Apple shuts down development of iPhoto and Aperture

When Apple releases OS X Yosemite later this year, it will come with at least one substantial change: Aperture and iPhoto will be gone.

Instead of offering the longstanding photo editor, Apple plans to transition users to a new app called Photos, reports TechCrunch. Photos was introduced at the company’s WWDC developer conference and is set to replace both Aperture and Apple’s famously clunky, entry-level photo management app, iPhoto.

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Although interest in Aperture among professional photographers has declined in recent years, the app was one of the only direct competitors to Lightroom, a similarly-featured app developed by Adobe. But now, Apple says it’s actually working with Adobe to develop a process for Aperture users to transition to Lightroom.

Apple said that this is not a move away from providing services to professional consumers, TechCrunch reports.

The company provides a number of professional level programs for film, music, and photography that industry professionals depend on. While the company doesn’t appear to be phasing out film editing software Final Cut Pro or audio production software Logic, it could make those products more consumer-friendly.

Apple’s professional products are already fairly accessible price-wise. Final Cut Pro X, the most recent version of the software, is priced at a reasonable $300. Logic X is priced at $200. The next move, it seems, would be to make the applications themselves more intuitive and approachable for the average user.