Mastodawn

I wrote a blog post about why we in the photography space *still* complain about Apple's Aperture going away over a decade later.

It was a *really* good app.

New blog post: A Lament For Aperture, The App We'll Never Get Over Losing

https://ikennd.ac/blog/2026/01/old-man-yells-at-modern-software-design/

Daniel Kennett - A Lament For Aperture, The App We'll Never Get Over Losing

I'm an old Mac-head at heart, and I've been using Macs since the mid 1990s (the first Mac I used was an LC II with System 7.1 installed on it). I don't tend to think that the computing experience was better in the olden days — sure, there's a thing to be said about the simplicity of older software, but most of my fondness for those days is nostalgia. An exception to that, however, is Apple's Aperture.

Daniel Kennett Jan 19

A bit of credit for that post goes to @BasicAppleGuy for reminding me that we all still miss Aperture!

Daniel Kennett Jan 20

It seems like my post about Aperture yesterday really struck a chord with folks.

Thank you for all the kind words!

@ikenndac excellent write up. I miss aperture too.

Amy Worrall Jan 19

@ikenndac ooof, I just read the linked article about Aperture’s development hell.

Daniel Kennett Jan 20

@amyworrall Yeah, it's a bit 😬

Riccardo Mori Jan 20

@ikenndac I was taking a look at your About page and discovered you’re the developer of Cascable! I love that app. So much better than the often piss-poor communication software created by camera companies. Keep up the good work! 👍

Daniel Kennett Jan 20

@morrick Oh nice, glad you like Cascable! A person of good taste 😛

Steveg58 Jan 20

@ikenndac
I never used Apple tools but I still lament the killing of Picasa.

Francesco Marini Feb 11

@Steveg58 @ikenndac

Raven667 Jan 20

@ikenndac I think Apple as a company doesn't have the culture to create something like Aperture anymore, all the little details and affordances you describe is something they don't have the attention or focus to prioritize, which is why the replacements are basic shit.

Daniel Kennett Jan 20

@raven667 I think Final Cut and Logic are good apps (although I don’t have the expertise in audio production to really evaluate Logic deeply), but I think they could if they *really* wanted to. Whether they want to, though, I think you might be right.

@ikenndac @raven667 Apple didn’t develop Final Cut Pro or Logic, though. They acquired them.

Ryan Carver Jan 20

@ikenndac great read!

Daniel Kennett Jan 20

@rcarver Thank you!

@ikenndac I was an avid Aperture user too, but I've found Capture One Pro to be a really really really good replacement. It just costs a lot more and requires some configuration out of the box to get it to give you Aperture's feeling of simplicity.

I hung onto Aperture longer than most (but not as long as the true diehards). When I finally decided to move on, I reviewed piles of applications. So many programs could meet Aperture in one aspect, but then be completely terrible in another. The one that disappointed and frustrated me the most had to be Corel AfterShot Pro.

It checked all the boxes on the surface. IT LOOKED AND BEHAVED LIKE APERTURE, but had to be running the rendering engine of MacPaint. Everything I exported looked like the botched Ecce Homo fresco restoration.

Daniel Kennett Jan 20

@sysop408 I use Capture One as well, it’s not bad at all. I find their image rendering pipeline to be a lot better than Apple’s there days.

I do miss having a map view and book editor though. I have the beginnings of an external “Capture One Map” app side project somewhere.

@ikenndac oh that book editor was something delightful wasn't it?

Capture One Pro pushed me to become a better photographer by pushing me to rethink editing. For that reason, I don't regret losing Aperture too much, but to this day I still wish I could have the easy book printing back. I never knew I needed that until Aperture made it so easy. I still haven't printed any books since Apple ended that printing service.

The other thing I miss is Aperture's seamless integration with iPhoto and iPhoto's integration with 3rd party tools in turn. That opened up all sorts of time saving workflows that allowed me to keep my personal and professional photos separate, but still easily within reach. Now I spend time curating entirely separate catalogs that are riddled with duplicates.

What an era. Everything just worked and sadly, it was far too short of a time.

Marcin Wichary Jan 20

@ikenndac I miss Aperture.

Jérôme Jan 20

@ikenndac @teilweise Yeah, still searching for an Aperture replacement…

Der Teilweise Jan 20

@jxrxme @ikenndac Also read the further reading. https://substack.techreflect.org/p/aperture-senior-qa-2004-2005 explains why Aperture was that good (great developers and great QA) and why it failed (terrible management).

Aperture: Senior QA (2004-2005)

Click here to view all the articles about my Apple career.

Tech Reflect

@ikenndac the entire iLife model was kinda fascinating in hindsight - GarageBand being a cut-down Logic, iPhoto a reduced Aperture, etc. I still have a library of photos in Aperture I haven't migrated anywhere... the non-destructive editing was so cool

@ikenndac @stroughtonsmith Be nice if Apple would open-source it. (As if)

John Cleary Jan 20

@ikenndac I still miss it so much. That era was possibly the peak of the Mac platform I reckon. Before the dark times — before “web” desktop apps (Electron & modern Adobe junk)

Jaye 🍊Jan 20

@ikenndac CaptureOne is the best alternative I’ve found, but it’s nowhere near as slick of a UI as Aperture was.

Daniel Kennett Jan 20

@jaye Yeah, I've been using Capture One for a decent amount of time now. It's not bad at all (and I like their imaging engine), but I do miss the map view.

Agreed. I miss it.

Gregatron5 Jan 21

@ikenndac Have you tried Nitro? I'm thining about giving it a spin.

Johan Kaving Jan 22

@gregatron5 @ikenndac

Nitro is definitely worth a try.
It's developed by a former Aperture developer and it shows in the way it works.
There's still an Edit mode you need to go into, but you can navigate between images while in it.

Alexander Krumeich Jan 21

@ikenndac Just seeing that screen shot made my eyes water for a second. Thanks for the post!

@ikenndac @BenRiceM *sigh*

Bill Plein🌶Jan 21

@ikenndac I miss it as well. 😢

@ikenndac i was angry about it as recently as 3 days ago

@ikenndac The feature I miss is being able to paint in adjustments.

Daniel Kennett Jan 21

@podfeet Capture One has that (in a roundabout way), at least!

@ikenndac Too soon!

Myron "Fletch" Freeman Jan 22

@ikenndac I do miss Aperture. It matched how my brain works. I also think I was one of ten people that used and loved the light table.

Johan Kaving Jan 22

@ikenndac
This is a really great post about a great product - thanks for writing it!

Aperture was what got me into the Apple ecosystem in 2011.
I hadn't figured out how to manage my digital images on a PC laptop and thought about Lightroom.
But then I borrowed an Apple laptop for a work trip and liked the experience.
So when Apple launched the App Store and reduced the price of Aperture significantly that seemed like a good reason to buy a MacBook and jump in. I've been an Apple user since.

Johan Kaving Jan 22

@ikenndac
Nowadays I use the Nitro app (by a previous Aperture developer). It offers a similarly modeless workflow and integrates really well with the iCloud Photo Library.

Fun coincidence - I'm also based in Stockholm, Sweden.
And from time to time at work (Looklet) I'm digging through our low-level code that implement USB-communication with Canon cameras. So I'm impressed by what you've done in Cascable!

Daniel Kennett Jan 22

@jkaving Nice! I should check out Nitro, a few people have mentioned it.

Also: You should use our camera SDK! :P https://developer.cascable.se

Cascable Developer: Home

Unlock the potential of your compatible camera with Cascable, the best tool available for working with your camera in the field.

Johan Kaving Jan 22

@ikenndac I would like to - but we're running Linux on NUCs.
If we were using Macs I would definitely look into your SDK more.

Artyom Bologov Jan 24

@ikenndac hi Daniel! It seems that the website overflows the viewport on smaller screens (iPhone SE.) See the attached screenshot. Can you look into why that might be?

randolph34 Feb 4

@ikenndac Just read your wonderful blog post. Now I’m missing Aperture even more! 🥺

Laurent ☕Feb 11

I read that you replaced Lightroom with an other app, witch one?