The Case of the Vanishing Vesper App

Vesper, a once-great notes app for iOS, has languished for quite some time. Typically I wouldn’t have a problem with the death of an app, but Vesper’s high-profile promotion and premium price encouraged me to put my trust in it and has left me dissatisfied.

Brent Simmons, the technical brains behind Q Branch, left the supergroup to work at The Omni Group, the most awesome Apple shop to work at next to Panic. Understandably, an Omni-sized workload is not conducive to maintaining a side project, so he did the right thing.

Without Brent, a developer whose work epitomizes rock-solid software, Vesper has suffered. I won’t go into the details because they are accurately described in App Store reviews, but the promise of Vesper has fallen apart. As the rating has plunged and no real statements have been made regarding the state of the app.

Let me make this clear: I am a Daring Fireball fan and avid reader, and I find a lot of value in John’s biting commentary and relevant linkage. This isn’t a personal attack, but I’m writing this is because Twitter hasn’t worked in hammering this point home, and perhaps a more SEO-optimized outlet could provide a much-needed stimulus for a response.

For John Gruber, a man who brands himself as a trusted, successful personality and stalwart of integrity, on which he most always delivers, the way Vesper has been handled goes against these values. Having a prominent link in the navigation menu on one of the most trafficked Apple blogs and ignoring support requests is frustrating the user base.

There’s two honorable directions that tale of Vesper could take:

• Q Branch recommits itself to Vesper and hires a capable developer to keep developing the app. This seems unlikely.
• A statement is made on Twitter (@gruber and @vesperapp, on Daring Fireball, and the Vesper blog recognizing that the app has been neglected. The app is then discontinued.

I’m sorry if this sounds harsh, but I’m just reflecting the frustration on Twitter. I care because Vesper is wonderfully crafted, developed by some top-notch folks, and deserves to continue or dissolve with integrity.