Mountain Duck 5 in the Mac App Store?

[brianallenlevine]

Hi,

Will Mountain Duck 5 be appearing in the Mac App Store? I see no reference to this in yesterday's announcement.

And if it does become available in the Mac App Store, will there be an upgrade path? Or will it be an entirely new full license purchase for existing Mountain Duck 4 license holders?

Thanks!

--Brian

[dkocher]

Version 5 is not yet available in the Mac App Store because of a validation error for the application package specific to the store submission. We are working on a change to make the update available next week, hopefully.

[brianallenlevine]

Thanks, David. I'll keep an eye on the Mac App Store. Mountain Duck 5 looks like a great upgrade! I'm looking forward to trying it. Thanks for all your time and effort on this! Be well, --Brian

[dkocher]

We have submitted version 5.0.1 for review on Aug 21 but unfortunately the release is still pending with status In Review by Apple.

[brianallenlevine]

Hi, David. Is there any more of an update from Apple on this? I'm still seeing only version 4.17.5 in the Mac App Store. Thanks again! --Brian

[dkocher]

Please request a discount from mailto:support@mountainduck.io to switch to the regular version available for download in the meantime.

[jjschwarz]

I also need it in the Mac App Store because we are doing VPP based distribution, so the regular version really doesn't work for us. Any timeline on it becoming available? Thank you!

[dkocher]

Unfortunately there seems to be no way for us to offer in-app subscription purchases through the Volume Purchase Program (VPP) in the Apple Business Manager or Apple School Manager. We advise to use a different solution to distribute software for users and switch to perpetual licensing we offer for Mountain Duck outside the Mac App Store from https://mountainduck.io/buy/.

[dkocher]

Version 5 is now available in the Mac App Store as a subscription instead of a perpetual license. If you previously purchased Mountain Duck in the Mac App Store, you are eligible to run version 5 with no limitations for up to one year after your purchase date before you are required to purchase a monthly or yearly subscription.

[rzeman]

Can one convert an App Store rental to a perpetual license at that point, or is the user stuck on the rental track for perpetuity? Can one convert to a perpetual license today? The "Buy" page mentioned above doesn't mention that, only a side grade from Cyberduck or competing products.

[dkocher]

We are working on a change for version 5.1.1 that will allow running Mountain Duck installed from the Mac App Store without a subscription when a valid license key is found.

[jjschwarz]

Any idea if that works correctly with device identifiers (since we use those for DEP instead of individual Apple accounts)? As for bulk distribution not sure why that is giving you such grief. I also have PDF Expert doing that but they do it by a key file we install on all of the devices that check in with them against a master license so they can bill us. I have seen 3 or 4 ways to work around it for device based distribution via DEP. I looked with our team at other options outside of DEP and there are not any great ones right now.

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On Nov 30, 2025, at 12:38 PM, David Kocher ***@***.***> wrote: Version 5 is now available in the Mac App Store as a subscription instead of a perpetual license. If you previously purchased Mountain Duck in the Mac App Store, you are eligible to run version 5 with no limitations for up to one year after your purchase date before you are required to purchase a monthly or yearly subscription. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#17367 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ABIBX4NOM7JQV3ZSUX4Q6K337MTR5AVCNFSM6AAAAACEL2WLQCVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43URDJONRXK43TNFXW4Q3PNVWWK3TUHMYTKMJRG43TKMQ>. You are receiving this because you commented.

[dkocher]

Can you confirm that distributing key files is not an issue with the Device Enrollment Program (DEP).

[jjschwarz]

With PDF Expert they have the app as "free" and once we load the license as a resource into the iPad via the MDM it checks in and becomes licensed. We just pay the vendor a bulk rate for licenses on that particular app.

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On Dec 1, 2025, at 8:57 AM, rzeman ***@***.***> wrote: Can one convert an App Store rental to a perpetual license at that point, or is the user stuck on the rental track for perpetuity? Can one convert to a perpetual license today? The "Buy" page mentioned above doesn't mention that, only a side grade from Cyberduck or competing products. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#17367 (reply in thread)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ABIBX4KWNVLL2W6WEUABUFD37RCOLAVCNFSM6AAAAACEL2WLQCVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43URDJONRXK43TNFXW4Q3PNVWWK3TUHMYTKMJSGQ4DINQ>. You are receiving this because you commented.

[dkocher]

We are working on a change for version 5.1.1 that will allow running Mountain Duck installed from the Mac App Store without a subscription when a valid license key is found purchased from our website.