that it has no qualms about killing off apps, whether or not it replaces them. Apple infamously abandoned the original Final Cut Pro when it released the totally different Final Cut Pro X, for instance.
And when it decided to give up on its Adobe Lightroom competitor, that was the end for Apple Aperture. Arguably, Aperture was replaced by Photos, but nobody outside Apple believes that.
Although when Apple ditched its very neglected iBooks Author app, it moved the majority of that functionality into an updated Pages.
So Apple kills off even some of its own apps, and it re-uses features in other ones. It’s just not possible to see any kind of pattern to it.
But at risk of over-analyzing the scant evidence so far, there is reason to be hopeful if you’re an existing or new user of the Pixelmator apps. And that reason is partly Dark Sky, it is partly Primephonic.
The former became subsumed into Apple Weather, and the latter very slowly became Apple Music Classical.
Even the App Store listing still says “Pixelmator Team” instead of “Apple”
The original versions of both apps are now long gone, but the way they went is what gives reason to think Pixelmator will survive as a separate app. For in the cases of both Dark Sky and Primephonic, Apple was upfront about what it was going to do.
With Primephonic, it announced right alongside the news of the acquisition that it was buying the app to make Apple Music Classical. From the moment of that acquisition, it was impossible to sign up to Primephonic as a new user.
The gates were closed on the old app, right from the start, and it was worse with Dark Sky. Again, right at the moment the acquisition was announced, so was the full plan.
It was still going to be possible to buy Dark Sky’s iOS app for a few months after Apple bought the company, but not the Android version.
Android users were told immediately that they had only a short while to continue using the app. Dark Sky was a subscription app, so they were also told that they would be getting refunds.
None of that has happened with Pixelmator. Apple itself hasn’t said a word about the acquisition, and the Pixelmator team has stressed that nothing is going to change with it being bought by the company.
Or at least, its company blog said there would be “no material change” in the apps, “at this time.”
That still sounds ominous. But considering that Apple has bought the Pixelmator team, so far it’s appearing to be remarkably hands-off about it.
There’s been no Apple announcement of any kind about Pixelmator. The new updates just add a splash screen announcement and redirects a button to an Apple privacy page.
So while you should still definitely buy the company’s apps before anything more serious changes, it’s looking hopeful that this acquisition will be nothing but a good thing.
Although in a year’s time, take to the AppleInsider forums and tell us we said this.
