By popular demand, we have transitioned back to the simpler one-time purchase model. Customers felt that the maintenance license was too complex and confusing, and some customers even felt that it was too much like a subscription. We listened to your feedback and made the change.
The maintenance license is now a legacy product (no longer sold) and has been renamed to 'Access pass'. It works similarly, but with some extra benefits. There are 2 types of access pass:
Access Pass is for customers who have purchased since we introduced the maintenance license. Once this version expires, you have access to the version available when your pass expires (e.g. Synergy 3). This means, you'll always get updates to Synergy 3 even after your pass has expired. When Synergy 4 comes out, if your pass is still valid, you'll get that too. Otherwise, if your pass expires you'll need to upgrade to get access to the next version.
Elastic Access Pass is complementary and is given to all customers on launching Synergy 3. This gives you access to download the latest version of Synergy while your access pass is valid. Once the pass expires, you'll still be able to use your existing installation, but you'll need to upgrade to get access to newer versions.
In July 2022, we introduced the now defunct maintenance license (superseded by the access pass). The maintenance license provided technical support and software updates for personal customers for a limited period. This did not apply to Synergy Business (our license for business customers), which is an annual subscription and remains the same.
Customers previously had the option to extend for a fee, which extended the span of software updates and technical support. Our maintenance license was not intended as a subscription (when it expires, the app continues to work) though many customers did perceive it as such.
We introduced the maintenance license (now access pass) to increase profitability so that we could expand the team and improve the product. Our aim is to provide an excellent customer experience and we believed that the maintenance license was is in the best interest of our customers. This turned out to be a mistake, which we are correcting.
Customers who purchased from 8th July 2022 onward received a Synergy maintenance license (now called access pass). Neither the maintenance license or the access pass were or are product-specific license. The Synergy maintenance license covered all Synergy products (i.e. Synergy 1, Synergy 3, and future versions).
On 8th July 2022, we emailed all of our customers to let them know that we introduced the maintenance license (now called access pass), and at the time it only affected new customers. In the announcement, we also reassured existing customers (who we call Innovators and Early Adopters) that they have lifetime access to Synergy. In this context, lifetime refers to the lifetime of the product, and Synergy refers to the only available version at the time which was Synergy 1.
Customers who purchased before 1st July 2022 keep their original product-specific license which is valid for the lifetime of Synergy 1. These customers also received a new maintenance license (now called access pass) additional to their existing license, which enabled access to Synergy 3.
Lifetime of Synergy 1: At this time, we are planning to support Synergy 1 until 2028. When this date is reached, we will either extend the lifetime of that product, or sunset the product and declare it as end of life. Once this stage is reached, Innovator and Early Adopter customers will still have download access to the latest version of Synergy 1, forever.
With the launch of Synergy 3 on May 31st 2023, we emailed all of our customers to let them know they have been granted a maintenance license (now called access pass) as well as the existing product-specific license.
The term "lifetime" means the lifespan of our products, and not the lifespan of our customers. The term "product" means a major version of Synergy, such as Synergy 1 or Synergy 3. This is because Synergy 1 and Synergy 3 are distinct products, each with their own unique lifespan.
We intend to continue providing software updates and technical support for Synergy 1 for Innovators and Early Adopters, so there is no obligation for these customers to switch to Synergy 3, which is a different product. At the time of announcing the maintenance license (now called access pass), only Synergy 1 was available.
For Synergy 3, as it is a different product, we gave all Innovator and Early Adopter customers a complimentary upgrade with access to technical support and software updates for a fixed period. Once this period has expired, customers who do not wish to extend are free to continue using the latest version of Synergy 3 that they had access to, or switch to Synergy 1 where there is no limit on software updates or technical support (this is only available for Innovator and Early Adopter customers).
Maintenance licenses (now called access pass) were given to specific types of customers with the following fixed time-periods:
Synergy 2 upgraders are people who purchased an upgrade from Synergy 1 to Synergy 2. Elite Synergizers (now a retired offering) had their maintenance license (now called access pass) extended while their membership is active. Elite Synergizers were previously known as Elite Backers. We decided to retire the Elite Synergizer offering to simplify our product structure.
We do appreciate that the term, 'lifetime', was not defined in our EULA until it was revised on 1st June 2023, and so the meaning was once left open to interpretation. We have also clarified that before May 31st 2023, Synergy referred to Synergy 1.
While we have done our best to act in the best long term interest of customers, we appreciate that our definition of the word, 'lifetime', may not match the perspective of some customers, which is why we are offering a rebate to those customers. To apply for this rebate, please complete the Synergy lifetime rebate form (this requires a Google account to upload proof of purchase).
For more information, please read our EULA (end user license agreement).
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