DEVONthink 4 -- now in public beta

Posted by satis
Apr 3, 2025 at 10:14 PM

Looks interesting. I saw some early pushback over the licensing model, which I don’t agree with. As with similar apps like EagleFiler the app’s license is limited to two Macs. (EagleFiler also lets you add a Family license as well as a site license based on number of users [eg 5 users is $240, 10 is $300].) The $49-$99 upgrade for Standard/Pro users seems pretty reasonable.

When Agenda introduced its licensing model I doubted its success but I was wrong about that. A small number of devs, including now DEVONthink’s, have embraced it as a compromise between the subscription and upgrade models. (That said, Agenda hasn’t offered enough to get me to re-resubscribe: right now the only added benefit since my sub expires is ‘Filter & Fold Text’.)

DEVON also updated the web interface and say they improved the text editor. When I used the owned and used the app a couple of revisions ago text editing became painfully slow inside a large database, so if they have made it snappy it could be an app one could live inside for production.

MacStories got an early look at the app and published an overview.

https://www.macstories.net/reviews/ai-adds-a-new-dimension-to-devonthink-4/